Further reports on the brown Parmeliaceae of southern Africa

Three previously unknown members of the lichen genus Neofuscelia Essl. are described: N. esterhuyseniae Essl., N. nonreagens Essl., and N. pseudoloriloba Essl. New South African records for other members of the genus are given as well, and N. subimitatrix (Essl.) Essl. is reported from New Zealand for the first time. Apothecia of the recently described South African genus Almbornia Essl. have been observed for the first time and they are typically parmeliaceous.     

Tetrapetalonema (T.) panamensis (McCoy, 1936) comb. n. (Filarioidea: Onchocercidae) in Colombian primates, with a description of the adults.

Microfilaria panamensis McCoy, 1936 was identified in the blood of Cebus apella, C. capucinus, C. albifrous, and Saguinus oedipus from various regions in Colombia. Adult worms, recovered from the subcutaneous connective tissues of C. apella and S. oedipus, were identified with this microfilaria and are described as Tetrapetalonema (T.) panamensis (McCoy, 1936) comb. n. This nematode is smaller configuration of the female tail and in the appearance of the spicules, and T. barbascalensis which differs in the placement of the vulva relative to the base of the esophagus and in the structure of the right spicule. The spicular ratio of T. panamensis (1.6 to 2.1) is lower than that of any other member of the subgenus (2.6 to 10.8). The host induced and/or geographic variation of microfilariae and adults of T. panamensis is discussed.     

A new species of Breinlia (Breinlia) (nematoda: Filarioidea) from the South Indian flying squirrel Petaurista philippensis (Elliot).

Breinlia (Breinlia) petauristi sp. n. from the abdominal cavity of the flying squirrel, Petaurista philippensis (Elliot), from Kerala, India, is described. Of the 15 recognized species of the subgenus, B. petauristi most closely resembles B. trichosuri in the body size, length of spicules, and number of caudal papillae. The detailed structure of the spicules is, however, markedly different in the 2 worms. This is the third species of Breinlia to be reported from a host other than an Australian marsupial.     

Olfactory memory: the long and short of it

It has been proposed that memory for odors does not have a short-term (or working) memory system. The distinction between short- and long- term memory in other sensory modalities has been generally supported by three main lines of evidence: capacity differences between the proposed systems, evidence of differential coding, and differential memory losses in neuropsychological patients. The present paper examines these issues in an effort to establish a similar distinction for the memory of olfactory stimuli. Each of these lines of evidence is examined in relation to the literature on olfactory memory. Based on this examination, it seems that there is at least preliminary support from each of these lines of evidence to advocate a distinction between a long- and short-term memory for olfactory stimuli. Emphasis is placed upon the qualitative similarity of olfactory memory to other memory systems. This similarity is further highlighted through an examination of the literature pertinent to serial position effects in memory for olfactory stimuli.      

Dipetalonema (Acanthocheilonema) didelphis sp. n. (Nematoda: Filarioidea) from opossums, with a redescription of D. (A.) pricei (Vaz and Pereira 1934)

Dipetalonema (Acanthocheilonema) didelphis sp. n. recovered from the subcutaneous and periesophageal connective tissues of Didelphis virginiana from several localities in the United States and of D. marsupialis from Colombia is described. Dipetalonema didelphis sp. n. resembles D reconditum and D. mansonbahri in size, in lacking a two-segmented buccal capsule, and in the female having a long, digitiform tail. Dipetalonema reconditum, however, has a much longer glandular esophagus and D. mansonbahri has a rounded cephalic extremity delimited by a necklike region. The male of D. didelphis sp. n. differs from both in the structural details of the spicules and in having a higher spicular ratio. The microfilaria is much shorter than that of either D. reconditum or D. mansonbahri. Dipetalonema (A.) pricei adults are redescribed from the paratype specimens, and the microfilaria is also described. Dipetalonema pricei most closely resembles D. dracunculoides in size and in the presence of a well-developed, two-segmented buccal capsule, but the latter species has a much longer glandular esophagus. These two species also differ in the appearance of the spicules.     

Predicting sites of cytochrome P450-mediated hydroxylation applied to CYP3A4 and hexabromocyclododecane

This article describes a simple and quick in silico method for the prediction of cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated hydroxylation of drug-like compounds. Testosterone and progesterone, two known substrates of CYP3A4, are used to test the method. Further, we apply the procedure to predict sites of hydroxylation of isomers of the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane by CYP3A4. Within the method, the compound is rotated in the binding pocket of the cytochrome, so that each hydrogen under consideration is placed near the active centre. Afterwards, short molecular dynamics simulations are provided for each step of the rotation. All steps of the simulation are compared concerning the distances between the hydrogens and the active centre and the corresponding energies. The computational results correlate well with experimental results.