The human settlement of Corsica: Palaeogeographic and tectonic considerations

There are no marks of human settlement in Corsica during the Paleolithic age. This paper is a reflection on the following question: could Man have come to this island before the Neolithic age? The possibilities of the existence of an emerged region between Corsica and the mainland are considered.The Quaternary fauna suggests that an isthmus was possible during the Early Würm, unless the animals in the würmian sediments had come into the island previously.The bathymetry around Corsica shows that the shallowest region is between Corsica and Tuscany, via Capraja, Elba, Pianosa islands. But this sea bottom is deeper than the lower levels known or estimated for glacio-eustatical regressions during the Quaternary era. Thus, emersion of this region should have required tectonical movements. The neotectonic is known in Corsica and in perityrrhenian regions; the present bathymetry of the area which may have been emerged should be explained by movements of a credible rate.     

Endocrine pancreatic cells of postatal “diabetes” (DB) mice in cell culture

Summary Ultrastructural characteristics as well as secretory and biosynthetic behavior of monolayer pancreatic cell cultures established from 4-day-old C57BL/KsJ misty diabetic (m db/ m db) mice have been studied in comparison to normal littermate controls. Hypersecretion of glucagon by α-cells from BL/Ks misty diabetic mice after 2 days in vitro was found to precede any hyperfunction of the insulin-secreting β-cells. The increased level of glucagon-release in BL/Ks cell cultures from diabetic mice was accompanied by a greatly enhanced level of incorporation of [³H] tryptophan into glucagon-like molecules whose specific radioactivity was up to 15-fold higher than that observed in cultures from genetic controls. The finding of an α-cell dysfunction in cultures established from preweaning diabetic BL/Ks mice suggests that glucagon could play an early role in shaping the events that culminate in the expression of frank diabetes in this inbred strain. This study was supported in part by NIH Grants AM 17631 and AM 14461, and a grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. The Jackson Laboratory is fully accredited by the American Association for Accrediation of Laboratory Animal Care.     

Reisolamento di una rara specie di Lievito: Trigonopsis variabilis Schachner

Zusammenfassung Trigonopsis variabilis, bisher erst einmal isoliert (1929), wurde in einem Traubenmost aus dem Weinbaugebiet des Staates S. Paulo, Brasilien, wieder aufgefunden. Es wird sein morphologisches und physiologisches Verhalten unter verschiedenen Kulturbedingungen beschrieben.     

Reduced respiratory-related evoked activity in subjects with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Midlatency respiratory-related evoked potentials were measured during wakefulness by using a 60-electrode array placed over the cortical region of the scalp. We studied the responses evoked by 200-ms pressure pulses at -5 and -10 cmH(2)O applied at inspiratory onset and during control tests (no pressure applied) in 14 subjects with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and 18 normal subjects. Wavelet decomposition was used to smooth and dissect the respiratory-related evoked potentials in frequency and time in 8 frequency bands. After denoising, selected wavelet scales were used to reconstruct the respiratory-related evoked potentials, which were quantified by using global field power estimates. The time course of the global field power activity in OSAS subjects compared with normal subjects was significantly depressed in the period 55-70 ms poststimulus onset, a time when afferent traffic from upper airway receptors arrives in normal subjects. The reduced evoked response in subjects with OSAS suggests that these subjects receive less afferent input from upper airway mechanoreceptors. This may reflect reduced sensitivity of mechanoreceptors or reduced mechanoreceptor stimulation due to decreased upper airway compliance during wakefulness in OSAS.