Dream Imagery and Emotion.

The relationship between prominent visual imagery and emotion within dreams was investigated in relation to E. Hartmann's (1996) contextualizing image (CI) theory and M. Seligman and A. Yellen's (1987) dual imagery theory. Fifty-nine students recorded dreams over a 2-week period and submitted 115 dreams for analysis. Participants recorded ratings of emotion type and emotion intensity in each scene. Prominent visual images were identified and scored for intensity and detail by independent judges. As hypothesized from Hartmann's theory, there was a significant positive relationship between CI intensity and emotion intensity in the CI scene, emotion intensity generally peaked in the CI scene, and dreams containing a CI had higher overall ratings of emotion intensity than non-CI dreams. The result for the correlation of detail of prominent imagery with emotion was inconclusive, with a low positive correlation across CI scenes. This raises the possibility that the CI is not a unitary construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mammalian sulfoconjugate metabolism

Sulfoconjugates occur ubiquitously as sulfopolysaccharides, sulfolipids and sulfoproteins. A variety of sulfotransferases catalyze the sulfation process with 3’-phosphoadenosine 5’-phosphosulfate as the sulfate donor. Sulfatases that catalyze the desulfation of different sulfoconjugates are known to be deficient in a number of genetic storage disorders.     

Resolution of genetic and uterine environmental effects in a family study of new dermatoglyphic measure: sole pattern ridge counts

The heritability of sole pattern ridge counts was examined in two family studies of endogamous castes from peninsular India. The phenotypes included ridge counts for each of the eight configurational areas separately, all areas combined, and only distal areas combined. Differences in heritability estimates were found between populations as well as among the individual configurational areas. Although some ridge counts do not show familial resemblance, others appear to be moderately heritable. Estimates of h2 range from 0.36 to 0.63 in one family series and from 0.22 to 0.51 in the other. In addition, significant uterine environmental effects were detected in one family series but not in the other.     

Exclusion of linkage of loci on chromosome 19 with multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 2

Linkage between seven loci on chromosome 19 and multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2a (MEN2A) was examined in a single large Swedish pedigree. A total of 50 cM was excluded from the male genetic map by pairwise analysis and an estimated 63 cM by multipoint analysis. Using existing data on the likelihood of different marker-marker distances and taking into account current exclusions on other chromosomes, the probability that the gene for MEN2A segregating in this pedigree could still be located on chromosome 19 is approximately 0.28%.     

Neuronal gene expression in aluminum myelopathy

1. Aluminum administration to susceptible animal species results in neurofilament accumulation in neuronal perikarya and proximal axons. Pathogenetic studies in vivo have shown that aluminum rapidly associates with neuronal chromatin. Whether the effect of aluminum on DNA components plays a role in the production of the neurofibrillary lesion remains unclear. 2. In this study we used Northern analysis and in situ hybridization to evaluate mRNA levels of specific neuronal and glial components in the rabbit spinal cord at various times following aluminum administration. 3. Our results show that (a) all neuronal mRNAs evaluated (neurofilament triplet components, neuronal-specific enolase, and amyloid precursor protein) are markedly decreased, with no decrease in glial fibrillary acidic protein; (b) the effect on neuronal gene expression occurs early and concurrently with the development of the neurofibrillary lesion and reverses rapidly after a single dose of aluminum; and (c) there is a direct correlation between the severity of the neurofibrillary lesion and the decrease in neuronal mRNA levels. 4. We interpret our results to mean that the accumulation of neurofilaments in this model is not due to a selective effect on neurofilament gene expression but may be due to an inhibition of genes coding for components involved in processing of neurofilament proteins.     

Linkage analysis of chromosome 17 markers in British and South African families with neurofibromatosis type 1

Nine markers from the pericentromeric region of chromosome 17 were typed in 16 British and five South African families with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The markers--p17H8, pHHH202, and EW204--were linked to NF1 at recombination fractions less than 1%. No evidence of locus heterogeneity was detected. Inspection of recombinant events in families informative for several markers suggests that the NF1 gene is located between the markers EW301 (cen-p11.2) and EW206 (cen-q12) and possibly distal to pHHH202 (q11.2-q12).     

Effect of inhalation of insecticide spray on learning and memory in rats

Acute exposure to insecticide (Baygon-spray; 5 ml/animal/5 min) inhalation in rats did not affect the learning process but produced a significant loss of memory (P less than 0.01 less than 0.001) whereas chronic exposure (one exposure per day for three weeks) produced a significant delay in learning (P less than 0.05) and memory (P less than 0.01). Acetylcholinesterase activity in brain after acute and chronic exposure declined significantly (P less than 0.01) during the learning process but returned to normal after 24 hr.     

Constancy of synaptic ribbon numbers in the retina of the arctic chary,Salvelinus alpinus

Synopsis At high latitudes, such as in Iceland, the daily photoperiod varies from almost continuous darkness in winter to virtually constant light in summer. Previous studies of detailed retinal structure in vertebrates have shown significant daily and annual effects of photoperiod. We sampled arctic charr in Iceland during the summer, including fish that were both light- and dark-adapted, during both day and night. We observed retinomotor responses characteristic of light- and dark-adaptation, but found no difference in the number of synaptic ribbons in the retina. The morpho-physiological changes, appearing as retinomotor responses, are thus not expressed at the synaptic level.     

Subregional mapping of 13 single-copy genes on the long arm of chromosome 12 by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Subregional localization of 13 single-copy DNA sequences previously assigned to the long arm of chromosome 12 has been performed using the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. The following order is suggested for the 13 mapped genes: cen-->COL2A1-->(VDR-D12S15)-->(D12S17-D12S4++ +-D12S14-D12S6)-->D12S8-->(IAPP-MGF- D12S7-D12S12)-->IGF1-->qter. Eight of the mapped genes clustered at two regions, one at 12q13 (D12S17-D12S4-D12S14-D12S6) and the other at 12q22 (IAPP-MGF-D12S7-D12S12). Our results show that single-copy DNA sequences as small as 500 bp can be successfully mapped by FISH.