THE ROLE OF PREDATION IN THE ECOLOGY OF THE RINGED SEAL IN BARROW STRAIT, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA

Predation on ringed seals ( Phoca hispida ) was examined in Barrow Strait between March and May 1984 to 1986. Polar bears were the most important predator. Evidence of bear predation was observed at 18–30% of the ringed seal subnivean structures we located. Ten to 24% of predation attempts were successful, with pups making up 75% to 100% of the seals killed. Bears killed an average of 0.08 to 0.51 seals/km², which comprised 8 to 44% of the estimated annual pup production. Bears were successful on average in 11.3% of their attempts to kill pups hidden inside birth lairs. On southeast Baffin Island where snow was soft and pups were exposed, bears were successful in 33.5% of their attempts to kill a seal. Negative correlations were found between mean snow depth and predation by polar bears ( r = -0.896, P = 0.04, n = 5) in 1985, and between snow depth and the number of predation attempts ( r = -0.613, P = 0.02, n = 14) in 1986.     

SYNTHESIS OF RNA IN NEURONS OF THE HYPOGLOSSAL NERVE NUCLEUS, AFTER SECTION OF THE AXON, IN MICE

Synthesis of RNA in neurons of the hypoglossal nerve nucleus after axonal section was studied by means of [5-³H]uridine administration and radioautographic counting techniques in mice. The results of the experiments were evaluated by counts of silver grains over the nucleoplasm and cytoplasm of the neurons. RNA synthesis was greater in neurons after axonal section, and this increase was evident from 12 hr after the operation. The greatest increases in the operated side were observed in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd days after operation. In the 7th and 14th days RNA synthesis was still greater in the hypoglossal nucleus of the sectioned nerve but the difference in the control nucleus was not so striking. In the 30th day synthesis of RNA in left and right hypoglossal nuclei was comparable.     

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CONCENTRATION OF INJECTED HORSERADISH PEROXIDASE IN CYTOPLASMIC GRANULES OF THE KIDNEY CORTEX, IN THE BLOOD, URINE, AND LIVER

The concentration of horseradish peroxidase in total particulate fractions from the kidney cortex did not change much during the first few hours after injection, as long as most of the injected protein was not yet cleared from the blood. It decreased at a rate of 6–8% per hr afterwards. The concentration of peroxidase in total particulate fractions increased in proportion to the load (dose) over a wide range, suggesting that a constant fraction of the protein was reabsorbed by micropinocytic vesicles into the tubule cells from the glomerular filtrate. The amount of peroxidase excreted in the urine also increased in proportion to the injected dose. The proportion of peroxidase taken up by the liver, however, decreased several times when the dose was increased. A marked decrease of protein uptake into the kidney cortex and an increase of urinary excretion were observed when rats received a second, equal dose of peroxidase 4 hr after the first injection, and the rate of clearance of peroxidase from the blood was decreased after the second injection. The liver, on the other hand, took up almost twice as much peroxidase after two injections as after one. The uptake of peroxidase by the kidney cortex increased with age. Cytochemical observations on the preferential absorption of peroxidase by certain cell types and segments of the renal tubules in relation to dose are reported.     

THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC EFFICIENCY OF PHYCOCYANIN IN CHROOCOCCUS,AND THE PROBLEM OF CAROTENOID PARTICIPATION IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS

The absorption spectra of the principal pigment components extracted from Chroococcus cells have been measured, and their sum compared with the absorption of a suspension of living cells. The agreement was sufficiently close so that it was concluded the absorption spectra of the extracted and separated pigment components could be used to obtain estimates of the relative absorption of the various components in the living cells. The quantum yield of Chroococcus photosynthesis was measured at a succession of wave lengths throughout the visible spectrum, and the dependence of yield on wave length was compared with the proportions of light absorbed by the pigment components. This comparison showed beyond reasonable doubt that the light absorbed by phycocyanin is utilized in photosynthesis with an efficiency approximately equal to that of the light absorbed by chlorophyll. The light absorbed by the carotenoid pigments of Chroococcus seems for the most part to be unavailable for photosynthesis. The results leave open the possibility that light absorbed by the carotenoids is active in photosynthesis, but with an efficiency considerably lower than that of chlorophyll and phycocyanin. It is also possible that the light absorbed by one or a few of the several carotenoid components is utilized with a high efficiency, while the light absorbed by most of the components is lost for photosynthesis.     

微丝在卵子极性产生、分裂沟形成和极体排放中的作用

小鼠生发泡（ＧＶ）期卵母细胞在１μｇ／ｍｌ细胞松弛素Ｂ（ＣＢ）中培养,部分微丝解聚,卵母细胞不 能产生极性而在细胞中部形成分裂沟（假分裂）;极泡期印在１μｇ／ｍｌ ＣＢ中,分裂沟继续收缩,排放第 一极体。假分裂的分裂沟和极泡期的极区分裂沟形成均与分裂器中体位置相关。部分微丝解聚并不影响 假分裂和第一极体排放;全部微丝解聚（１０μｇ／ｍｌ ＣＢ）将中断假分裂和胞质分裂,分裂沟消失,卵恢 复球形。由此可见,成熟过程中卵母细胞极性的产生及分裂沟的形成都依赖于微丝的聚合。胞质分裂和 第一极体排放同样需一定量的微丝存在。     

CHANGES IN THE ORGANIZATION OF TUBULIN DURING MEIOSIS IN THE EGGS OF THE SURF CLAM, SPISULA SOLIDISSIMA

Polymerized tubulin can be stabilized in Kane's spindle isolation medium (HGL solution), isolated by differential centrifugation and then assayed by colchicine binding activity. In the eggs of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima, the level of particulate tubulin undergoes a series of specific changes during first meiotic division. In either unactivated ("interphase") eggs or metaphase eggs the amount of particulate tubulin was about 13% of the total at 23°C. The amount of particulate tubulin decreased shortly after activation, reaching a minimum value at about 5 min, the time of nuclear membrane breakdown. The particulate tubulin concentration then rose, reaching a maximum at metaphase, and then decreased again during anaphase, reaching a minimum at first polar body formation. In HGL homogenates of unactivated eggs a structure is present which has been shown to contain the interphase particulate tubulin (IPT). This structure consists essentially of a 10–20 µ granular sphere attached to a membranous material which is probably part of the egg cortex. These particles are absent at the time of nuclear membrane breakdown, when the level of particulate tubulin is minimal and when the first signs of spindle formation are visible. Electron microscopy of these particles by negative staining indicates that they are composed of microtubules associated with a granular matrix which may be a polymorphic aggregate of tubulin.     

全尾宽背虫Bathynotus holopygus (Hall, 1859)在 贵州剑河八郎寒武系凯里组的首次发现及意义

宽背虫属Bathynotus (Hall, 1859)广泛分布于劳伦古大陆、中国华南地区、澳大利亚和西伯利亚, 为寒武纪第二世末期最重要的标志性三叶虫之一,已成为寒武系划分的重要指示化石。其模式种B. holopygus以其狭长的颊刺、胸轴宽, 第11节肋刺巨大, 第12、13节肋刺不发育为主要特征;具有很强的地域性, 仅分布于华南和北美, 在华南主要见于寒武系扬子区与江南区之间过渡区的黔东地区。B. holopygus产出地层延限较窄, 仅见于寒武系第二统第四阶顶部。本文所描述的部分标本采自贵州剑河八郎苗板坡剖面苗岭统及乌溜阶界线之下2 m左右, 是在该地的首次报道, 也是全球仅有的第4个产地。笔者通过数理统计值分析进一步描述B. holopygus的特征和发育趋势, 为进一步属种研究提供新材料; 根据新发现的唇瓣标本进一步推测其唇瓣与腹边缘为愈合状态。     

中国蛇绿岩带形成时代研究中的两个误区

对中国蛇绿岩带形成时代的研究曾出现两个误区,第一个区发生在70年代以前,大多数地质学家主要依据混杂堆积中灰岩块体中生物化石来确定蛇绿岩带的形成时代,由于这些大化石所形成的时代一般都要比蛇绿岩带的形成时间早,它不能代表板块碰撞的真正时间,第二误区发生在70年代之后,广大地质工作者普遍利用放射虫来确定蛇绿岩带的形成时代,但是,在蛇绿岩带中有时出现两套放射虫硅质岩,一套属于外来移置体,与洋壳无关;另一套位于枕状玄武岩上,真正代表洋壳的残余,在以往发表的地质文献中,大多数作者都没有把放射虫硅质岩在蛇绿岩中的位置阐述清楚,因此,他们提供的时代证据依然是存疑的。     

THE FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN IN LOCOMOTION OF THE POLYCLAD WORM,YUNGIA AURANTIACA

Coordinated swimming movements in Yungia are not dependent upon the presence of the brain. The neuromuscular mechanism necessary for spontaneous movement and swimming is complete in the body of the animal apart from the brain. Normally this mechanism is set in motion by sensory stimulation arriving by way of the brain. The latter is a region of low threshold and acts as an amplifier by sending the impulses into a great number of channels. When the head is cut off these connections with the sensorium are broken, consequently peripheral stimulation does not have its usual effect. If, however, the motor nerves are stimulated directly as by mechanical stimulation of the median anterior region, then swimming movements result. Also if the threshold of the entire nervous mechanism is lowered by phenol or by an increase in the ion ratios See PDF for Equation and See PDF for Equation then again peripheral stimulation throws the neuromuscular mechanism into activity and swimming movements result.     

THE PERMEABILITY OF THE AMPHIBIAN OOCYTE NUCLEUS, IN SITU

Ultralow temperature radioautography, suitable for the quantitative localization of diffusible solutes, was used to study the permeability of the nuclear envelope in the intact amphibian oocyte Sucrose-³H solutions were injected into mature oocytes, in volumes of 0 016–0 14% of that of the cell, and the subsequent movement of the solute was recorded. The resultant radioautographs show diffusion gradients in the cytoplasm and nucleus, and concentration gradients across the nuclear envelope Analysis of these gradients discloses that the nuclear envelope is as permeable as a comparable structure composed of cytoplasm, and is about 10⁸ times more permeable than the oocyte plasma membrane The diffusion coefficient of sucrose in cytoplasm is 2 x 10^-6 cm²/sec, or about one-third its diffusivity in pure water. This reduction can probably be accounted for by an effective lengthening of the diffusional path because of obstruction by cytoplasmic inclusions. The nuclear: cytoplasmic sucrose concentration ratio at diffusional equilibrium is about 3 05, or 1.6 times as great as expected from the water content of the two compartments This asymmetry is attributed to an unavailability of 36% of the cytoplasmic water as solvent Finally, sucrose entry into oocytes from a bathing solution was monitored by whole cell analysis and radioautography. These and the microinjection results are consistent with a model in which sucrose entry into the cell is entirely limited by the permeability of the plasma membrane. The results are inconsistent with cell models that hypothesize a short-circuit transport route from the extracellular compartment to the nucleus, and with models in which cytoplasmic diffusion is viewed as limiting the rate of solute permeation.     

SORBITOL IN THE EGGS OF THE SILKWORM, BOMBYX MORI

Sorbitol was found to be a normal and sole monosaccharide demonstrable in the late ovarian and in the early embryonic stages of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. This observation was first made on a line of non-diapausing polyvoltine Katsumata strain, but was later confirmed by the analysis of two other Katsumata lines and on several polyvoltine or bivoltine strains. The identification of the sugar extracted from the diapause eggs of a bivoltine strain and from the non-diapausing eggs of a Katsumata strain was based on analyses involving paper chromatography, paper electrophoresis and sorbitol dehydrogenase.     

新疆乌伦古河流域第三纪哺乳动物地层研究的新成果

新疆准噶尔盆地北缘中、新生代地层广泛出露,２０世纪５０年代,对这一地区的中、新生代地层的系统研究工作业已开展。地质部６３１地质队在该地区进行大面积地质填图,新疆石油管理局开展了有关地质问题的综合性专题研究。１９８２年和１９８３年中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所在新疆石油管理局的支持下,组队前往该区进行中、新生代生物地层研究工作,并于８０年代末与９０年代初提交了一批生物地层和古哺乳动物研究文章,进一步提高了该地区第三纪地层的研究程度。由于工作区地处中亚,位于青藏高原以北,西面邻近古土尔盖海峡,东…