Locomotor performance in an invasive species: cane toads from the invasion front have greater endurance, but not speed, compared to conspecifics from a long-colonised area

Cane toads (Bufo marinus) are now moving about 5 times faster through tropical Australia than they did a half-century ago, during the early phases of toad invasion. Radio-tracking has revealed higher daily rates of displacement by toads at the invasion front compared to those from long-colonised areas: toads from frontal populations follow straighter paths, move more often, and move further per displacement than do toads from older (long-established) populations. Are these higher movement rates of invasion-front toads associated with modified locomotor performance (e.g. speed, endurance)? In an outdoor raceway, toads collected from the invasion front had similar speeds, but threefold greater endurance, compared to conspecifics collected from a long-established population. Thus, increased daily displacement in invasion-front toads does not appear to be driven by changes in locomotor speed. Instead, increased dispersal is associated with higher endurance, suggesting that invasion-front toads tend to spend more time moving than do their less dispersive conspecifics. Whether this increased endurance is a cause or consequence of behavioural shifts associated with rapid dispersal is unclear. Nonetheless, shifts in endurance between frontal and core populations of this invasive species point to the complex panoply of traits affected by selection for increased dispersal ability on expanding population fronts.     

Efficacy of phototherapy in non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia.

Clinical experience of phototherapy for non-haemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia in 3999 infants in Kandang Kerbau Hospital, Singapore, is documented. Phototherapy was most effective in extremely preterm infants with very low birth weight (gestation less than or equal to 32 weeks, birth weight less than or equal to 1500 g) and least effective in full term infants with very low birth weight (gestation greater than or equal to 37 weeks, birth weight less than or equal to 1500 g) and large preterm infants (gestation less than 37 weeks, birth weight greater than 2270 g). Overall, phototherapy was effective in almost all the infants, with a failure rate of only 2.00/1000 infants. No characteristic features common to all the failures could be detected. The bilirubin rebound was usually mild; repeat phototherapy was required in only 30 infants (7.50/1000), with the response to the second exposure comparable to that to the first. No infant required a third exposure. All the infants tolerated phototherapy well, none developing any illness that could be attributed to the treatment. This clinical experience shows that phototherapy for the treatment of nonhaemolytic hyperbilirubinaemia is effective and safe.     

Interaction of gentamicin and spermine with bilayer membranes containing negatively charged phospholipids

We measured the electrophoretic mobility of multilamellar phospholipid vesicles, the 31P NMR spectra of both sonicated and multilamellar vesicles, and the conductance of planar bilayer membranes to study the binding of spermine and gentamicin to membranes. Spermine and gentamicin do not bind significantly to the zwitterionic lipid phosphatidylcholine. We measured the concentrations of gentamicin and spermine that reverse the charge on vesicles formed from a mixture of phosphatidylcholine and either phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylinositol. From these measurements, we determined that the intrinsic association constants of the cations with these negative lipids are all about 10 M-1. This value is orders of magnitude lower than the apparent binding constants reported in the literature by other groups because the negative electrostatic surface potential of the membranes and the resultant accumulation of these cations in the aqueous diffuse double layer adjacent to the membranes have not been explicitly considered in previous studies. Our main conclusion is that the Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory of the aqueous diffuse double layer can describe surprisingly well the interaction of gentamicin and spermine with bilayer membranes formed in a 0.1 M NaCl solution if the negative phospholipids constitute less than 50% of the membrane. Thus, the theory should be useful for describing the interactions of these cations with the bilayer component of biological membranes, which typically contain less than 50% negative lipids. For example, our results support the suggestion of Sastrasinh et al. [Sastrasinh, M., Krauss, T. C., Weinberg, J. M., & Humes, H. D. (1982) J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 222, 350-358] that phosphatidylinositol is the major binding site for gentamicin in renal brush border membranes.     

Neutral glycosphingolipids of murine lymphoma EL-4

Neutral glycosphingolipids of murine T-lymphoma EL-4 were studied. The major glycolipid components were identified as GlcCer, LacCer, GgOse3Cer and GgOse4Cer. It has been shown for the first time that not only gangliosides but also neutral glycolipids are shed from the cell surface into the outer medium.     

Characteristics of carbohydrate metabolism in the rat liver in thiamine deficiency

Thiamine deficiency in rats induced by oxythiamine is accompanied by an increase in the free NADP+/NADPH ratio in liver tissue, which results in multifold stimulation of the metabolite flux in the oxidation branch of the pentose cycle. The increase in the intracellular concentrations of isocitrate and alpha-ketoglutarate with a simultaneous decrease of malate in the liver of vitamin-deficient rats points to the inhibition of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase responsible for the anomalous metabolism under conditions of thiamine deficiency. The decrease of the functional activity of the tricarboxylic acid cycle is concomitant with the activation of conversions in the oxidation branch of the pentose cycle, glucuronate and glycolytic pathways of carbohydrate metabolism, which is directed at eliminating the energy deficiency in rats with B1-hypovitaminosis.     

An unusual pontine mass lesion.

A 27-year-old Puerto Rican man presented to Yale-New Haven Hospital with a six-week history of left-sided headache, diplopia, and drooping of the left side of his face. Cerebrospinal fluid examination showed a lymphocytic pleocytosis and a CT scan of the brain revealed an unusual intrapontine mass lesion requiring systemic antifungal therapy. This case emphasizes many of the diagnostic and therapeutic considerations required for effective therapy of fungal disease in the central nervous system.     

Novel surface lipids of diapausing Manduca sexta pupae. Long chain oxoalcohol esters of acetoacetic, hydroxybutyric, and acetic acids

Ester components in the surface wax from diapausing tobacco hornworm pupae, Manduca sexta L., were separated by thin layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography, and characterized by infrared spectroscopy and gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three groups of esters were identified as natural derivatives of acetic acid, acetoacetic acid, and 3-hydroxybutyric acid. The major ester fraction was identified as a mixture of C26 (10%), C27 (5%), and C28 (85%) oxoalcohol esters of acetoacetic acid. The major homolog consisted of equal amounts of 11-oxooctacosanyl 3-oxobutanoate and 12-oxooctacosanyl 3-oxobutanoate. Lesser amounts of 11- and 12-oxooctacosanyl and n-octacosanyl esters of acetic and 3-hydroxybutyric acids were also identified. The chain length distributions of these C26, C27, and C28 oxoalcohol and n-primary alcohol ester moieties, as well as the isomeric ratios for the 11- and 12-oxoalcohol isomers, were similar to the oxoaldehydes and unesterified oxoalcohols previously identified by Buckner et al (Buckner, J. S., Nelson, D. R., Haak, H., and Pomonis, J. G. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 8452-8470) as lipid components of the surface wax of M. sexta pupae.     

Effect of flap modifications on human FEN1 cleavage.

The flap endonuclease, FEN1, plays a critical role in DNA replication and repair. Human FEN1 exhibits both a 5' to 3' exonucleolytic and a structure-specific endonucleolytic activity. On primer-template substrates containing an unannealed 5'-tail, or flap structure, FEN1 employs a unique mechanism to cleave at the point of annealing, releasing the 5'-tail intact. FEN1 appears to track along the full length of the flap from the 5'-end to the point of cleavage. Substrates containing structural modifications to the flap have been used to explore the mechanism of tracking. To determine whether the nuclease must recognize a succession of nucleotides on the flap, chemical linkers were used to replace an interior nucleotide. The nuclease could readily traverse this site. The footprint of the nuclease at the time of cleavage does not extend beyond 25 nucleotides on the flap. Eleven-nucleotide branches attached to the flap beyond the footprinted region do not prevent cleavage. Single- or double-thymine dimers also allow cleavage. cis-Platinum adducts outside the protected region are moderately inhibitory. Platinum-modified branch structures are completely inert to cleavage. These results show that some flap modifications can prevent or inhibit tracking, but the tracking mechanism tolerates a variety of flap modifications. FEN1 has a flexible loop structure through which the flap has been proposed to thread. However, efficient cleavage of branched structures is inconsistent with threading the flap through a hole in the protein.