Socioeconomic, demographic and environmental determinants of infant mortality in Nepal

The Nepal Fertility and Family Planning Survey of 1986 demonstrated that demographic variables, previous birth interval and survival of preceding child, still predominated as determinants of infant mortality, particularly in rural areas of Nepal. However, in urban Nepal, where the level of socioeconomic development is higher, an environmental variable, along with previous birth interval and survival of preceding child emerges as important in determining infant mortality. Separate policy measures for child survival prospects in rural and urban Nepal are suggested.     

Aerobic heat shock activates trehalose synthesis in embryos of Artemia franciscana.

Encysted embryos (cysts) of the brine shrimp, Artemia franciscana, contain large amounts of trehalose which they use as a major substrate for energy metabolism and biosynthesis for development under aerobic conditions at 25 degrees C. When cysts are placed at 42 degrees C (heat shock) these pathways stop, and the cysts re-synthesize the trehalose that was utilized during the previous incubation at 25 degrees C. Glycogen and glycerol, produced from trehalose at 25 degrees C, appear to be substrates for trehalose synthesis during heat shock. Anoxia prevents trehalose synthesis in cysts undergoing heat shock. These results are consistent with the view that trehalose may play a protective role in cells exposed to heat shock, and other environmental insults, in addition to being a storage form of energy and organic carbon for development.     

Physiological Changes in Phaseolus vulgaris in Response to Long-term Ozone Exposure

The effects of ozone on Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Lit were investigatedusing open-top chambers (OTCs) ventilated with charcoal andPurafil filtered air (CF treatments), ambient air (NF treatments)and ambient air to which low, medium or high concentrationsof ozone were added (NFL, NFM and NFH). Ozone additions of 8,16 and 23 nl l^–1 were made during phase 1 of the experiment(0–44 d after emergence, DAE), and additions of 15, 30and 47 nl l^–1 were made during phase 2 (45–99 DAE).Ozone was added to the chambers between 1100 and 1800 h GMT,for 3 or 4 consecutive days each week. The seasonal 7-h meanozone concentrations were 8, 21, 27, 33 and 38 nl l^–1in the CF, NF, NFL, NFM and NFH treatments, respectively. No visible symptoms of ozone injury or significant physiologicalchanges were detected in P. vulgaris during phase I of the experiment.In phase 2, the photosynthesis (Pn) and stomatal conductance(gs) of NFH-plants were inhibited by 73% and 86%, respectively,during ozone exposure, and recovered to pre-exposure valueson the following day. These observations were made prior tothe appearance, 60 DAE, of bronze lesions on the leaves of NFH-plants.The photosynthetic capacity and gs of NFH-leaves decreased asthe severity of ozone injury increased. Rates of weight lossfrom excised leaves also increased with increasing ozone injury.Microscopic investigations of the bronzed regions revealed extensivecellular breakdown, including tonoplast and chloroplast enveloperupture, and the aggregation of the cytoplasmic contents towardsone end of the cell. Severely damaged leaves abscised from the plants, resultingin premature canopy senescence in the NFM and NFH treatments.This, coupled with the lower photosynthetic capacity of existingleaves led to 25 % lower yield in the NFH than the NF treatment(P < 0.05). Phaseolus vulgaris, green bean, ozone, symptom development, photosynthesis, cell ultrastructure     

Glucocorticoid receptor binding to calf thymus DNA. 1. Identification and characterization of a macromolecular factor involved in receptor-steroid complex binding to DNA.

Activation of receptor-steroid complexes to a form with high affinity for DNA is a poorly understood process involving multiple components in addition to the holoreceptor. Employing rat HTC cells as the source of glucocorticoid receptor, we show that maximal receptor binding to calf thymus DNA is mediated by a previously unknown small molecular weight factor. This factor can be removed from cytosolic preparations of receptor by gel filtration chromatography. Salt extraction of crude nuclear pellets afforded much larger amounts of a similar DNA-binding activity factor. The cytoplasmic factor and the more abundant nuclear factor were identical on the basis of their similar physical properties. The factor was precipitable in the crude state with (NH4)2SO4 and stable to heat as well as freezing and thawing. Chromatography on DNA-cellulose revealed that the factor itself did not bind to DNA. The factor could be filtered through a Centricon C-3 microconcentrator (molecular weight cutoff approximately 3000) but was excluded from Sephadex G-10 columns. These parameters enable us to determine an apparent molecular weight of 700-3000 for this factor. The presence of large amounts of this factor in nuclei accounts for the previously unexplained observation that, following size exclusion chromatography, more activated complexes bind to nuclei than to DNA. These data indicate that some, but not all, of the activated complexes require factor to be able to bind to DNA. The predominantly nuclear localization of this factor, coupled with its ability to increase DNA binding, attests to the biological relevance of this factor in the whole cell action of receptor-glucocorticoid complexes.     

Morphometric parameters of neurons in reticular nuclei of the brain stem in kittens

Three types of Golgi-stained neurons were discovered in brain stem reticular nuclei of 30-day-old kittens: sparsely branching reticular neurons, those with densely branching dendritic trees, and giant multipolar neurons (Leontovich's classification). Adopting computerized morphometric techniques enabled 23 different parameters to be measured in cells of these types. The measurements taken from the neuronal groups investigated revealed statistically significant differences between them for most parameters. It was concluded from this that each of the neuronal types distinguished has its own morphological identity (or stability). Characteristics of structural differences and properties of differing cell types in reticular nuclei are discussed in relation to their functional properties.Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 399–409, July–August, 1991.     

Relative growth rate correlates negatively with pathogen resistance in radish: the role of plant chemistry

Plant growth rate has frequently been associated with herbivore defence: a large investment in quantitative defence compounds occurs at the expense of growth. We tested whether such a relationship also holds for growth rate and pathogen resistance. For 15 radish (Raphanus sativus L.) cultivars, we determined the potential growth rate and the resistance to fungal wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum. We subsequently aimed to explain a putative negative relationship between growth rate and resistance based on plant chemical composition. Both growth rate and resistance level varied greatly among cultivars. Moreover, there was a strong negative correlation between growth rate and resistance, i.e. there are costs associated with a high resistance level. Roots of slow-growing, resistant cultivars have a higher biomass density. Using pyrolysis mass spectrometry. we part1y explained variation in both growth rate and resistance in terms of the same change in chemical composition. Leaves of slow-growing, resistant cultivars contained more cell wall material. Surprisingly, roots of slow-growing, highly resistant cultivars contained significantly less cell wall material, and more cytoplasmic elements (proteins). We speculate that this higher protein concentration is related to high construction and turn-over costs and high metabolic activity. The latter in turn is thought to be responsible for a rapid and adequate resistance reaction, in which phenols may be involved.