Morphologic der seeigelzähne II. Die gekielten Zähne der echinacea (Echinodermata,echinoidea)

Structure and growth of a keeled tooth are discussed with Paracentrotus lividus as the main example. The microscopic structure of the tooth skeletons of other sea urchins was compared, considering at least one member of each family with the exception of Saleniidae. Attention is called to the necessary revision of the system of sea urchins.

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Mit Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

FOWLER'S BACILLUS AND ITS PARASPORAL BODY

Fowler's bacillus is one of several organisms which form a non-viable inclusion or parasporal body during the process of sporulation. This body is globular and may be as large as or larger than the spore. Its position in the cell is not random; the spore is terminal and the body paracentral, lying between the spore and the remaining vegetative cell chromatin bodies. On completion of sporulation both spore and body are contained within an exosporium. The sequence in the development of the cell structures was followed in ultrathin sections of material fixed in permanganate. When sporulation is well advanced the body begins to grow from a single crystal, then presumably as a result of some disorientation in the growth process it develops as a multicrystalline body with the lattices orientated at different angles. When the body approximates the spore in size, a lamella coat is formed and an exosporium develops which eventually encircles the body and the spore. Other lamella systems microscopically similar to those surrounding the parasporal body develop free in the cytoplasm outside the exosporium. In both of these systems the number of lamellae is variable. The spore coat of Fowler's bacillus, consisting of an outer lamella layer and an inner unresolved amorphous layer has been found microscopically identical to the spore coat of B. cereus. In both organisms the lamella layer of the spore coat consists, in contrast to the other lamella systems, of a regular number of lamellae. Physiological tests would indicate that Fowler's bacillus is a variety of B. cereus.     

Ueber den stand der Agrarmeteorologischen Forschung in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen über Glaskörperrindenzellen und Zonulafasern

Zusammenfassung Es werden folgende Befunde zur Feinstruktur des Glaskörpers beim 16 Tage alten Rattenembryo und der Glaskörperrinde beiderseits der Ora serrata beim 3 Jahre alten, an Retinoblastom erkrankten Kind mitgeteilt:Der Glaskörper des Rattenembryos und die Glaskörperrinde des kindlichen Auges enthalten Fibroblasten. Sie unterscheiden sich nicht von den im Bindegewebe vorkommenden Fibroblasten. Im embryonalen Rattenglaskörper wurden außerdem faserbildende Zellen mit wabiger Struktur des Zytoplasmas beobachtet.Die Fibroblasten der Glaskörperrinde bilden die Fibrillen des Glaskörpergerüstes und der Zonulafasern. Diese Fibrillen zeigen eine deutliche Querstreifung. Die Streifung ist unregelmäßig oder periodisch. Die Länge der Perioden beträgt in unseren Schnitten bei den Glaskörperfibrillen des Rattenembryos und des kindlichen Auges meist etwa 120, seltener 210 A. An den Fibrillenbündeln einer Zonulafaser des kindlichen Auges wurden Perioden von 90–120, 400, 440 und 630 A beobachtet.Die Fibroblasten der Glaskörperrinde des kindlichen Auges liegen im Bereich der Pars plana corporis ciliaris auch tief in den Buchten und Falten des Ciliarepithels. Hierdurch wird eine maximal große Anheftungsfläche für die von ihnen produzierten Fibrillen der Zonulafasern gewährleistet.Die Pars plana corporis ciliaris des kindlichen Auges ist von einem dichten Netz von Fibroblastenfortsätzen überzogen. Auch vereinzelte Makrophagen finden sich hier.Unsere elektronenmikroskopischen Befunde bestätigen die Angaben von Balazs über das Vorkommen von Fibrocyten (Fibroblasten) und Makrophagen in der Glaskörperrinde. Ferner bestätigen sie die bereits von früheren Autoren lichtmikroskopisch gewonnenen Erkenntnisse, wonach es sich beim Glaskörper um mesenchymales Gewebe, bei den Zonulafasern im Bindegewebsfasern handelt.

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Summary The following electron microscopical findings in the vitreous body of 16-day-old rat embryos and in the vitreoretinal border layer on both sides of the ora serrata in a 3-year-old child are reported:The vitreous body of the rat embryo and the vitreoretinal border layer of the infant eye contain fibroblasts. These fibroblasts do not differ from those present in connective tissue. The embryonic vitreous body of the rat contains fibre-forming cells, which show an alveolar structure of the cytoplasm.The fibroblasts in the cortical tissue layer of the vitreous body form the fibrils of the stroma of the vitreous body and the zonula fibres. These fibrils show a marked cross striation. The striation is either irregular or shows periodicity. In the vitreous body of the rat embryo and of the infant eye the lenght of these periods has been measured with 120 and 210 A. Periods of 90–120, 400, 440 and 630 A could be shown in the fibrillar bundles of a zonula fibre of the infant eye. In the region of the pars plana corporis ciliaris the fibroblasts of the cortical tissue layer of the vitreous body of the infant eye are also found deep down in the sinus and folds of the ciliary epithelium. Thus they guarantee an as large as possible area for the attachment of the fibrils of the zonula fibres which they produce.The pars plana corporis ciliaris of the infant eye is covered with a dense network of fibroblast processes. Also cells of the macrophage type may be found in this region.Our electron microscopical findings confirm those of earlier light microscopists and lately by Balazs. The vitreous body of the eye is formed by mesenchymal tissue, whereas the zonula fibres are formed by connective tissue.

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Mit dankenswerter Unterstützung durch den Schweizerischen Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung.     

Production planning of a flexible manufacturing system in a material requirements planning environment

Early flexible manufacturing system (FMS) production planning models exhibited a variety of planning objectives; typically, these objectives were independent of the overall production environment. More recently, some researchers have proposed hierarchical production planning and scheduling models for FMS. In this article, we examine production planning of FMS in a material requirements planning (MRP) environment. We propose a hierarchical structure that integrates FMS production planning into a closed-loop MRP system. This structure gives rise to the FMS/MRP rough-cut capacity planning (FMRCP) problem, the FMS/MRP grouping and loading (FMGL) problem, and the FMS/MRP detailed scheduling problem. We examine the FMRCP and FMGL problems in detail and present mathematical programming models for each of these problems. In particular, the FMRCP problem is modeled as a generalized assignment problem (GAP), and a GAP-based heuristic procedure is defined for the problem. We define a two-phase heuristic for the FMGL problem and present computational experience with both heuristics. The FMRCP heuristic is shown to solve problems that exhibit a dependent-demand relation within the FMS and with FMS capacity utilization as high as 99 percent. The FMGL heuristic requires very little CPU time and obtains solutions to the test problems that are on average within 1.5 percent of a theoretical lower bound. This FMS/MRP production planning framework, together with the resulting models, constitutes an important step in the integration of FMS technology with MRP production planning. The hierarchical planning mechanism directly provides for system-level MRP planning priorities to induce appropriate production planning and control objectives on the FMS while simultaneously allowing for necessary feedback from the FMS. Moreover, by demonstrating the tractability of the FMRCP and FMGL problems, this research establishes the necessary groundwork upon which to explore systemwide issues pertaining to the coordination of the hierarchical structure.     

Microbial oxidation of ebastine

The microbial oxidation of ebastine to carebastine was investigated. Among the 15 micro-organisms examined, only theCunninghamella strains showed the desired biotransformation.Cunninghamella blakesleeana oxidised the substrate within 7 days, via the intermediates alcohol and aldehyde, mainly to carebastine, the corresponding carboxylic acid. Optimisation of the culture conditions increased the yield from initially 10% up to a reproducible 40%. For the synthesis of carebastine a substrate concentration of 200 mg/l, a starting pH of 5.0 and the addition of 1% poly(vinyl alcohol) is favourable. The results achieved in experiments with shaking flasks are transferable to the fermentation scale and yielded 270 mg carebastine in a 3-l fermentation of 600 mg ebastine. The progress of the reaction was detected by TLC and HPLC, the products were identified by mass spectrometry and NMR.     

Focal increases in [Ca]i may account for apparent low Ca sensitivity in swine carotid artery

Estimates of [Ca²⁺]_i sensitivity in intact smooth muscle are frequently obtained by measuring [Ca²⁺]_i with indicators such as aequorin or Fura-2. We investigated whether focal in increases in [Ca²⁺]_i could impair such measures of [Ca²⁺]_i sensitivity. Stimulation of swine carotid artery with 10 μM histamine increased aequorin estimated [Ca²⁺]_i, Fura-2 estimated [Ca²⁺]_i and Ca²⁺ sensitivity without significantly altering the aequorin/Fura-2 ratio (an estimate of [Ca²⁺]_i homogeneity). Subsequent inhibition of Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange by replacement of Na⁺ in the PSS with choline⁺ significantly increased aequorin-estimated [Ca²⁺]_i but only minimally increased Fura-2 estimated [Ca²⁺]_i, myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation and force. This resulted in a large increase in the aequorin/Fura-2 ratio, suggesting an increase in [Ca²⁺] inhomogeneity. Addition of 100 μM histamine to tissues in the choline⁺ buffer initially increased both aequorin and Fura-2 estimated [Ca²⁺]_i but after 10 min exposure both of the [Ca²⁺]_i estimates declined to pre-histamine levels. Histamine addition significantly increased MLC phosphorylation and force, indicating increased Ca²⁺ sensitivity, but the aequorin/Fura-2 ratio remained elevated and uncharged from pre-histamine values. These data show that under certain conditions, aequorin and Fura-2 can yield widely differing estimates of [Ca²⁺]_i, and thus can cause misleading assessments of Ca²⁺ sensitization mechanisms. These discrepancies may arise from inhomogeneous or focal increases in [Ca²⁺]_i which can be evaluated with the aequorin/Fura-2 ratio.