Development of protective functions of the pig digestive tract in ontogenesis

It has been found that the state of protective functions of the digestive tract change during postnatal period. The biosynthesis and secretion of glycoproteins of mucus layer which is the main protective structure of digestive tract depend on the hormonal background and the nutrition conditions. The biosynthesis stages and secretion glycoproteins result in sexual maturity and in conditions of definitive nutrition. Opposite to that, the antiradical activity of adherent mucous layer decreases with age. The allocation of the studied components of adherent mucous layer in the stomach and in the intestine is determined.     

Histochemical characteristics of the epitheliocytes of the avian glandular stomach

A complex histochemical investigation has been undertaken to study the epithelial lining of the glandular stomach in birds having various types of nutrition. The protective barrier of the avian stomach has been found to be characterized as a resistant (mucosal) barrier, with neutral glycoproteins, sialo- and sulphoglycoproteins as its components. Differences in histochemical properties of the epitheliocyte secretion have been described in birds with different types of nutrition. They are connected with various correlation of carbohydrates and proteins in the composition of the micromolecular glycoprotein complex. The data obtained are compared with those concerning the histochemical properties of the stomach in amphibia and reptiles which have the mucous membrane structure similar to that in the avian stomach.     

Morphologic changes in the thymus and lymphoid nodules of the appendix of the white rat subjected to increasing physical loads

By means of histological and morphometrical methods the thymus and appendage have been studied in male white rats subjected to a dosed physical loading (swimming). The physical loading is accompanied with essential changes in structure and cell composition of the immunogenic organs. The rate and character of the changes depend on the adaptability level of the animal's organism to the physical loading. At adaptation to the loading, the process of age involution of the thymus decelerates, amount of lymphoid nodules in the appendage increases, comparing the control parameters, contents of lymphocytes noticeably increase in all zones of the lymphoid nodules. When adaptation to the physical loading is not sufficient, the rate of the thymus involution sharply increases, while in the appendage the number of the lymphoid nodules decreases. However, in some animals at a sharp involution of the thymus, the changes in the appendage do not differ from the control ones.     

Stomach expression of histo-blood group antigens A and B in some vertebrates

Histo‐blood group antigens (HBGA) are genetically determined glycoproteins and glycolipids expressed not only on human erythrocytes but also in vertebrate tissues. Direct evidence for the immunobiological importance of their tissue localization in the evolutionary aspect is still lacking. The present study examines the expression of A and B HBGA in the stomach of free‐living vertebrates belonging to: Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves, and Mammalia. HBGA were detected immunohistochemically on stomach paraffin sections from 11 species. In all classes from Actinopterygii to Mammalia HBGA expression was confined to stomach mucosa only. Antigenic heterogeneity in the pattern of expression and localization was observed. Smooth muscle tissue, endothelial and red blood cells were immunonegative, except for the reptile Emys orbicularis. Our results present the first comparative evidence for the expression of HBGA in the stomach of 11 free‐living vertebrate species from six classes, some of which have never been studied so far. It could be assumed that A and B antigens are constant and conservative structures with almost similar tissue localization. Their immunobiological role in the animal gastrointestinal tract might be possibly related to cell differentiation and homeostasis maintenance which would contribute to sustain the evolutionary stable ABH antigen cellular expression.     

小肽的营养及其在畜禽生产上的应用

小肽是动物降解蛋白质为氨基酸过程中的中间产物,是动物的重要营养。它能在动物胃肠内被完整的吸收,这被认为是一种重要的生理现象,从而打破也完善了传统蛋白质代谢理论。本文综述了小肽在动物体内的吸收机制,以及影响小肽释放、吸收和利用的因素,并介绍了小肽的营养作用以及小肽在畜禽生产中的应用效果。     

The morphology of the cardia and the pylorus in the Chiroptera

Organ complexes of bats (Nyctalis noctula), consisting of oesophagus, stomach and initial part of the small intestine have been subjected to histological and morphometrical investigation. As demonstrates the histological investigation of the preparations, the denticulate line of the mucous membrane of the oesophageal-gastric passage is displaced towards the stomach. In the cardia a well manifested internal sphincter has been revealed. In the place, where the stomach passes into the small intestine, on a small area of the submucosal tela of the intestine, there is an accumulation of secretory parts of the duodenal glands. They form a glandular torulus, which narrows the transitional zone lumen. A peculiarity of the bat pylorus is absence of an anatomical sphincter in it.     

Body mass and excretion of phosphorus in aquatic invertebrates

Empirical materials on the dependence of the intensity of mineral phosphorus excretion (Ex) on the body mass (W) in invertebrates are summarized. The parameters of the average dependence of Ex on W in animals at 20°C are determined. The main factors that influence the parameters of this dependence are discussed. It is shown that the decrease of Ex with an increase of W in animals is, as a rule, more significant compared with the decrease in the intensity of metabolism.     

The morphofunctional state of the neurons in the nodose ganglia of the normal vagus nerves and in experimental myocardial infarct

Basing on a complex approach with the use of general morphological and morphometrical methods, a morphofunctional characteristics of the nodose ganglia neurons of the nervus vagus has been presented in 203 dogs, both normal and at an experimental myocardial infarction. The neurons in question react to the myocardial infarction with a complex of changes in the intracellular structure parameters and their chemical markers. Their manifestation degree is higher and lasts longer, when the myocardial infarction happens at day time.     

Lake Patzcuaro,Mexico: results of a new morphometric study and its implications for productivity assessments

Data for 25 morphometrical parameters describing the geomorphology of Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico have been derived from an up-to-date bathymeric map with contour-lines at 1.0 m intervals. Maximum depths were observed in the northern part of the lake whereas considerable shallow areas are developing in the south. Insulosity is continuously modified due to certain areas becoming part of the mainland and the appearance of new islands with increasing shallowness and man-made channels. The hydrographic survey was evaluated using the optimization model suggested by Hakanson (1978). An information value of 0.788 for 12 contour lines in the new bathymetric map is reported. The usefulness of accurate morphometrical data in process-orientated modelling for lake management is discussed.     

Structure of the spleen of Papio hamadryas during ontogenesis

By means of morphometrical and histochemical methods serial topographic sections of the spleen have been studied in 23 Papio hamadryas of five age groups: fetuses, newborns, 1.5-2 years of age, mature and old animals. The peculiarities of morphogenesis and age histology of the monkey spleen have been followed and their similarity with changes of the organ in the human ontogenesis has been compared. Owing to the analysis of the structural components and the cellular composition relations, it is possible to conclude that in the fetuses the histological structure of the spleen is not completed, the maximal cytopoetic activity of the organ is observed in 1.5-2-year-old animals and involutionary changes begin in mature period. Possible functional peculiarities of the spleen are considered during various age periods.     

Animals (Animalia) in the system of organisms. 1. Typological systems

Since times of Aristotle animals were considered as a group, opposing to plants. The last were distinguished by two characters. Plants as distinct from animals live the attached way of a life and all nutrients receive from a substratum on which live and from the surrounding air. Animals live an active way of life and exist due to digestion. Fungi at such definition belong to plants. Only in second half of XX centuries due to works of Whittaker and of Tachtadjan fungi have received the separate status equally with plants and animals. In this new system of a plant embraced either oxygenic phototrophs, or photosynthetic eukaryotes. The traditional characters distinguishing animals from plants and fungi are in detail analysed. Many of them appeared formal, not reflecting the structure of relationship. Comparing heterotrophs some authors saw in absorptive nutrition the main difference of fungi from animals. However on mechanisms of receipt of substances in a cell fungi, animals and plants do not differ. Phagocytosis and pinocytosis (clathrin-mediated endocytosis), considered as the most characteristic feature of animals, are revealed both in fungi, and in plants. On photosynthetic activity plants form heterogeneous group, differing on primary and secondary plastids. The last besides have the various origin connected to symbiogenesis of the host cell with red or green algae. Heterotrophy cannot be considered as a uniting attribute of fungi and animals. It is essentially different and focused on diverse food sources. Evolution of animals is connected to perfection of structure of a plasmatic membrane and saturation by its molecules allowing a cell, and through it all organism to be guided in an environment and adequally to be up to external irritants. At a cellular level animals use the various mechanisms of cellular activity connected to moving of cells, their combination in aggregates and complexes or, on the contrary, separation in new cellular configurations. The complex of cellular adaptations connected to the analysis of external signals and adequate response to them of cells, underlies the phenomenon of irritability. At a cellular level irritability is mediated through work of the actin apparatus. Lamarck in "Philosophie zoologique" considered irritability as the main distinctive feature of animals. Evolution of plants and fungi went in a direction of development of a secondary metabolism. The secondary metabolism, concerning synthesis of protective substances, is peculiar to all sedentary organisms, including the animals.     

同一个世界 同一个健康

随着工业化和城镇化水平的持续提高,人类的生活方式发生了翻天覆地的变化,在传统因素依然制约人类健康的同时,食源性疾病与营养结构不合理、畜禽养殖方式转变与宠物快速发展带来人与动物关系深刻变化、生态环境与居住环境变化等非传统因素,对人类健康的制约凸显。面对这些人类健康的新挑战,我们必须因应时代变化,在大力发展医疗卫生事业的同时,树立营养健康、动物健康、环境健康三位一体的现代健康新理念。努力提高营养健康水平,以宠物健康为新的关注点高度重视动物健康,以人居、社区环境为重点营造健康生态环境,建立起现代健康新模式。     

Evaluation of the effectiveness of organ-preserving solutions]

In the experiments performed on 61 dogs dynamics of changes of morphometrical parameters of mitochondria of brush-border and cuboid cells have been studied at conservation of the kidneys for 120 h in solutions of intracellular type. Stages of structural reorganization of the mitochondria have been determined depending on duration of conservation and the solution composition. A morphometrical index of viability (Im) has been worked out, correlated with survivability of the transplant and the recipient. In every specific case it allows to estimate quantitatively whether the conserved kidney is suitable for transplantation. At Im less than 50% from the control level, the kidney is not viable, at 50% less than or equal to Im less than or equal to 60%--it is conditionally suitable for transplantation, at Im greater than 60%--it is viable. The index elaborated is practically used for a comparative estimation of the protective action of the four organ-preserving solutions of the intracellular type. The morphometrical index of viability of the conserved kidneys can be used in experimental transplantology for approbation of new solutions before their application in clinical practice.     

The use of mathematical models for description of kinetics of attachment of human neutrophils to substrate in vitro

Kinetics of morphometrical parameters (perimeter, square, compactness) of human blood neutrophils attached to object glass is described by equations similar to the kinetical equations of irreversible reactions of the first reactions. The calculated values of morphometrical parameters of neutrophils in suspension and those attached to glass agree with the literature data. It has been found that compactness of neutrophils in the process of attachment is not changed. The time of completion of the process of attachment amounts approximately to 3 h.     

Structural and functional changes in the mitochondrial apparatus of cortical tubules of the solitary kidney in chronic blockade of cholinergic mediation

In 15, 30 and 90 days the effect of continuous atropine pharmacological blockade of parasympathetic innervation on morphometrical characteristics of epithelial mitochondria in the cortical segments of the canaliculi has been studied in a single kidney of Wistar rats. The maximal degree of the alternative changes has been determined in the proximal canaliculi. In the distal canaliculi epithelium a compensatory increase of the main quantitative parameters in mitochondria has been registered. The plasticity of the mitochondrial apparatus, specific for the collecting tubules under compensatory hypertrophy, is inhibited under conditions of deparasympathization.     

Structure of the mucous membrane of the distal part of the large intestine in the monkey

By means of histological, histochemical, immunohistochemical and morphometrical methods, according to 24 objective morphological parameters, bioptates of endoscopically unchanged mucosal membrane of the large intestine, obtained from 22 clinically healthy macaque rhesus males, have been studied. The data on vital structure and cellular interconnections in the mucous membrane of the distal part of the large intestine have been received. The data can be used for estimating certain pathological processes, when modelling the large intestine diseases in monkeys.     

Comparative analyses of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Astacus leptodactylus</Emphasis> morphological characteristics from Croatia and Armenia

Narrow-clawed crayfish, Astacus leptodactylus is a native European freshwater crayfish species, also distributed in Croatian freshwater systems belonging to the Black Sea drainage. Its taxonomical status is still in the process of change and discussion, and the data on morphological, molecular, ecological and zoogeographical characteristics of this species are scarce. Therefore, comparative analyses of morphological characteristics were applied with the aim to contribute to the knowledge on the morphometrical and meristical characteristics of A. leptodactylus. Recent research proved that measurements of a large number of morphometrical characteristics, in combination with multivariate statistical analysis, could provide a good instrument for identification and differentiation between populations. In this research altogether 143 animals were analysed (121 from two Croatian populations and 22 from Armenia). 22 morphometrical characteristics and 4 meristical characteristics, per crayfish, were measured. It was found that males and females differ between populations in measured meristical and morphometrical characteristics. None of recorded meristical characteristics proved itself to be reliable characteristic for distinguishing populations. From measured morphometrical characteristics the most discriminant characteristics for separating males from different populations were those describing carapace shape and for females those that describe shape of the claws.     

Morphometric study of Schistosoma mansoni adult worms recovered from Undernourished infected mice

Some unfavourable effects of malnutrition of the host on Schistosoma mansoni worm biology and structure have been reported based upon brigthfield microscopy. This paper aims to study by morphometric techniques, some morphological parameters in male and female adult worms recovered from undernourished albino mice in comparison with parasites recovered from well-fed infected mice. Undernourished animals were fed a multideficient and essentially low protein diet (RBD diet) and compared to well-fed control mice fed with the commercial diet NUVILAB. Seventy-five days post-infection with 80 cercarie (BL strain) animals were sacrificed. All adult worms were fixed in 10% formalin and stained with carmine chloride. One hundred male and 60 female specimens from each group (undernourished and control) were examined using an image system analysis Leica Quantimet 500C and the Sigma Scan Measurement System. The following morphometrical parameters were studied: body length and width, oral and ventral suckers, number and area of testicular lobes, length and width of ovary and uterine egg. For statistical analysis, the Student's t test for unpaired samples was applied. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected in body length and width, in parameters of suckers, uterine egg width, ovary length and area of testicular lobes, with lower values for specimens from undernourished mice. The nutritional status of the host has negative influence on S. mansoni adult worms, probably through unavailability of essential nutrients to the parasites.     

Response to “Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Striped Nanoparticles”

Stirling et al., (10.1371/journal.pone.0108482) presented an analysis on some of our publications on the formation of stripe-like domains on mixed-ligand coated gold nanoparticles. The authors shed doubts on some of our results however no valid argument is provided against what we have shown since our first publication: scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of striped nanoparticles show stripe-like domains that are independent of imaging parameters and in particular of imaging speed. We have consistently ruled out the presence of artifacts by comparing sets of images acquired at different tip speeds, finding invariance of the stipe-like domains. Stirling and co-workers incorrectly analyzed this key control, using a different microscope and imaging conditions that do not compare to ours. We show here data proving that our approach is rigorous. Furthermore, we never solely relied on image analysis to draw our conclusions; we have always used the chemical nature of the particles to assess the veracity of our images. Stirling et al. do not provide any justification for the spacing of the features that we find on nanoparticles: ~1 nm for mixed ligand particles and ~ 0.5 nm for homoligand particles. Hence our two central arguments remain unmodified: independence from imaging parameters and dependence on ligand shell chemical composition. The paper report observations on our STM images; none is a sufficient condition to prove that our images are artifacts. We thoroughly addressed issues related to STM artifacts throughout our microscopy work. Stirling et al. provide guidelines for what they consider good STM images of nanoparticles, such images are indeed present in our literature. They conclude that the evidences we provided to date are insufficient, this is a departure from one of the authors’ previous article which concluded that our images were composed of artifacts. Given that four independent laboratories have reproduced our measurements and that no scientifically rigorous argument is presented to invalidate our STM images, and also given that Stirling et al. do not contest the quality of our recent STM images, we re-affirm that specific binary mixture of ligands spontaneously form features in their ligand shell that we describe as stripe-like domains ~1 nm in width.     

High-resolution topography of the S-layer sheath of the archaebacterium Methanospirillum hungatei provided by scanning tunneling microscopy.

The inner and outer surfaces of the sheath of Methanospirillum hungatei GP1 have been imaged for the first time by using a bimorph scanning tunneling microscope (STM) on platinum-coated or uncoated specimens to a nominal resolution in height of ca. 0.4. nm. Unlike more usual types of microscopy (e.g., transmission electron microscopy), STM provided high-resolution topography of the surfaces, giving good depth detail which confirmed the sheath to be a paracrystalline structure possessing minute pores and therefore impervious to solutes possessing a hydrated radius of greater than 0.3 nm. STM also confirmed that the sheath consisted of a series of stacked hoops approximately 2.5 nm wide which were the remnants of the sheath after treatment with 2% (wt/vol) sodium dodecyl sulfate-2% (vol/vol) beta-mercaptoethanol (pH 9.0). No topographical infrastructure could be seen on the sides of the hoops. This research required the development of a new long-range STM capable of detecting small particles such as bacteria on graphite surfaces as well as a new "hopping" STM mode which did not deform the poorly conducting bacterial surface during high-resolution topographical analysis.