Aminergic neuron systems of lobsters: morphology and electrophysiology of octopamine-containing neurosecretory cells

In the American lobster (Homarus americanus) the biogenic amines serotonin and octopamine appear to play important and opposite roles in the regulation of aggressive behavior, in the establishment and/or maintenance of dominant and subordinate behavioral states and in the modulation of the associated postural stances and escape responses. The octopamine-containing neurosecretory neurons in the thoracic regions of the lobster ventral nerve cord fall into two morphological subgroups, the root octopamine cells, a classical neurohemal group with release regions along second thoracic roots, and the claw octopamine cells, a group that selectively innervates the claws. Cells of both subgroups have additional sets of endings within neuropil regions of ganglia of the ventral nerve cord. Octopamine neurosecretory neurons generally are silent, but when spontaneously active or when activated, they show large overshooting action potentials with prominent after-hyperpolarizations. Autoinhibition after high-frequency firing, which is also seen in other crustacean neurosecretory cells, is readily apparent in these cells. The cells show no spontaneous synaptic activity, but appear to be excited by a unitary source. Stimulation of lateral or medial giant axons, which excite serotonergic cells yielded no response in octopaminergic neurosecretory cells and no evidence for direct interactions between pairs of octopamine neurons, or between the octopaminergic and the serotonergic sets of neurosecretory neurons was found.     

The effects of manipulation of sedimentary iron and organic matter on sediment biogeochemistry and seagrasses in a subtropical carbonate environment

The microbial metabolism of organic matter (OM) in seagrass beds can create sulfidic conditions detrimental to seagrass growth; iron (Fe) potentially has ameliorating effects through titration of the sulfides and the precipitation of iron-sulfide minerals into the sediment. In this study, the biogeochemical effects of Fe availability and its interplay with sulfur and OM on sulfide toxicity, phosphorous (P) availability, seagrass growth and community structure were tested. The availability of Fe and OM was manipulated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment arranged in a Latin square, with four replicates per treatment. The treatments included the addition of Fe, the addition of OM, the addition of both Fe and OM as well as no addition. The experiment was conducted in an oligotrophic, iron-deficient seagrass bed. Fe had an 84.5% retention efficiency in the sediments with the concentration of Fe increasing in the seagrass leaves over the course of the experiment. Porewater chemistry was significantly altered with a dramatic decrease in sulfide levels in Fe addition plots while sulfide levels increased in the OM addition treatments. Phosphorus increased in seagrass leaves collected in the Fe addition plots. Decreased sulfide stress was evidenced by heavier δ³⁴S in leaves and rhizomes from plots to which Fe was added. The OM addition negatively affected seagrass growth but increased P availability; the reduced sulfide stress in Fe added plots resulted in elevated productivity. Fe availability may be an important determinant of the impact that OM has on seagrass vitality in carbonate sediments vegetated with seagrasses.     

Degradation of aromatic amino acids by Rhodococcus erythropolis

A Gram-positive Rhodococcus erythropolis strain S1 was shown to assimilate aromatic amino acids such as L-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine, L-tryptophan, D-phenylalanine, D-tyrosine and D-tryptophan, which were utilized not only as the sole carbon source but also as a suitable nitrogen source. The highest growth on these aromatic amino acids occurred at a temperature of 30°C. L-Phenylalanine, L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan degradative pathways would appear to be independent, and to be induced alternatively. The strain S1 also showed the ability to assimilate peptides which consisted of only L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine.     

Inhibition of leukocyte adhesion by the in vivo and in vitro administration of cannabinoids

Cannabinoids have been shown to affect various aspects of arachidonic acid metabolism both in vivo and in vitro. Eicosanoid metabolites of arachidonate and related octadecanoate are believed to be involved in cell adhesion processes as agonists in some instances and as antagonists in other cases. This report shows data in which cannabinoids exhibit marked inhibitory effects on the adhesion of mouse peritoneal cells to polystyrene culture dishes. The effects could be seen by in vivo administration of the drugs as well as by direct exposure of the cells in vitro. The data suggest that this inhibition of adhesion is mediated by one or more products generated by stimulation of a lipoxygenase pathway.     

A comparison of vector population indices for forecasting barley yellow dwarf virus in autumn sown cereal crops

Two approaches based on the concept of a vector population index are considered as possible deterministic elements for an empirical forecast of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) in autumn sown cereals. The first, an aerial vector index, is a further elaboration of the infectivity index proposed by Plumb, Lennon & Gutteridge (1981), which assumes that virus damage is a function of the number of infective migrant alatae of the two main aphid vectors, Rhopalosiphum padi L. and Sitobion avenae F., integrated over time from crop planting or emergence. The new formulation, however, excludes holocyclic alate morphs (i.e. males and gynoparae) of the former species, which, although generally abundant in autumn, are nevertheless perceived as relatively unimportant virus vectors since they colonise only the alternative woody host, Prunus padus (the bird-cherry tree). The second approach, a crop vector index, is a more fundamental departure which argues that field populations of viruliferous aphids, both alatae and apterae, which have already colonised cereals, may be a better criterion of potential virus spread than the density of aerial migrant vectors. This index retains a similar integral form, but evaluates crop exposure to BYDV as accumulated infectious aphid-days. A method is described whereby this function can be derived from irregular or infrequent aphid samples in the crop. Both methods, unlike Plumb's (1976) original concept, produced indices which were significantly related to subsequent virus infection and yield loss in winter barley at Long Ashton (S.W. England, UK), 1978–1986. The best models were obtained with the crop vector index, fitted to observed virus infection by generalised linear regression using a complementary log-log link function, or to observed yield loss by simple linear regression using a log transformation of yield (r = 0.84 in each case; compared with r-values > 0.65 for the aerial vector index, and > 0.35 for Plumb's (1976) index). However, the residual errors and hence confidence limits of these fitted regressions were too large for predicting damage that was significantly less than a reasonable economic damage threshold for BYDV control. Analyses of the separate components of each index showed a good general relationship between aphid infectivity and the severity of crop infection, confirming the epidemiological importance of this factor. The functional expressions of aphid density, however, were not significant. This evident weakness in the models, and alternative approaches to BYDV forecasting are discussed.     

Cod Gadus morhua L. populations as behavioural units: inference from time series on juvenile abundance in the eastern Skagerrak

Abundance and distribution of cod Gadus morhua in various size intervals and age groups between 2000 and 2005 were followed in coastal trawl surveys. In spite of a reduction in fishing pressure in recent years and high cod recruitment in the Skagerrak region in 2001 and 2003, no recovery could be evidenced. The survey data clearly showed that low cod density areas were not recolonized, even though abundance of juvenile cod remained high for about a year after the recruitment episodes. Increased abundance of fish >400 mm total length was only discernible at some scattered locations where other studies also have suggested local populations still to be present. The intermittent high recruitment has been linked to an inflow of egg and larvae from the North Sea, a theory which also has gained support from genetic studies. It was thus argued that the disappearance of the juvenile cod from the inshore is an effect of a migratory behaviour; the fish of offshore origin eventually leave the coast for the open Skagerrak or the North Sea. These findings support a view on cod populations as essentially behavioural entities, whereas dispersal of early life stages may be less important as a structuring mechanism.     

Means for efficient electron beam generation in wide-aperture open-discharge light sources

The interaction of a plasma in the accelerating gap of an open discharge with a strong external electric field and with the cathode surface has been investigated theoretically and experimentally. In a pulsed nanosecond discharge, the ion inertia and plasma screening of the electric field cause a fast growth of the electric field E in the cathode region and a decrease in the length of the latter. Along with a reduction of the electron multiplication factor at high electric fields, this leads to a substantial decrease in the ion flux toward the cathode, which allows one to develop highly efficient open-discharge light sources with a long lifetime and low cathode sputtering. In this respect, continuous and quasi-continuous discharges are less advantageous because of the smaller increase in the electric field in the cathode region. The Townsend coefficients of charge multiplication and electron emission at high electric fields typical of open discharges have been measured for the first time. Fast ions and atoms extracted from the plasma of the accelerating gap significantly affect the cathode emission properties. In particular, photoemission is enhanced by more than one order of magnitude and becomes the main mechanism for electron generation. This also increases the efficiency and lifetime of open-discharge light sources.