A STUDY OF PHAGOCYTOSIS IN THE AMEBA CHAOS CHAOS

The process of phagocytosis was investigated by observing the interactions between the ameba Chaos chaos and its prey (Paramecium aurelia), by studying food cup formation in the living cell, and by studying the fine structure of the newly formed cup using electron microscopy of serial sections. The cytoplasm surrounding the food cup was found to contain structures not seen elsewhere in the ameba. The results are discussed in relation to the mechanisms which operate during food cup formation.     

FURTHER ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES ON FIBRILLAR ORGANIZATION OF THE GROUND CYTOPLASM OF CHAOS CHAOS

Further evidence for fibrillar organization of the ground cytoplasm of Chaos chaos is presented. Fixations with osmium tetroxide at pH 6 or 8 and with glutaraldehyde at pH 6 or 7 were used on two preparations: (a) single actively streaming cells; (b) prechilled cells treated with 0.05% Alcian blue in the cold and returned to room temperature for 5–10 min. In addition, a 50,000 g pellet of homogenized cells was examined after fixation with glutaraldehyde-formaldehyde alone. In sections from actively streaming cells considerable numbers of filaments were observed in the uroid regions after glutaraldehyde fixation, whereas only traces of filaments were seen after osmium tetroxide fixation at either pH 6 or 8. Microtubules were not seen. In sections from dye-treated cells, filaments (4–6 mµ) and fibrils (12–15 mµ) were found with all three fixatives. The 50,000 g pellet was heterogeneous but contained both clumps of fibrils and single thick fibrils like those seen in the cytoplasm of dye-treated cells. Many fibrils of the same dimensions (12–15 mµ wide, 0.5 µ long) were also seen in the supernatant above the pellet. Negative staining showed that some fibrils separated into at least three strands of 4–6 mµ filaments.     

心肌细胞自发性搏动节律的分岔和混沌现象

心脏的节律是复杂的、非线性的;其节律复杂性的起源是多层次的。实验观察了心肌细胞自发性搏动节律的模式,以及改变细胞间耦合强度时节律的转化规律。表明在以正常灌流液灌流状态下,心肌细胞表现为多种不同的节律模式,可以是周期的,也可以是非周期的。当细胞间耦合强度下降时,心肌细胞节律发生转化,并经倍周期分岔进入混沌节律。实验结果有助于更好地理解心脏节律复杂性的起源。     

脑干内的混沌

对脑干听觉诱发电位进行了非线性动力学分析,计算了关联维数Ｄ２和最大Ｌｙａｐｕｎｏｖ特征指数,确认ＢＡＥＰ是一个来源于低维混沌动力系统的时间序列,从而证明人类脑干存在着混沌现象,利用满足最小互信息标准的最佳延迟重构了二维混沌吸引子。     

听觉诱发脑电小波分量的混沌研究——婴儿痉挛症认知功能障碍的机制探讨

通过对婴幼儿期难治性癫痫———婴儿痉挛症(infantile spasms, IS)听觉诱发脑电细貌混沌特性的研究,探讨与IS相伴的认知功能障碍的发生机制。研究方法是分别记录IS组及正常对照组对象的听觉诱发脑电,经Mexihat连续小波变换后,分别计算信号各尺度小波分量的相关维数。结果表明IS组与正常对照组的各小波分量相关维数的差别主要表现在小波的第3尺度分量上(频带范围是32~64 Hz,主要为γ频带范围),在这个尺度上正常组相关维数明显低于IS组(P<0.05)。相关维数的降低意味着大脑活动自由度的减少,表明大脑的各单元耦合加强。因为正常组脑干内信息传递通道完好,使得大脑各个单元之间的信息耦合较强; IS组则由于脑干功能的异常,存在神经信息传递障碍,进而影响到脑干及其与大脑各个局部之间的信息耦合。小波第3尺度处于较高频率范围(γ频带范围),而在大脑皮层上的基频信号与听觉调频信号经加工后所产生的神经信号正在这一频率范围,且这一信号与大脑高级认知功能密切相关。因此,IS患者γ频带细貌信号的相关维数高于正常值,能够解释IS认知功能发生障碍的原因。     

CHAOS AND UNPREDICTABILITY IN EVOLUTION

The possibility of complicated dynamic behavior driven by nonlinear feedbacks in dynamical systems has revolutionized science in the latter part of the last century. Yet despite examples of complicated frequency dynamics, the possibility of long‐term evolutionary chaos is rarely considered. The concept of “survival of the fittest” is central to much evolutionary thinking and embodies a perspective of evolution as a directional optimization process exhibiting simple, predictable dynamics. This perspective is adequate for simple scenarios, when frequency‐independent selection acts on scalar phenotypes. However, in most organisms many phenotypic properties combine in complicated ways to determine ecological interactions, and hence frequency‐dependent selection. Therefore, it is natural to consider models for evolutionary dynamics generated by frequency‐dependent selection acting simultaneously on many different phenotypes. Here we show that complicated, chaotic dynamics of long‐term evolutionary trajectories in phenotype space is very common in a large class of such models when the dimension of phenotype space is large, and when there are selective interactions between the phenotypic components. Our results suggest that the perspective of evolution as a process with simple, predictable dynamics covers only a small fragment of long‐term evolution.     

A REINTERPRETATION OF THE ONTOGENY OF THE ASCOCARP OF SPECIES OF THE ERYSIPHACEAE

A study of four species of Erysiphaceae (Uncinula salicis, Podosphaera leucotricha, Erysiphe cichoracearum, and Microsphaera diffusa) revealed that the binucleate stages of the ascocarp are initiated in a similar manner to those of Diporotheca rhizophila Gordon & Shaw. The “appendages” developing on immature ascocarps are considered to be receptive hyphae. Appendages characteristic of mature ascocarps are produced much later. Lysis of certain centrum cells occurs, and asci are initiated from some of the remaining binucleate centrum cells. Resorption of centrum cells by the asci is supported by this investigation, corroborating Björling's earlier studies on Erysiphe graminis.     

方程dx/dt=f(x(t-1))具有多个周期的周期解并蕴含浑沌的条件

本文给出了方程dx/dt=f(x(t-1))出现4/(2n 1),4/(2n-1),4/(2n-3),…,4/7,4/5,4/3,4一周期解并蕴含浑沌的一个条件。