Effect of pharmacological agents on the activity of the circular and longitudinal smooth muscle layers of human fallopian tube ampullar segments

The in vitro determination of the effects of some pharmacological agents on the outer diameter and axial tension of human Fallopian tube ampullar segments showed that some drugs may act on the circular and longitudinal smooth muscle layers relatively separately. PGF2 alpha elicited an excitatory response in both muscle layers while norepinephrine and isoproterenol decreased the activity. Oxytocin and indomethacin had relatively limited effects on the spontaneous motility of the ampullar segments. The calcium antagonist verapamil inhibited the spontaneous periodic activity.     

Selection of HLA compatible donors for patients with HLA antibodies

A strain of 1,507 typised donors enables 15.97 average donors to be selected for a thrombocyte transfusion in one of 75 patients selected at random with HLA antibodies being previously determined (1 to 66 donors per patient). HLA compatible donors were found for 72 patients (97.33 per cent). More than 5 HLA compatible donors could be found for 58 patients. The high number of compatible donors is based on the fact that among 1,507 donors there were 156 HLA homozygotes and 556 donors with 3 HLA-A or B-antigens respectively. Compatibility in the ABO-system was not taken into account.     

Membrane microheterogeneity: Förster resonance energy transfer characterization of lateral membrane domains

Lateral membrane heterogeneity, in the form of lipid rafts and microdomains, is currently implicated in cell processes including signal transduction, endocytosis, and cholesterol trafficking. Various biophysical techniques have been used to detect and characterize lateral membrane domains. Among these, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) has the crucial advantage of being sensitive to domain sizes smaller than 50-100 nm, below the resolution of optical microscopy but, apparently, similar to those of rafts in cell membranes. In the last decade, several formalisms for the analysis of FRET in heterogeneous membrane systems have been derived and applied to the study of microdomains. They are critically described and illustrated here.     

Sex differences in the electrocommunication signals of the electric fish Apteronotus bonapartii

The South American weakly-electric knifefish (Apteronotidae) produce highly diverse and readily quantifiable electrocommunication signals. The electric organ discharge frequency (EODf), and EOD modulations (chirps and gradual frequency rises (GFRs)), vary dramatically across sexes and species, presenting an ideal opportunity to examine the proximate and ultimate bases of sexually dimorphic behavior. We complemented previous studies on the sexual dimorphism of apteronotid communication signals by investigating electric signal features and their hormonal correlates in Apteronotus bonapartii, a species which exhibits strong sexual dimorphism in snout morphology. Electrocommunication signals were evoked and recorded using a playback paradigm, and were analyzed for signal features including EOD frequency and the structure of EOD modulations. To investigate the androgenic correlates of sexually dimorphic EOD signals, we measured plasma concentrations of testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone. A. bonapartii responded robustly to stimulus playbacks. EODf was sexually monomorphic, and males and females produced chirps with similar durations and amounts of frequency modulation. However, males were more likely than females to produce chirps with multiple frequency peaks. Sexual dimorphism in apteronotid electrocommunication signals appears to be highly evolutionarily labile. Extensive interspecific variation in the magnitude and direction of sex differences in EODf and in different aspects of chirp structure suggest that chirp signals may be an important locus of evolutionary change within the clade. The weakly-electric fish represent a rich source of data for understanding the selective pressures that shape, and the neuroendocrine mechanisms that underlie, diversity in the sexual dimorphism of behavior.     

A new species of Galearis (Orchidinae: Orchidaceae) from Sichuan,China

A new species, Galearis huanglongensis Q.W.Meng & Y.B.Luo, is described and illustrated. It is similar to Galearis cyclochila (Franch. & Sav.) Soó and Galearis diantha (Schltr.) P.F.Hunt, but differs in having a short spur, two elliptical lateral stigma lobes and distinctly separated bursicles. This new species is known only from the type locality, the Huanglong Valley, Songpan County, western Sichuan, China, growing amongst mosses under alpine shrubs at an elevation of about 3000 m. Based on two years of observations of its population size, the species was categorized as critically endangered CR (B1a, B2a) according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 3.1. The micromorphology of pollinia and seeds was observed by scanning electron microscopy and compared with that of G. cyclochila and G. diantha. The results supported G. huanglongensis Q.W.Meng & Y.B.Luo as a new species. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 158 , 689–695.     

Potential new areas for conservation of key botanical families in the subtropical Atlantic Forest

Myrtaceae, Lauraceae and Fabaceae are regarded as essential floristic elements of Atlantic forests due to their outstanding species richness, endemism levels, and ecological functions. Nonetheless, Atlantic forests are being subjected to multiple human disturbances that compromise the conservation of their flora. This study, therefore, intended to address whether there exist potential areas for conservation with great richness of tree/shrub species of the aforementioned families in different forest types within the subtropical Atlantic Forest. For this, data collected systematically across?~?23% of the subtropical Brazilian Atlantic Forest were employed. The univariate Local Moran I statistic was used to search for clusters of sample plots with great richness of species of the studied families. Six clusters were found throughout the evergreen rainforest (ERF) and Araucaria forest (AF), and most of them contained more than half of all species of these families observed on the sample plots, besides many others belonging to different families. A cluster of Myrtaceae and a cluster of Lauraceae in the ERF were the only ones that overlapped protected areas. The clusters of Lauraceae in the AF, located in ecotone zones with the ERF, had?~?50% of native forest cover, whereas the clusters of Myrtaceae and Fabaceae had?~?10% of forest cover. Inasmuch as forests in the study area have been heavily exploited, the clusters have relevant conservation value. Protected areas could be expanded or converted into more restrictive conservation categories to enhance the conservation of populations of key elements of the Atlantic Forest. Yet, non-protected areas deserve attention regarding the management of forest resources and conservation-by-use strategies.