Behavior of thyroid hormones and TSH in chronic active hepatitis

The authors studied total and free circulating thyroid hormones, rT3, TBG and TSH behaviour on chronic liver disease in 11 subjects with cirrhosis of the liver with ascites(C.E.) and in 6 subjects with chronic active hepatitis (E.C.A.) in comparison with 15 healthy and euthyroid controls. Serum T3,FT3,T4 and FT4 levels were decreased significantly and serum rT3 values increased significantly both in the subjects with C.E. and in patients with E.C.A. Moreover no significantly changes of TSH and TBG levels has been found in 3 groups studied. These data suggest that the alteration of circulating thyroid hormones in chronic liver disease, may represent a compensatory way of reducing the patient's metabolic requirements.     

Evolutionary relationships within the fungi: analyses of nuclear small subunit rRNA sequences.

Nucleotide sequences of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S) gene were used to investigate evolutionary relationships within the Fungi. The inferred tree topologies are in general agreement with traditional classifications in the following ways: (1) the Chytridiomycota and Zygomycota appear to be basal groups within the Fungi. (2) The Ascomycota and Basidiomycota are a derived monophyletic group. (3) Relationships within the Ascomycota are concordant with traditional orders and divide the hemi- and euascomycetes into distinct lineages. (4) The Basidiomycota is divided between the holobasidiomycetes and phragmobasidiomycetes. Conflicts with traditional classification were limited to weakly supported branches of the tree. Strongly supported relationships were robust to minor changes in alignment, method of analysis, and various weighting schemes. Weighting, either of transversions or by site, did not convincingly improve the status of poorly supported portions of the tree. The rate of variation at particular sites does not appear to be independent of lineage, suggesting that covariation of sites may be an important phenomenon in these genes.     

Isolation of a plant glycoprotein involved with control of intercellular recognition

A recognition molecule was isolated from stigmas of S-allele genotype S₂S₂ of Brassica oleracea var. capitata L. After Sephadex chromatography, it eluted as a single symmetrical peak during diethylaminoethane-cellulose chromatography. A high degree of purity was affirmed by: sedimentation as a single peak during ultracentrifugation through 5 to 20% sucrose gradients; elution as a single peak from Sephadex G-100; visualization as a single band which stains with Coomassie blue and periodic acid Schiff reagent after electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels. Other criteria supporting the conclusion that it is a glycoprotein are: (a) the highly purified preparation is anthrone-positive and has a Lowry protein to anthrone-positive carbohydrate ratio of 1.3; (b) the preparation contains arabinose, galactose, glucose, and mannose, although it is not precipitated by concanavalin A; (c) the immunological properties of the molecule are lost following protease treatment, and it has a molecular weight of 90,000 by Sephadex gel-filtration analysis and 54,500 by velocity sedimentation analysis.     

A sensitive and precise isotopic assay of ATPase activity

A manual ATPase assay which measures the release of ³²P_i from [γ-³²P]ATP is described. Sodium dodecyl sulfate is used to terminate the enzyme reaction and extraction of the phophomolybdate complex into xylene: isobutanol is used to separate ³²P_i from [γ-³²P]ATP for quantitation by scintillation counting. The three-step assay is rapid (75–90 samples/h) and minimizes hydrolysis of ATP due to exposure to acidie conditions. The extraction procedure separates 10⁻¹⁵ to 10⁻⁷ mol of ³²P_i from aqueous solution with an efficiency of 100,7 ± 0.62%. Less than 1% of unhydrolyzed [γ-³²P]ATP is extracted. Extraction efficiency is not affected by protein or salts commonly present in enzyme incubation mixtures. Results obtained with this assay are precise, with an intraassay coefficient of variation of 0.6% and an interassay coefficient of variation of 1.8%. The results are comparable to results obtained with a spectrophotometric assay, with a correlation coefficient of 0,996, though assay performance and sensitivity are greatly improved with the isotopic assay.     

The Art of Caricature and Cartooning

Abstract

The arts are a language of a whole range of human experiences. To neglect them is to neglect ourselves and to deny children the full development that educators should provide.     

Variation of annual apparent survival and detection rates with age,year and individual identity in male Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) from long-term mark-recapture data

Exploring age- and sex-specific survival rates provides insight regarding population behavior and life-history trait evolution. However, our understanding of how age-specific patterns of survival, including actuarial senescence, compare between the sexes remains inadequate. Using 36 years of mark-recapture data for 7,516 male Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) born in Erebus Bay, Antarctica, we estimated age-specific annual survival rates using a hierarchical model for mark-recapture data in a Bayesian framework. Our male survival estimates were moderate for pups and yearlings, highest for 2-year-olds, and gradually declined with age thereafter such that the oldest animals observed had the lowest rates of any age. Reports of senescence in other wildlife populations of species with similar longevity occurred at older ages than those presented here. When compared to recently published estimates for reproductive Weddell seal females, we found that peak survival rates were similar (males: 0.94, 95% CI = 0.92–0.96; females: 0.92, 95% CI = 0.93–0.95), but survival rates at older ages were lower in males. Age-specific male Weddell seal survival rates varied across years and individuals, with greater variation occurring across years. Similar studies on a broad range of species are needed to contextualize these results for a better understanding of the variation in senescence patterns between the sexes of the same species, but our study adds information for a marine mammal species to a research topic dominated by avian and ungulate species.     

Development and validation of genetic markers for sex and cannabinoid chemotype in Cannabis sativa L.

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an emerging dioecious crop grown primarily for grain, fiber, and cannabinoids. There is good evidence for medicinal benefits of the most abundant cannabinoid in hemp, cannabidiol (CBD). For CBD production, female plants producing CBD but not tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are desired. We developed and validated high‐throughput PACE (PCR Allele Competitive Extension) assays for C. sativa plant sex and cannabinoid chemotype. The sex assay was validated across a wide range of germplasm and resolved male plants from female and monoecious plants. The cannabinoid chemotype assay revealed segregation in hemp populations, and resolved plants producing predominantly THC, predominantly CBD, and roughly equal amounts of THC and CBD. Cultivar populations that were thought to be stabilized for CBD production were found to be segregating phenotypically and genotypically. Many plants predominantly producing CBD accumulated more than the current US legal limit of 0.3% THC by dry weight. These assays and data provide potentially useful tools for breeding and early selection of hemp.