A comparison of the mouth morphology of three co-occurring species of atherinid

The mouth morphology of three species of atherinids, which feed at different levels in the water column (benthos, plankton and water surface) were compared. These three species, which all grow to less than 100 mm in length, inhabit the shallows (<2m) of Wilson Inlet, a temperate south-western Australian estuary. The species could be distinguished primarily on the basis of the extent to which they can protrude their jaws. Thus, whereas Leptatherina presbyteroides feeds highest in the water column, including at the water surface on terrestrial insects, and has the most protrusible jaws, Atherinosonia elongata feeds predominantly at or near the benthos and has the least protrusible jaws. Leptatherina wallacei , which ingests prey from the plankton and near the benthos, is intermediate in the degree to which it can protrude its jaws. Other characters of the three species which are associated with feeding, such as the number of gill rakers and the size of teeth, show consistent trends with the degree of jaw protrusion in relation to the type of prey consumed.     

Influence of immobilisation of limbs in kittens on the morphology of the developing neuromuscular junctions

Immobilisation of limbs in kittens, in which the neuromuscular apparatus is in active growing phase, affects the maturation of the end-plates, which appear smaller and pointed. Longer periods of immobilisation lead to a significant reduction in the surface area of the neuromuscular junctions which were seen to be "V" or "W" shaped.     

The function of Meckel's and secondary cartilages in the histomorphogenesis of the cat mandibular symphysis

Cat mandibular symphysis was investigated with histological methods in animals of ages between 3 weeks of intra-uterine life and 56 days post-natal. As in rodents, carnivores and insectivores, Meckel's cartilages fuse in the midline and form a cartilaginous nodule which persists in the symphysis until birth. This nodule, which we have called the symphyseal Meckelian islet, is isolated from Meckel's cartilage, of which only very small calcified islets are left as intramandibular traces after endochondral ossification. Both hemimandibles are bordered by secondary cartilage, which undergoes endochondral ossification, and by chondroid tissue, which is less abundant than in man. At birth, secondary cartilage of both hemimandibles forms a synchondrosis, the lingual part of which undergoes gradual resorption in the 4-week-old cat. The vestibular part is still present at 8 weeks.     

Lateral compressibility of lipid mono- and bilayers. Theory of membrane permeability

The passive sodium permeability of pure lipid vesicles and dispersions has a large peak at the bilayer phase transition temperature. We discuss this anomaly in terms of density fluctuations, which can open up cavities in the headgroup region into which small ions can enter, and which may be large if bilayer conditions at the melting point are similar to those near the critical point which seems to exist in monolayers. We present two arguments, one thermodynamic and one microscopic, which suggest that the permeability is proportional to the lateral compressibility. We then calculate the lateral compressibility for two previously published theoretical models and compare the results with experiment.     

Simulation of biochemical systems

A computer program has been developed which solves sets of first-order non-linear differential equations which are typical of those encountered in biochemistry. The program includes its own algebraic compiler, which writes the subroutines needed by the integration routine, which is a fourth-order Runge-Kutta process incorporating variable step-length. The routine is simple to use and very fast in operation.     

Apparent bisexual behavior of yeast strains obtained from hybridization of industrial yeasts of the genusSaccharomyces with auxotrophic diploids

During a genetic study of some hybrids of brewer's and distiller's yeast strains with impaired sporulation characteristics and genetically marked auxotrophic aa and alpha alpha diploids, strains which showed positive mating reactions with both a and alpha haploid tester strains were observed. These strains proved to be homothallic and sporulated freely. The original hybrids, which appeared to be tetraploid, usually yielded sporulating single-spore clones on dissection of asci formed from them, with few or no mating strains among them. Dissection of asci from these clones yielded some single-spore clones which showed mating reactions with one or the other or both haploid tester strains, and further selection produced strains which on sporulation and dissection yielded single-spore clones which were apparently bisexual and sporulated freely. These strains proved to be homothallic, yielding single-spore clones which were all of the a mating type, and in which the mating reaction and, possibly, the action of the genes for homothallism were impaired, so that sporulating, non-mating diploids and haploids of both mating types were present in cultures originally obtained as single-spore clones.     

Mathematical theory of motivation interactions of two individuals: II

The behavior of two individuals, consisting of effort which results in output, is considered to be determined by a satisfaction function which depends on remuneration (receiving part of the output) and on the effort expended. The total output of the two individuals is not additive, that is, together they produce in general more than separately. Each individual behaves in a way which he considers will maximize his satisfaction function. Conditions are deduced for a certain relative equilibrium and for the stability of this equilibrium, i.e., conditions under which it will not “pay” the individual to decrease his efforts. In the absence of such conditions “exploitation” occurs which may or may not lead to total parasitism. Some forms of the inverse problem are considered, where the form of behavior is given and forms of the satisfaction function are deduced which lead to it.     

Preliminary Classification of Viruses Based on Quantitative Comparisons of Viral Nucleic Acids

It is proposed that classifications used in science are of two main types; those which are designed to solve practical problems and which are based on conventions, and those which are designed to solve theoretical problems, based on theories, and in which the classes are tested by experiment. An attempt has been made to construct a preliminary classification of viruses which is of the second type. It is based on the theories of molecular biology, with the use of computer-based comparisons of the molecular weights and base ratios of viral nucleic acids to assign the viruses to clusters which show a high degree of correlation with groupings based on nucleic acid hybridization, serological cross-reactions, and phenotypic properties.     

Effect of antibiotics on the formation of specific antibodies.

Immune response to staphylococcal haemolysin and Haemophilus influenzae capsular antigen administered simultaneously with antibiotics was studied in rabbits. In addition to specific humoral antibodies, the quantitative values of IgG, IgA, IgM and C'3 complement were determined. Statistically significant deficiency of immune response was observed in all cases in animals which were given the antigen with the antibiotic in comparison with the controls which were immunized by the antigen alone. Statistically significant differences were also observed in the levels of immunoglobulins (mainly IgG and IgM) in animals which were given antigens simultaneously with antibiotics in comparison with animals which were given antibiotics alone.     

鸭跖草花部维管束系统解剖学研究

鸭跖草花梗项部的维管束分布在中央的基本组织内。自花梗顶部至子永恒基部,维管束系统发生复杂的变化。6枚向外偏斜的维管束发生内外或左右分支,其中3枚维管束发生内外分支,其外侧的3个分支进入萼片成为萼片给管束系统,内侧3个分支进入3枚外轮雄蕊而成为外轮雄蕊维管束;另3枚维管束先发生内外分支,接着外侧3分支发生进一步的左右分支,各形成3－5个小分支,最后进入花瓣成为花瓣维管束系统,而内侧的分支则不再细分,最后伸入3枚内轮雄蕊,成为轮雄蕊维管束。另6枚近圆束形的维管束一直在中央向上延伸,进入子房屋区后,其中3格言 进入子房壁,成为3束心皮背束,最后3束心皮背束进入花柱成为花柱维管史,另3枚聚向中央,成为胎座维管束,胎座维管束至子房屋顶部时消失。文中对跖草及其有关类群的花部维管束系统的来源及演变进行了比较、讨论。     

Spatial distribution of phytochromes

Phytochromes are chromoproteins which mediate several light responses in plants. Phytochrome proteins are encoded by a gene family which is currently being characterized in several plant species. Analysis of type-specific mutants of two well-characterized members of the family, PhyA and PhyB, indicates that these proteins have distinct functions. Much remains to be learned about the mechanisms by which the phytochromes carry out their distinct and diverse functions. It is hoped that information concerning the localization of phytochromes, at the whole plant and subcellular levels, will aid in elucidating the mechanism of phytochrome function. This review, which summarizes information about phytochrome distribution, has an emphasis on recent reports in which the molecular species of phytochrome are differentiated. However, classical data are also included and reinterpreted using knowledge of the phytochrome family.     

Importance of phoresy in the transmission of Acarina

Dispersal capacity plays a central role in the radiation of animals, facilitating the exploitation of habitats variously distributed in space or in time or both. Many living species are unable to leave a host, crawl around, and find a new host, so they must rely on external factors to be transmitted. Biotical factors may be important in passive transport and the process, by means of which an animal is passively transported by a selected carrier of different species, is known as "phoresy". Phoresy is a phenomenon in which one animal (the phoretic) seeks out and attaches to an animal of another species, with which it does not share any phase of the life cycle, for dispersal, during which time the phoretic animal becomes quiescent, stopping feeding and development. Activity starts again beginning with detachment, induced by stimuli originating from its carrier or the microhabitat. The adaptive traits of phoresy may be categorized as follow: host surface, quiescence, recognition of signals to abandon the carrier and, if needed, synchronization with the host life cycle. Phoresy is exploited by many Arthropods. In Acarina, there are basically four main types of phoresy. First, there is a type in which adult females are the only forms becoming phoretic and attachment is by means of chelicerae, palpal hooks and ambulacral claws, which grasp a seta or a fold of the integument of carrier-host. The second type is represented by mites, in which deutonymphs are phoretic; there is generally no cheliceral or sucker attachment in this group, mites instead hanging on by their ambulacral claws. The third type is similar to the second in that deutonymphs are phoretic; however, in this case, attachment to the host is by means of an anal pedicel formed by a substance, extruded through the anus, which hardens upon coming in contact with air and literally glues the mite to its host. In the fourth type there is a very highly modified deutonymph stage, called hypope, which only occurs at certain times, presumably when environmental conditions are no longer appropriate for the mite. Hypope is simplified morphologically, may have many sucker-like discs or claspers for efficient attachment, and is much more resistant to desiccation than are other stages of the life cycle.     

The functional basis of frequency-dependent food selection

Various animals have been observed to select food in a way that changes according to the relative frequency of the different foods available. Sometimes only the strength of selection varies, its direction remaining constant, but sometimes the direction of selection also changes. Selection of a food may be more intense as that food becomes rarer, or vice versa. I discuss here the situations in which animals, particularly predators, may maximize their feeding efficiency by behaving in ways that result in frequency-dependent selection of their food. These include cases in which different types of prey occupy different ecological niches, those in which there are benefits or costs to mixed diets for the predator, those in which rarer types of prey provide easier targets, those in which the different types of prey provide unequal benefits to the animal eating them, those in which direct comparison of the benefits is possible, those in which sampling is necessary because the benefits are unknown, and Batesian and other mimicries. Frequency-dependent selection of food is likely to be common and widespread: to assume frequency independence, without testing, may often be misleading.     

Purification and Identification of the Fruiting-Inducing Substances in Coprinus macrorhizus

Substances which are effective in inducing fruiting bodies in monokaryotic mycelia of the fis(+) strain of Coprinus macrorhizus were purified and characterized. The active components of fruiting-inducing substances were identified as adenosine-3'-monophosphate, adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP), and a protein which is bound with the cyclic AMP. Cyclic AMP was synthesized from adenine within mycelia of the mutant strains which form monokaryotic fruiting bodies without the addition of fruiting-inducing substances, but not in those of the strains which do not form monokaryotic fruiting bodies. The proteins which bind with cyclic AMP were detected in crude extracts of mycelia of those strains which form monokaryotic fruiting bodies and of the dikaryon, but not in those of the strains which do not form monokaryotic fruiting bodies.     

人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）致癌机制研究进展

人乳头瘤病毒（Human Papillomavirus,HPV）在人群中广泛传播,能引起皮肤和黏膜的异常增生,某些型的感染与生殖道恶性病变关系密切。HPV在致癌过程中,E2基因通常整合到宿主细胞基因组内,E2基因的失活和E5基因对EGFR的干预都能引起E6、E7基因过表达,E6、E7蛋白分别通过抑制p53、pRb基因的活性,从而激活人细胞端粒酶基因（hTERT）的转录,引起细胞分化异常,导致正常细胞癌化。HPV致癌是一个多因素、多步骤的渐进过程,其中协同因素也发挥重要作用。随着研究的深入,HPV的致癌机制越来越受到国内外研究者的重视,对HPV致癌机制的探索也逐渐成为研究热点。     

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of amphiphile hydration: Effects of cholesterol on phosphatidyl choline hydration

Water which remains unfrozen at ?25 °C in the presence of phosphatidyl choline (PC) gives rise to a proton magnetic resonance signal which can be used to measure the hydration of single-walled vesicles and multilamellar liposomes of PC. The proton magnetic resonance signal of the unfrozen water in these systems is strongly dependent upon the nature of the molecular domain in which the water is situated. For example, at cholesterol to PC molar ratios below 35 mol%, the vesicle hydration signal consists of a relatively narrow symmetric peak (line width, ~150 Hz). At higher molar ratios, however, rather broad asymmetric signals appear (line widths, ~300–1000 Hz) which indicate that when significant quantities of cholesterol are packed in the bilayer there must be regions in which there is a preferred direction for motion of the unfrozen water. It is possible to solubilize significant quantities of cholesterol by sonicating it in concentrated solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Addition of cholesterol to PC vesicles via these sodium dodecyl sulfate-cholesterol complexes caused hydration changes in the PC, which, at high cholesterol to PC molar ratios, paralleled the effects of cholesterol on PC hydration in homogeneous vesicles in which the cholesterol and PC were simply cosonicated.     

Observations on the structure of kefir grains and the distribution of the microflora

The mixed flora of yeasts and lactobacilli of kefir is held together in non-dispersible structures which build up into large grains. The fibrillar extracellular material of the matrix in which the microflora is embedded was stained by ruthenium red and periodic acid-thiosemicarbazide silver proteinate, indicating that it was largely composed of carbohydrate. It is suggested that the carbohydrate is of bacterial origin and that this is produced by a population of lactobacilli which resides within the matrix and which separates non-carbohydrate-producing populations of lactobacilli and yeasts so that sheet-like structures are formed which show asymmetry, with yeasts predominating on one side and lactobacilli on the other.     

Absorption of phosphorus from the spermatophore through the cuticle of the bursa copulatrix of the butterfly, Calpodes ethlius

In lepidoptera the spermatophore is deposited in a bursa copulatrix, which is lined by a cuticle through which solubilized components of the spermatophore must be absorbed by the underlying epithelium. This study follows the route taken by the phosphorus which, with calcium, forms a significant portion of the spermatophore of Calpodes ethlius in the form of homogeneous, amorphous concretions. Lead nitrate was used in the primary fixative to precipitate the phosphorus in order to follow the pathway taken by it through the cuticle and bursal epithelium. The epicuticle-free pits, which cover the bursal cuticle, are identified as the points of entry, and the epicuticular filaments as major pathways for transport of phosphorus and presumably soluble molecules. Lead phosphate deposits also occurred in the epithelium extracellularly between the apical microvilli, lateral membranes and basal folds, in calcium granules and in large compound structures which appear to be made up, at least in part, of calcium granules. The confinement of the phosphorus to extracellular compartments of the epithelium suggests that its function is to be found elsewhere.