Sexual behaviour of group-living adolescent chimpanzees

This paper reports a study of the heterosexual behavior of three male and four female captive adolescent chimpanzees living a semi-natural life style in a large field enclosure. Observations made with binoculars from an over-head deck were balanced over the daylight hours and the seven weekdays. We recorded 213 copulations in 741.25 hours of observation between February 14 and July 21, 1972. Analysis of the observations suggests that group-living chimpanzees in a large field enclosure behave more like free-living chimpanzees than like other captive chimpanzees paired in small cages. In this group, copulations were non-randomly distributed throughout the day, a finding in agreement with results on wild-living chimpanzees but not previously reported for captive chimpanzees. In this group, moreover, copulations were highly concentrated within each female's period of maximum tumescence, as are those of free-living chimpanzees; and individual differences in sexual attractiveness among females were apparently based on a maturational threshold of swelling size, a phenomenon that has also been reported for wild chimpanzees.     

Determination of free and esterified cholesterol in human serum by high-performance liquid chromatography and optical activity detection

A separation and detection scheme is presented for the determination of free, esterified and total cholesterol in human serum. Separation is accomplished by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and the eluate is monitored by the laser-based optical activity detector. The method is simple, accurate and has the advantage of specificity and selectivity when compared with the many methods commonly used.     

Transport properties of single-file pores with two conformational states.

Complex facilitative membrane transporters of specific ligands may operate via inner channels subject to conformational transitions. To describe some properties of these systems, we introduce here a kinetic model of coupled transport of two species, L and w, through a two-conformational pore. The basic assumptions of the model are: a) single-file of, at most, n molecules inside the channel; b) each pore state is open to one of the compartments only; c) there is at most only one vacancy per pore; d) inside the channel, a molecule of L occupies the same positions as a molecule of w; and e) there is at most only one molecule of L per pore. We develop a general representation of the kinetic diagram of the model that is formally similar to the one used to describe one-vacancy transport through a one-conformational single-file pore. In many cases of biological importance, L could be a hydrophilic (ionic or nonionic) ligand and w could be water. The model also finds application to describe solute (w) transport under saturation conditions. In this latter case, L would be another solute, or a tracer of w. We derive steady-state expressions for the fluxes of L and w, and for the permeability coefficients. The main results obtained from the analysis of the model are the following. 1) Under the condition of equilibrium of w, the expression derived for the flux of L is formally indistinguishable from the one obtainable from a standard four-state model of ligand transport mediated by a two-conformational transporter. 2) When L is a tracer of w, we can derive an expression for the ratio between the main isotope and tracer permeability coefficients (Pw/Pd). We find that the near-equilibrium permeability ratio satisfies (n - 1) < or = (Pw/Pd)eq < or = n, a result previously derived for the one-conformational, single-file pore for the case that n > or = 2. 3) The kinetic model studied here represents a generalization of the carrier concept. In fact, for the case that n = 1 (corresponding to the classical single-occupancy carrier), the near-equilibrium permeability ratio satisfies 0 < or = (Pw/Pd)eq < or = 1, which is characteristic of a carrier performing exchange-diffusion.     

The N-terminal sequence of antileukoprotease isolated from bronchial secretion

Antileukoprotease (ALP) was isolated from bronchial secretion. The amino acid composition as well as the N-terminal sequence were determined. No homology with other low molecular weight proteinase inhibitors was found.     

The production of hematopoietic growth factors by endothelial accessory cells

Monocytes are known to produce both hematopoietic growth factors and other factors, monokines, which do not directly stimulate hematopoiesis. Monokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) may indirectly stimulate mesenchymal cells to produce hematopoietic growth factors. The identity of all the factors produced by monocytes or mesenchymal cells has not been established because of overlapping activities on biologic assay. The purpose of this study was to identify the individual growth factors produced by endothelial cells before and after stimulation with various monokines. We prepared conditioned media and extracted RNA from endothelial cells before and after stimulation with monokines. The results show that immortalized endothelial cells produce maximal detectable amounts of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) constitutively. In contrast, GM-CSF production by primary endothelial cells requires induction with either IL-1 or TNF.