The transport of morphologically abnormal sperm in the female reproductive tract of mice

Mice of the PL/J strain exhibit a high percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm and provide a model for studying the function of abnormal sperm. The ability of such sperm to reach the site of fertilization within the female reproductive tract has been investigated. We have found a decrease in the percentage of structurally abnormal sperm within the population that reaches the oviduct. This observation suggests either that there is an active selection against abnormal sperm or that they are physiologically disadvantaged in reaching the site of fertilization.     

The uptake of soil and fertilizer-nitrogen by barley growing under Scottish climatic conditions

Summary Field experiments were carried out using¹⁵N-labelled calcium nitrate, to investigate the relative uptake by barley of fertilizer-N and soil-N. On imperfectly drained till soils uptake of soil-N increased with increasing rate of fertilizer, but remained constant on a brown sand, possibly due to more efficient root exploration in the latter soil. In four out of five seasons, late uptake of soil-derived N was a major feature, and uptake from ploughed soil as compared with uptake from direct-drilled soil was correlated with seasonal rainfall patterns. Significantly higher quantities of both fertilizer- and soil-derived N were taken up by winter barley than by spring barley, reflecting the longer growth period and higher dry matter yield from the former crop.     

Cell culture of sixteen-day-old rat embryo cerebra and associated changes in ganglioside pattern

Abstract— Cortical slices from rat brain were incubated in Krebs-Ringer phosphate medium. Activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH) was measured in homogenates of the incubated tissue. Increasing the extracellular KCI concentration from 5 to 75 mM caused a dose-dependent increase in activity of this rate-limiting mitochondrial enzyme. The increase in PDH activity, produced by high concentration of KCI. was associated with a decrease in the tissue content of ATP. Omission of calcium, or replacement of sodium by choline, reduced, and addition of ouabain prevented, the activation of the enzyme in the depolarized tissue.
The mechanism by which extracellular potassium can affect PDH activity is unknown. However, it is most likely that the alterations in enzyme activity are related to changes in properties of cell membranes during depolarization leading to intracellular events directly affecting the enzyme complex. These could include alterations in the concentrations of adenine nucleotides or free calcium ions in the cell.     

DIFFERENTIAL ENRICHMENT OF CELLS FROM EMBRYONIC RAT CEREBRA BY CENTRIFUGAL ELUTRIATION

—Centrifugal elutriation was used to obtain different populations of cells dissociated from 16-day-old rat embryo cerebra. The cell populations recovered were viable and could be maintained for several weeks in vitro. Sterile conditions were maintained throughout a preparation. Rat pups were removed by Caesarean section, the cerebra dissected and the cells dissociated by brief exposure to trypsin (0.125%, 6 min). An equivalent volume of elutriation medium (Dulbecco's medium containing 1% fetal calf serum, sodium bicarbonate, penicillin and streptomycin, EDTA, and deoxyribonuclease) was added to the trypsin-cell suspension, the dissociated cells pelleted, resuspended in elutriation medium and counted. Up to 4 x 10⁸ cells were injected into the previously sterilized elutriator. Seven fractions were usually recovered from a preparation. The first fraction contained primarily red blood cells and cell debris, which could not be maintained in vitro. Upon culture, fraction 2 consisted of predominantly non-neuronal cells, while fractions 3–6 contained neuronal and non-neuronal cells. The morphological characteristics of the neurons differed in these fractions. Fraction 7 contained cells that had reaggregated during the elutriation procedure and exhibited a variety of cell types in vitro.     

Lethal white foals in matings of overo spotted horses

Overo is a variable pattern of white coat color spotting which occurs in several breeds of horses in the United States. Occasionally, when overos are crossed inter se white foals are born which die soon after birth. Both intestinal tract abnormalities and isoerythrolysis have been reported in these foals. This report presents data which show that neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI) is not involved in the death of the white foals. Further research is needed to define the nature of the lethal anomaly, as well as the genetics, of overo and lethal white foals.     

The second polar lobe of theSabellaria cementarium embryo plays an inhibitory role in apical tuft formation

Summary The embryo ofSabellaria cementarium (Polychaeta) forms a polar lobe at each of the first two cleavage divisions which becomes absorbed into one of the blastomeres at the end of the division. Lobe removal experiments show that the polar lobe preceding first cleavage is necessary for the development of the apical tuft and the posttrochal region of the trochophore larva. The polar lobe preceding second cleavage is smaller than the first polar lobe and is necessary only for post-trochal region development. In blastomere isolation experiments, isolates containing the C but not the D blastomere form apical tufts. Isolates containing the D but not the C blastomere do not form apical tufts. When the polar lobe preceding second cleavage is removed and the C and D blastomeres are separated and raised in isolation, each can form an apical tuft. When the second cleavage is equalized with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) such that both the C and the D blastomeres receive second polar lobe material, no apical tuft is formed. These results suggest that apical tuft determinants are distributed to both the C and D blastomeres at second cleavage but that the second polar lobe contains an inhibitor for apical tuft formation which is shunted to the D blastomere after the completion of second cleavage.     

The identification of dimethylphenylarsine as a microbial metabolite using a simple method of chemofocusing

Candida humicola acts on benzenearsonic acid to produce dimethylphenylarsine, which was identified by mass spectroscopy following the chemofocusing of the volatile metabolite onto a mercuric chloride impregnated filter. The same technique established that trimethylarsine is the volatile metabolic product obtained from C. humicola treated with 4-NH₂-2-OHC₆H₃AsO(OH)₂ and (CH₃)₃AsO. Arsanilic acid, 4-NH₂C₆H₄AsO(OH)₂, is not metabolized to a volatile arsine.     

Heterochromatin accumulation,disposition and diversity in Gibasis karwinskyana (Commelinaceae)

C-banding differences within Gibasis karwinskyana (Roem & Schult.) Rohw. were reassessed using dual fluorochrome staining. Pronounced differences in C-band pattern between two subspecies with identical basic karyotypes were due to different chromosomal locations of AT-rich and GC-rich heterochromatin. The AT-rich component had an equilocal distribution in the karyotype and has evidently been accumulated at telomeres, as shown by its prevalence in supernumerary segments and B chromosomes. The GC-rich component also varied in amount, but was limited to nucleolus organizing regions (NORs) and centromeres. Centromeres and telomeres are suggested to constitute separate, although perhaps interdependent, centres of heterochromatin amplification. The possible role of nuclear architecture in determining the accumulation, distribution and spread of these sequences is discussed.Abbreviations H Hoechst 33258 - CMA chromomycin A3 - NOR nucleolus organizing region - SS supernumerary segment - Q quinacrine dihydrochloride - H⁺ H etc. indicate enhanced (+) and quenched (-) fluorescence with the stated fluorochrome by H.C. Macgregor     

Sustained effects of biofeedback-assisted relaxation therapy in essential hypertension

The usefulness of biofeedback-assisted relaxation as an adjunct or substitute for pharmacotherapy in essential hypertension can be enhanced if the effects are shown to persist after formal treatment has ended. Patients with essential hypertension successfully treated with biofeedback-assisted relaxation were recalled for follow-up yearly after the termination of treatment. Twenty-six of 40 patients met the BP criterion for success. At one-, two-, and three-year follow-up, 31%, 38%, and 27% of the successful completers continued to meet the criterion for success. The pretreatment-posttreatment decreases in BP were accompanied by decreases in forehead muscle tension and urinary cortisol. Forehead muscle tension, urinary cortisol, and anxiety levels were significantly lower than pretreatment one year after the end of treatment. Self-report data were used to assess continued relaxation practice. No relationship was found between practice and any other dependent measure. It appears that some patients trained in biofeedback-assisted relaxation can maintain lowered blood pressure, muscle tension, anxiety, and cortisol levels over the long term; however, the role of relaxation practice in maintaining these lowered levels remains unclear.