How Multidisciplinary Are the Multidisciplinary Journals Science and Nature?

Interest in cross-disciplinary research knowledge interchange runs high. Review processes at funding agencies, such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, consider plans to disseminate research across disciplinary bounds. Publication in the leading multidisciplinary journals, Nature and Science, may signify the epitome of successful interdisciplinary integration of research knowledge and cross-disciplinary dissemination of findings. But how interdisciplinary are they? The journals are multidisciplinary, but do the individual articles themselves draw upon multiple fields of knowledge and does their influence span disciplines? This research compares articles in three fields (Cell Biology, Physical Chemistry, and Cognitive Science) published in a leading disciplinary journal in each field to those published in Nature and Science. We find comparable degrees of interdisciplinary integration and only modest differences in cross-disciplinary diffusion. That said, though the rate of out-of-field diffusion might be comparable, the sheer reach of Nature and Science, indicated by their potent Journal Impact Factors, means that the diffusion of knowledge therein can far exceed that of leading disciplinary journals in some fields (such as Physical Chemistry and Cognitive Science in our samples).     

NH resonances of Ribonuclease S-peptide in aqueous solution. Low temperature n.m.r. study

A detailed study of the NH resonances of Ribonuclease-S-peptide (1-19 N-terminal fragment of Ribonuclease A) has been carried out in H2O, pH 3.0, in the temperature range 1-31 degrees, and ionic strength 0-1 M. Individual assignments of all NH amide signals have been achieved by means of extensive double resonance experiments. The folding of S-peptide at low temperature has been monitored by examination of the several NH resonance parameters: first, the nonlinearity of chemical shift vs. temperature plots; second, the selective broadening observed for signals assigned to residues 3-13; and third, the decrease of 3JHNCH coupling constants belonging to this region of the polypeptide chain. All these results are in agreement with the formation of a folded structure at low temperature, which is similar to the one found for the S-peptide in the RNase S crystal.     

5''-Nucleotidases in rat heart. Evidence for the occurrence of two soluble enzymes with different substrate specificities.

Chromatography of soluble proteins from rat heart on phosphocellulose columns separates two 5'-nucleotidases. The first to emerge from the column shows a preference for AMP over IMP as substrate, whereas the second shows a preference for IMP over AMP. The properties of the IMP-preferring enzyme, including the conditions under which it is eluted from phosphocellulose columns, show it to be the enzyme studied by Itoh, Oka & Ozasa [Biochem. J. (1986) 235, 847-851]. The kinetic properties of the AMP-preferring enzyme indicate that it is likely to be the enzyme responsible for the production of adenosine under conditions of hypoxia and increased work load, and with metabolic stresses such as a high load of acetate.     

Calorimetric and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies on the interaction of glycophorin with phosphatidylserine/dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine-d62 mixtures

Glycophorin has been isolated in pure form from human erythrocyte membranes and reconstituted into lipid vesicles composed of binary mixtures of bovine brain phosphatidylserine (PS) and acyl-chain perdeuterated dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC-d62). The effect of protein on lipid melting behavior and order has been monitored with differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The phase diagram for PS/DPPC-d62 is consistent with that previously reported for PS/DPPC (Stewart et al. (1979) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 556, 1-16) and indicates that acyl chain perdeuteration does not greatly alter the lipid mixing characteristics. The use of deuterated lipid allows the examination of lipid order by FT-IR of each lipid component in the binary mixtures as well as in the ternary (lipid/lipid/protein) systems. Addition of glycophorin to a 30:70 PS/DPPC-d62 binary lipid mixture results in a preferential glycophorin/PS interaction leading to bulk lipid enriched in DPPC-d62. This is revealed in two ways: first, through cooperative calorimetric transitions increased in temperature from the binary lipid system and second, through FT-IR melting curves of the DPPC-d62 component which shows transitions increased in both onset and completion temperatures in the presence of protein. In addition, non-cooperative melting events are observed at temperatures below the onset of phase separation. The FT-IR data are used to assign these non-cooperative events to the melting of the PS component. For the 50:50 lipid mixture with protein, two transitions are observed in the DSC experiments. The IR results indicate that both lipid components are involved with the lower temperature event.     

Immunoenzyme analysis of the fertility alpha 2-microglobulin in the blood serum of men and women

It has been found that fertility alpha 2-microglobulin content in male and female serum does not exceed 20 ng/ml and 40 ng/ml, respectively. A high level of fertility alpha 2-microglobulin was found in the serum in early pregnancy, with its concentration decreased by parturition.     

Radioiodinated surface proteins of rabbit trophectoderm cells

Summary We have previously used surface iodination to discriminate between the protein patterns of epithelial cell surfaces in uteri of rabbits receptive (Day 6.5) or nonreceptive (Day 4) to nidation (Ricketts et al. 1984). In this paper, we describe application of the same technique to the trophoblastic surface of rabbit blastocysts collected on the same days of pregnancy. Analysis of labelled proteins by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions did not reveal qualitative differences between the two days of pregnancy. Scanning densitometry was used to quantitate the area under each protein peak on an autoradiogram; these areas were used as variables in statistical analysis of the protein pattern of individual animals. Quantitative differences between the protein patterns of the two surfaces were detected by canonical variate analysis of the pattern of relative areas of labelled protein peaks. In proteins separated on 7.5% gels, this statistical analysis correctly assigned blastocysts from 8 out of 10 animals to one of two groups according to day of pregnancy. The discrimination was not statistically significant, however, in protein patterns on 12.5% gels, used to give better separation in the lower range of molecular weights. The same analysis in the uterus unequivocally separated the surface iodination patterns from these same days of pregnancy. Thus the changes detected by surface iodination appear to be less pronounced on the trophectoderm than on the uterine epithelium in relation to the time of ovoimplantation.     

Rana Pipiens: Health and Disease--How Little We Know

The potential impact of frog diseases on basic research is discussedin practical terms.