Urethane anesthesia blocks the development and expression of kindled seizures

The effect of anesthetic and subanesthetic doses of urethane on the development of amygdala kindled seizures and on the expression of previously kindled seizures was studied in hooded rats. An anesthetic dose of urethane (1.5 g/kg) almost completely eliminated evoked afterdischarge and completely eliminated convulsive behavior in both groups. It also eliminated the seizure response to pentylenetetrazol. Subanesthetic doses of urethane (0.25 and 0.5 g/kg) strongly attenuated the expression of previously kindled seizures. These results suggest that urethane may not be an appropriate anesthetic for the study of epileptiform phenomena.     

Switch and Bait: Probing the Discriminative Basis of Odor Identification via Recognition Memory

When people misidentify everyday odors, as they often do, theirerrors may conceivably lie in faulty perceptions or in faultyaccess to the names. Discussions of the matter usually focuson the latter, as if people had no problems with perceptualaccuracy. (The problem of faulty access may get attention becauseits high subjective impact makes it particularly memorable,when it does occur.) However, studies have demonstrated breakdownsin ability to discriminate quality, from which it follows thatpeople will misidentify items through perceptual confusions.Furthermore, misidentifications often contain considerable informationabout the identities of items, as if people simply did not perceivethe items accurately, but perhaps fuzzily or with some perceptualbias. Recognition memory, with a 2-day interval between inspectionand test, provided a vehicle to address two questions on thistopic: (i) Would people notice that we had switched items andhad presented for recognition items that matched their misidentificationsrather than the original items inspected? (ii) Would peoplenot only fall for the false bait, but actually identify theswitched items correctly, and thereby imply that they were ‘tuned’to perceive those odors? People commonly failed to notice theswitches, i.e. took the bait and commonly identified the switcheditems with veridical names. Although subject to further study,the outcome suggests that when people give such names as garlicfor vinegar, orange for lime, soy sauce for molasses and manyothers, the errors often lie largely at a perceptual stage ofprocessing, i.e. at input rather than output. Chem. Senses 21:35–44, 1996.     

Ernst Mayr as community architect: Launching the society for the study of evolution and the journalEvolution

Ernst Mayr's contributions to 20th century biology extend far beyond his defense of certain elements in evolutionary theory. At the center of mid-century efforts in American evolutionary studies to build large research communities, Mayr spearheaded campaigns to create a Society for the Study of Evolution and a dedicated journal,Evolution, in 1946. Begun to offset the prominence ofDrosophila biology and evolutionary genetics, these campaigns changed course repeatedly, as impediments appeared, tactics shifted, and compromises built a growing coalition of support. Preserved, however, were designs to balance the community and journal with careful equation of status and explicit partitioning of responsibilities within the working coalition. Choice terms such as cooperation and unity carried a strong political message. Mayr's editorship ofEvolution provides a superb example of these balancing efforts. The mid-century infrastructural activities described herein also represented aggressive attempts to leverage control across several layers of community. Leaders of these campaigns sought: (1) to promote evolutionary studies as a modernized research discipline and place it at the center of American biology, (2) to promote evolutionary studies within existing disciplines — e.g. systematics, genetics, and paleontology, (3) to foster certain research styles within evolutionary studies, and (4) to emphasize certain solutions to prominent research questions. Throughout, Mayr interjected his priorities, tactics and energy.     

Repetitive DNA of grapevine: classes present and sequences suitable for cultivar identification

Summary Repetitive DNA sequences present in the grapevine genome were investigated as probes for distinguishing species and cultivars. Microsatellite sequences, minisatellite sequences, tandemly arrayed genes and highly repetitive grapevine sequences were studied. The relative abundance of microsatellite and minisatellite DNA in the genome varied with the repeat sequence and determined their usefulness in detecting RFLPs. Cloned Vitis ribosomal repeat units were characterised and showed length heterogeneity (9.14–12.15 kb) between and within species. A highly repetitive DNA sequence isolated from V. vinifera was found to be specific only to those species classified as Euvitis. DNA polymorphisms were found between Vitis species and between cultivars of V. vinifera with all classes of repeat DNA sequences studied. DNA sequences suitable for DNA fingerprinting gave genotype-specific patterns for all of the cultivars and species examined. The DNA polymorphisms detected indicates a moderate to high level of heterozygosity in grapevine cultivars.On leave from the Biochemical Research Institute, Nippon Menard Cosmetic Co, Ltd, Ogaki Gifuken, 503 Japan     

A delta T-cell receptor deleting element transgenic reporter construct is rearranged in alpha beta but not gamma delta T-cell lineages.

T cells can be divided into two groups on the basis of the expression of either alpha beta or gamma delta T-cell receptors (TCRs). Because the TCR delta chain locus lies within the larger TCR alpha chain locus, control of the utilization of these two receptors is important in T-cell development, specifically for determination of T-cell type: rearrangement of the alpha locus results in deletion of the delta coding segments and commitment to the alpha beta lineage. In the developing thymus, a relative site-specific recombination occurs by which the TCR delta chain gene segments are deleted. This deletion removes all D delta, J delta, and C delta genes and occurs on both alleles. This delta deletional mechanism is evolutionarily conserved between mice and humans. Transgenic mice which contain the human delta deleting elements and as much internal TCR delta chain coding sequence as possible without allowing the formation of a complete delta chain gene were developed. Several transgenic lines showing recombinations between deleting elements within the transgene were developed. These lines demonstrate that utilization of the delta deleting elements occurs in alpha beta T cells of the spleen and thymus. These recombinations are rare in the gamma delta population, indicating that the machinery for utilization of delta deleting elements is functional in alpha beta T cells but absent in gamma delta T cells. Furthermore, a discrete population of early thymocytes containing delta deleting element recombinations but not V alpha-to-J alpha rearrangements has been identified. These data are consistent with a model in which delta deletion contributes to the implementation of a signal by which the TCR alpha chain locus is rearranged and expressed and thus becomes an alpha beta T cell.     

Temporal integration of pungency

Four experiments explored possible temporal summation in olfactionand the common chemical sense. In one experiment, participantsjudged the perceived magnitude of various concentrations anddurations (1.25–3.75 s) of the pungent odorant ammoniaand the nonpungent odorant isoamyl butyrate. The perceived magnitudeof ammonia increased during an inhalation whereas the magnitudeof isoamyl butyrate did not. Time-intensity trading relationsfor ammonia indicated nearly perfect temporal summation. Inanother experiment, modulation of the concentration of ammoniaduring an inhalation led to assessments of perceived magnitudethat confirmed the high degree of temporal summation seen inthe first experiment. That is, approximately equal time-integratedmass of inhaled ammonia led to approximately equal perceivedintensity. A third experiment indicated that temporal summationfor ammonia arose from its pungency rather than from its odor,a fourth that trigeminally-mediated reflex apnea in responseto ammonia also exhibits temporal summation. The degree of temporalsummation measured with the reflex came very close to that assessedpsychophysically. When stimulated with ammonia, the common chemicalsense behaves more like a totalmass detector than a concentrationdetector. The investigation raises the possibility that theshortterm sensory reaction to most pungent stimuli may followthis simple rule.     

Amino acid and lipid composition of refringent granules from the ameboid sperm of Ascaris suum (Nematoda)

Summary Transformation of the spermatozoon of Ascaris suum from a spheroidal to an ameboid cell is associated with the formation of a motile pseudopodium and coalescence of the intracellular refringent granules. The pseudopodia of the ameboid spermatozoa contain filaments organized into dense patches, bundles, web-like or lace-like networks, as observed by electron microscopy.The morphology and chemistry of the refringent granules were investigated in subcellular fractions enriched for these structures. Isolated refringent granules were heterogeneous in size measuring from 0.5×0.6 to 2.3×3.5 m. Each granule is surrounded by a 110 Å thick layer. During fusion, the surfaces of the refringent granules form small extensions resembling micropodia. The process of fusion occurs at many sites on a given granule and simultanenous fusion of several granules was commonly observed.Amino acid analyses of the refringent granule proteins (RGP's) indicated: they are rich in aspartic acid or asparagine (48%), leucine (10%), serine (19%) and aromatic amino acids (11%). Gas-liquid chromatographic analyses of alditol acetate derivatives of monosaccharides released by mild acid hydrolysis showed the predominant sugars to be glucose (7.3 g/mg protein), galactose (9.2 g/mg) and N-acetylglucosamine (5.5 g/mg). Lipid analyses indicated a complex mixture of glycerides, ascarosides and waxes, together with a major component that resembled free fatty acid in mobility on TLC.