Genbank accession #: AJ237597

Plant Molecular Biology -     

A role for sperm in regulation of egg-laying in the Nematode <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. elegans</Emphasis>

Background  

In insects and in mammals, male sperm and seminal fluid provide signaling factors that influence various aspects of female physiology and behavior to promote reproductive success and to compete with other males. It is less apparent how important such signaling is in the context of a self-fertile hermaphrodite species. We have addressed this question in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which can reproduce either by hermaphrodite self-fertilization or by male-hermaphrodite mating.     

Genbank accession #: 133708

Plant Molecular Biology -     

Raiding the Landscape: Human Impact in the Scandinavian North Atlantic

Between ca. A.D. 800–1000, Scandinavian chiefly societies with a mixed maritime and agricultural economy expanded into the North Atlantic, colonizing Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Hebrides, Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland. The settlers brought continental European economics and expectations to a widely varied set of island ecosystems. In many regions, rapid degradation of flora and soils took place associated with social and climate change. Recent research coordinated by the North Atlantic Bicultural Organization (NABO) highlights the extent of pre-modern impacts.     

An improved method for heterozygote identification in feline and human mucopolysaccharidosis VI, arylsulfatase-B deficiency

An improved method has been developed for the detection of heterozygotes for feline and human mucopolysaccharidosis VI. Arylsulfatase-A and -B activities were assayed in leukocyte extracts following separation of the enzymes by batch chromatography on DEAE cellulose. Determination of arylsulfatase-B specific activities did not permit accurate heterozygote identification, whereas the arylsulfatase-A to arylsulfatase-B activity ratio discriminated all 16 obligate heterozygotes for the feline and human disorders.     

Diaphragmatic electromyography using a multiple electrode array

We have developed a new technique for diaphragmatic electromyography using an array of seven sequential electrode pairs at 1.0-cm spacing on an esophageal catheter. This array provides information about the spatial distribution of the electrical field generated by the diaphragm and reveals a sharply peaked variation of electrical potential with distance along the esophagus. The rectified and integrated information from each of the seven pairs is summed to give an approximation to the total electrical activity over the span of the array, providing a signal that is relatively insensitive to the position of the array over approximately 4 cm of catheter movement and removes the requirement for balloon stabilization of the catheter. With our array, we have confirmed the artifact in the evoked compound muscle action potential that seems to be related to diaphragmatic shape as reported by others who used supramaximal phrenic nerve stimulation, but the magnitude of this artifact (compared with the functional residual capacity level) was modest near functional residual capacity, averaging 12 +/- 14% (SD) for lung volumes 1.0 l above and -4 +/- 15% for lung volumes 1.0 l below functional residual capacity along the rib cage-abdomen relaxation line.     

Western diet induces Paneth cell defects through microbiome alterations and farnesoid X receptor and type I interferon activation

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