蛙卵:水蛭独特的食物资源

水蛭(Bassianobdella fusca) 是澳洲东部大部分地区的常见种, 已被报道通过汲血获取营养, 一般认为该种是两栖类成体、鱼类及无脊椎动物的寄生物。在对悉尼西部蛙类做深入研究中发现, B. fusca 是普通东方小蛙( Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) 卵的捕食者, 并不寄生于该种蛙的成体。研究中亦未发现B. fusca寄生于当地任何其它蛙类, 包括与Limnodynastes 属共栖的种类。产后24 小时内的蛙卵最易被捕食。按摄取蛙卵的速率估算, 自然密度下的B. fusca具有捕食某些蛙整窝蛙卵的潜力。     

Rapid High Throughput Amylose Determination in Freeze Dried Potato Tuber Samples

This protocol describes a high through put colorimetric method that relies on the formation of a complex between iodine and chains of glucose molecules in starch. Iodine forms complexes with both amylose and long chains within amylopectin. After the addition of iodine to a starch sample, the maximum absorption of amylose and amylopectin occurs at 620 and 550 nm, respectively. The amylose/amylopectin ratio can be estimated from the ratio of the 620 and 550 nm absorbance values and comparing them to a standard curve in which specific known concentrations are plotted against absorption values. This high throughput, inexpensive method is reliable and reproducible, allowing the evaluation of large populations of potato clones.      

BCG immunotherapy for recurrent malignant melanoma

Summary A study was made of immunologic parameters obtained from patients with stage IIIB malignant melanoma who were treated with BCG. Patients with the longest disease-free interval and survival times were those who had small initial skin test reactions and developed larger reactions during the course of BCG treatment. Of these patients, those with less than five involved nodes had the longest disease-free interval and survival times. Patients who had increases in skin test reactivity generally showed these increases by the first visit after initiation of BCG therapy.     

Linkage Analysis of Factors Underlying Insulin Resistance: Strong Heart Family Study

In previous work in non‐diabetic participants of the Strong Heart Family Study, we identified three heritable principal components of nine insulin resistance (IR) phenotypes: 1) a glucose/insulin/obesity factor, 2) a blood pressure factor, and 3) a dyslipidemia factor. To localize quantitative trait loci (QTL) potentially influencing these factors, we conducted a genome scan of factor scores in Strong Heart Family Study participants. Approximately 599 men and women, ≥18 years of age, in 32 extended families at three centers (in Arizona, Oklahoma, and North and South Dakota), were examined between 1997 and 1999. We used variance components linkage analysis to identify QTLs for the IR factors. With age, sex, and study center as covariates, we detected linkage of the glucose/insulin/obesity factor to chromosome 4 (robust logarithm of the odds (LOD) = 2.2), the dyslipidemia factor to chromosome 12 (robust LOD = 2.7), and the blood pressure factor to chromosome 1 (robust LOD = 1.6). The peak linkage signals identified for these IR factors support several positive findings from other studies and occur in regions harboring interesting candidate genes. The corroboration of existing QTLs will bring us closer to the identification of the functional genes that predispose to IR.