Distribution of Blood Types of Four Systems and AB0 Incompatibility in Migrants of a Northern Town

The distribution of blood groups of the AB0, Rh, MN, and Kell systems were studied in migrants of a northern town of reproductive age and their newborn babies. Migrants of different ethnic groups exhibited significantly different frequencies of AB0 and Rh phenotypes. Maternal sera were tested for the presence of isoimmune antibodies to determine AB0 compatibility (or incompatibility) in mother–neonate pairs. Parents with blood group combinations resulting in mother–neonate pairs incompatible for erythrocyte antigens were less likely to have offspring with the paternal AB0 phenotype.     

The effects of centrally acting drugs on the EEG correlates of meditation.

The present study investigated the effects of three centrally acting drugs on the significant increase in the intermediate alpha frequency of the electroencephalogram (EEG) that accompanied meditation in a male volunteer. When compared to the EEG recorded before each of the three drugs was administered, naloxone tended to enhance the increase in the power of the intermediate alpha EEG (9.4-10.4 Hz), while diazepam tended to spread the increase to the slow (7.4-9.4 Hz) alpha EEG, and flumazenil was without much effect on the overall EEG pattern. However, these EEG changes when compared to similar changes obtained with saline administration were not significantly different from the latter. Thus, it is unlikely that the EEG correlates of meditation are causally related to the rise or fall of endogenous opioid peptides or benzodiazepinelike substances in the brain.     

Biochemical systematics of Trichiurus lepturus and T. japonicus (Perciformes,Trichiuridae) from Taiwan Strait

Two morphological different species of hairtails, Trichiurus lepturus and T. japonicus were compared by starch gel electrophoresis. Isozyme patterns of eight metabolic enzymes and general muscle proteins using extracts of eye, muscle, liver and heart revealed 16 loci. The polymorphic loci were sAAT-1, GPI-A, GPI-B, IDHP-1 and PGM-2 for at least one of the two species. There were no fixed allelic isozyme patterns to differentiate among them. NEI's genetic identity (I) between the two species was calculated. An I index of 0.986 suggests that the two morphologically different hairtails belong to the same species, Trichiurus lepturus.     

Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of the spear lobsters Linuparus (Decapoda: Palinuridae), with the description of a new species

Linuparus White, 1847 comprises three extant species, Linuparus trigonus (Von Siebold, 1824), L. sordidusBruce, 1965, and L. somniosusBerry and George, 1972, as well as 32 fossil species. Most fossil records are from North America and Europe, but the extant species are all confined to the Indo-West Pacific. Different colour forms in L. trigonus and L. sordidus have been noted, with Northern Hemisphere specimens generally darker in colour for both species. The phylogenetic relationships of the extant Linuparus species, including the colour forms, were investigated using mitochondrial 12S rRNA and COI gene sequence analysis. We found no genetic evidence to differentiate the colour morphs of L. sordidus, but the two colour forms of L. trigonus were clearly distinct at the species level. This is supported morphologically by a consistent difference in the shape of the thoracic sternum between the two forms. The paler coloured Southern Hemisphere form is described as a new species, L. meridionalis. Phylogenetic analysis shows that L. trigonus and L. meridionalis sp. nov. are derived sister taxa, while L. somniosus is basal within the genus. Thus the present results support the previous hypothesis that Linuparus was originated in shallow water.