Developmental changes in the facial soft tissues

Short-base stereophotogrammetry was used to study differential growth and development of the soft tissues of the face. Thirteen facial parameters were measured at ages 9, 11, 13, 15, and 16 years on 170 facial contour maps selected from a mixed longitudinal study of 26 boys and 26 girls. Each parameter was measured three-dimensionally, and its developmental progress at the earlier stages was expressed as a percentage of its value at 16 years of age. Standing height development was assessed in the same way. Three parameters that measured soft tissues surrounding the eyes grew little but were very advanced in their development, following a "neural" pattern. The remaining facial parameters grew more but were less advanced, and standing height was least advanced. There appeared to be three separate patterns of development, "neural," "facial," and "skeletal." Girls were, in general, smaller than boys, but their development was more advanced when measured as a percentage of size at 16 years compared with boys.     

A unique reproductive strategy in the mushroom coral Fungia fungites

Coral Reefs - The vast majority of scleractinian corals are either simultaneous hermaphrodites or gonochoric. Exceptions to these are rare. Nevertheless, species belonging to the family Fungiidae...     

Morphological studies in Pandanaceae

In this study the anatomical features of leaves of 3 9 species of Malayan Pandanus (Pandanaceae) are assessed, chiefly from the taxonomic approach. The results show that systematic foliar anatomy (chiefly epidermal and stomatal characters) is of considerable value at the infrageneric, supraspecific level, and that species-clusters corresponding to sectional taxa can be recognized and denned. An infrageneric classification of the Malayan species based on anatomical data is presented. The composition of several generic sections is revised. Some sections appear very uniform, others are internally diverse, with respect to the anatomical features studied. Twelve sections are upheld in Malaya.     

Morphological and biochemical correlates of skeletal muscle contractility in the cat. II. Physiological and biochemical studies.

Isometric twitch characteristics and biochemical parameters of isolated myosin and sarcoplasmic reticulum have been compared in three cat hind limb muscles. The fast twitch caudofemoralis and the slow twitch soleus are almost pure muscles as judged from histochemical studies. Isolated myosin from the caudofemoralis is not only 2- to 3-fold higher in its ATPase activities than that of the soleus, but also in non-dissociated forms has greater electrophoretic mobility than the soleus myosin. Purified myosins from fast muscles as well as soleus exhibited three light chains upon electrophoresis. However, the intact non-solubilized myosins differed in electrophoretic mobilities. The sarcoplasmic reticulum fraction isolated from caudfemoralis exhibits faster rates of Ca++ binding and uptake than soleus, and when fit to a two component model, the caudofemoralis SR exhibits a higher amount of a fast binding site than does soleus SR, features reflected in differences in the relaxation time of the two muscles. In contrast, the fast twitch tibialis anterior has been shown to be a gradient of fiber types and its isometric twitch may be separated by selective nerve stimulation, into a fast and a slow twitch component. Our findings that myosin fractions, as well as sarcoplasmic reticulum fractions isolated from these two components differ with respect to their biochemical characteristics add support to the possibility of a dual function in this muscle.     

mRNA expression of genes involved in fatty acid utilization in skeletal muscle and white adipose tissues of sows during lactation

Rodents are able to lower fatty acid utilization in liver and muscle during lactation in order to spare fatty acids for the production of milk triacylglycerols, an effect which is mediated by a down-regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα). The present study was performed to investigate whether similar fatty acid sparing effects are developing in lactating sows. We considered PPARα and its target genes involved in fatty acid utilization in biopsy samples from muscle and adipose tissue of lactating compared to non-lactating sows. In muscle, PPARα target genes involved in fatty acid utilization were up-regulated during lactation indicating that the fatty acid utilization in muscle was increased. Activation of PPARα was probably due to increased concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids in plasma observed in the lactating sows. In contrast to muscle, PPARα and its target genes involved in β-oxidation in white adipose tissue were down-regulated in early lactation. Overall, the present study shows that sows, unlike rats, are not able to reduce the fatty acid utilization in muscle in order to spare fatty acids for milk production. However, fatty acid oxidation in adipose tissue is lowered during early lactation, an effect that might be helpful to conserve fatty acids released from adipose tissue for the delivery into other tissues, including mammary gland, via the blood.     

Xeroradiographic demonstration of soft tissues of the extremities

The authors gave a useful sketch of the essence of xeroradiography. Their method has proved to be optimal in demonstrating the soft tissues of the extremities in vivo. The paper provides us with a better cognition of the morphology and pathomorphology of soft tissues of the extremities.     

Measurement of the elasticity modulus of soft tissues

A measurement setup combined with a Finite Element (FE) simulation is presented to determine the elasticity modulus of soft materials as a function of frequency. The longterm goal of this work is to measure in vitro the elasticity modulus of human vocal folds over a frequency range that coincides with the range of human phonation. The results will assist numerical simulations modeling the phonation process by providing correct material parameters. Furthermore, the measurements are locally applied, enabling to determine spatial differences along the surface of the material. In this work the method will be presented and validated by applying it to silicones with similar characteristics as human vocal folds.Three silicone samples with different consistency were tested over a frequency range of 20–250 Hz. The results of the pipette aspiration method revealed a strong frequency dependency of the elasticity modulus, especially below 100 Hz. In this frequency range the elasticity moduli of the samples varied between 5 and 27 kPa.     

Morphological studies of the matrix in human hypothalamus

The variations of matrix and ependyma in the hypothalamus was histologicaly investigated in 120 human brains of both sexes from the 13 week old fetuses up to the end of the first year of postnatal life. The plane of cuts were in the region of the anterior hypothalamic nucleus, of the ventromedial nucleus, and the arcuate nucleus. We have found that the exhaustion of the matrix begins in the 14 week old embryo in the anterior and medial hypothalamus. A subependymale zone is present in these areas in the 17 week old embryo and exists up to 23 week. The one-cell-layer ependyma appears in the anterior are of the ventromedial nucleus at first in the 24 week week old embryo. After this the ependyma appears from the 25 to the 28 week old embryo in the regions of the anterior hypothalamic nucleus and the other areas of the ventromedial nucleus. In the immediate surrounding of the arcuate nucleus we observed the first alterations in the 15 week old embryo. The exhaustion of matrix is a continuous process up to the 23rd week. The boundary of the third ventricle remained to be a multilayer and in all stages of development cells were found, which reach into the lumen. Only after birth the multilayer boundary was reduced. At the end of the first year of postnatal life the one-layer ependyma was developed at a few sites. We could not find any significant variations of matrix exhaustion in the different sexes.     

Morphological changes in rat skeletal muscle following reinnervation

Morphological changes appearing in the course of muscle regeneration after reinnervation of denervated M. soleus (slow) and M. tibialis anterior (fast) rat skeletal muscle were investigated. It was found that pathological changes typical for denervation atrophy (seen on the 10th day after crushing the sciatic nerve) and symptoms of regeneration (beginning about the 15th day) were much more pronounced in the soleus than in the tibialis muscle. Some stages of regeneration in the soleus muscle could be distinguished. The contractile material destructions were the first pathological changes that disappeared after the beginning of regeneration. In the second stage other denervation changes disappeared and intensive regeneration of muscle fibres was observed. In the next stage regeneration slowed down, and the reduction of the excess of muscle nuclei was visible. Four months after crushing the nerve, regeneration proceeded to completion with only some traces of the passed processes: in the soleus muscle, chains of sarcolemmal nuclei, satellite cells and newly formed muscle fibres were more often seen than in contralateral muscle; in the tibialis, collagen depots were present around the vessels and between muscle fascicles.