Paranthias furcifer (Perciformes: Serranidae), a new alien fish in the Mediterranean Sea

A specimen of a creole fish Paranthias furcifer (285 mm total length) was captured in Marina Bay (Croatian coast) in the eastern Adriatic Sea. This is the first Mediterranean record of this species. The possible modes of introduction of species are discussed.     

Biogeographic Variation of Foliar n‐Alkanes of Juniperus communis var. saxatilis Pallas from the Balkans

The composition of the epicuticular n‐alkanes isolated from the leaves of ten populations of Juniperus communis L. var. saxatilis Pallas from central (continental) and western (coastal) areas of the Balkan Peninsula was characterized by GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses. In the leaf waxes, 14 n‐alkane homologues with chain‐lengths ranging from C₂₂ to C₃₅ were identified. All samples were dominated by n‐tritriacontane (C₃₃), but differences in two other dominant n‐alkanes allowed separating the coastal from the continental populations. Several statistical methods (ANOVA, principal component, discriminant, and cluster analyses as well as the Mantel test) were deployed to analyze the diversity and variability of the epicuticular‐leaf‐n‐alkane patterns of the ten natural populations of J. communis var. saxatilis and their relation to different geographic and bioclimatic parameters. Cluster analysis showed a high correlation of the leaf‐n‐alkane patterns with the geographical distribution of the investigated samples, differentiating the coastal from the continental populations of this taxon. Several bioclimatic parameters related to aridity were highly correlated with this differentiation.     

Chronic psychological stress activates BMP4‐dependent extramedullary erythropoiesis

Psychological stress affects different physiological processes including haematopoiesis. However, erythropoietic effects of chronic psychological stress remain largely unknown. The adult spleen contains a distinct microenvironment favourable for rapid expansion of erythroid progenitors in response to stressful stimuli, and emerging evidence suggests that inappropriate activation of stress erythropoiesis may predispose to leukaemic transformation. We used a mouse model to study the influence of chronic psychological stress on erythropoiesis in the spleen and to investigate potential mediators of observed effects. Adult mice were subjected to 2 hrs daily restraint stress for 7 or 14 consecutive days. Our results showed that chronic exposure to restraint stress decreased the concentration of haemoglobin in the blood, elevated circulating levels of erythropoietin and corticosterone, and resulted in markedly increased number of erythroid progenitors and precursors in the spleen. Western blot analysis revealed significantly decreased expression of both erythropoietin receptor and glucocorticoid receptor in the spleen of restrained mice. Furthermore, chronic stress enhanced the expression of stem cell factor receptor in the red pulp. Moreover, chronically stressed animals exhibited significantly increased expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) in the red pulp as well as substantially enhanced mRNA expression levels of its receptors in the spleen. These findings demonstrate for the first time that chronic psychological stress activates BMP4‐dependent extramedullary erythropoiesis and leads to the prolonged activation of stress erythropoiesis pathways. Prolonged activation of these pathways along with an excessive production of immature erythroid cells may predispose chronically stressed subjects to a higher risk of leukaemic transformation.     

Behavioral Plasticity and Variation in Pit Construction of Antlion Larvae in Substrates with Different Particle Sizes

Behavioral plasticity allows animals to maximize their fitness in a variety of environmental conditions. Trap‐building predators represent case studies in such plasticity as the characteristics of their traps are dependent upon the substrate available. We investigated the effect of sand particle size on pit construction in antlions (Euroleon nostras), sand‐dwelling insect larvae that build pitfall traps to capture prey. The pit construction behavior of the species comprises six stages. When antlions were exposed to different sand particle sizes, their behavior differed in terms of the occurrence and duration of particular stages and in the frequency of jerks produced during sand tossing. Jerk frequency was negatively correlated with sand particle size and also changed during pit construction. Furthermore, at larger particle sizes, individuals occasionally constructed irregular traps with a figure of eight shape, and they crossed the center of the truncated cone during deepening. In the largest substrate, particle size of antlions did not construct pits. Our results demonstrate that variation in traps under differing environmental conditions stems directly from behavioral plasticity in this species.     

Effects of Intraosseous Erythropoietin during Hemorrhagic Shock in Swine

Objective

To determine whether erythropoietin given during hemorrhagic shock (HS) ameliorates organ injury while improving resuscitation and survival.

Methods

Three series of 24 pigs each were studied. In an initial series, 50% of the blood volume (BV) was removed in 30 minutes and normal saline (threefold the blood removed) started at minute 90 infusing each third in 30, 60, and 150 minutes with shed blood reinfused at minute 330 (HS-50_BV). In a second series, the same HS-50_BV protocol was used but removing an additional 15% of BV from minute 30 to 60 (HS-65_BV). In a final series, blood was removed as in HS-65_BV and intraosseous vasopressin given from minute 30 (0.04 U/kg min⁻¹) until start of shed blood reinfusion at minute 150 (HS-65_BV+VP). Normal saline was reduced to half the blood removed and given from minute 90 to 120 in half of the animals. In each series, animals were randomized 1∶1 to receive erythropoietin (1,200 U/kg) or control solution intraosseously after removing 10% of the BV.

Results

In HS-50_BV, O₂ consumption remained near baseline yielding minimal lactate increases, 88% resuscitability, and 60% survival at 72 hours. In HS-65_BV, O₂ consumption was reduced and lactate increased yielding 25% resuscitability. In HS-65_BV+VP, vasopressin promoted hemodynamic stability yielding 92% resuscitability and 83% survival at 72 hours. Erythropoietin did not affect resuscitability or subsequent survival in any of the series but increased interleukin-10, attenuated lactate increases, and ameliorated organ injury based on lesser troponin I, AST, and ALT increases and lesser neurological deficits in the HS-65_BV+VP series.

Conclusions

Erythropoietin given during HS in swine failed to alter resuscitability and 72 hour survival regardless of HS severity and concomitant treatment with fluids and vasopressin but attenuated acute organ injury. The studies also showed the efficacy of vasopressin and restrictive fluid resuscitation for hemodynamic stabilization and survival.     

Production of anthraquinones by immobilized Frangula alnus Mill. plant cells in a four-phase air-lift bioreactor

 The production of anthraquinones by Frangula alnus Mill. plant cells was used as a model system to evaluate the performance of a liquid-liquid extractive product-recovery process. The shake flask experiments have shown higher production of anthraquinones in cell suspension and flask cultures of calcium-alginate-immobilized cells when silicone oil was incorporated into the medium, compared to a control without silicone oil. An external-loop air-lift bioreactor, developed and designed for the production and simultaneous extraction of extracellular plant cell products, was regarded as a four-phase system, with dispersed gas, non-aqueous solvent and calcium-alginate-immobilized plant cells in Murashige and Skoog medium. Continuous extraction of anthraquinones by silicone oil and n-hexadecane inside the bioreactor resulted in 10–30 times higher cell productivity, compared to that of immobilized cells in a flask. Based on the mixing pattern, immobilized biocatalyst extraparticle and intraparticle diffusional constraints and the kinetics of growth, substrate consumption and product formation, a mathematical model was developed to describe the time course of a batch plant cell culture. The model showed satisfactory agreement with four sets of shake flask experiments and three bioreactor production cycles. Received: 18 March 1994/Received revision: 20 September 1994/Accepted: 28 September 1994     

Trophic Discrimination Factors of Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Hair of Corn Fed Wild Boar

Stable isotope measurements are increasingly being used to gain insights into the nutritional ecology of many wildlife species and their role in ecosystem structure and function. Such studies require estimations of trophic discrimination factors (i.e. differences in the isotopic ratio between the consumer and its diet). Although trophic discrimination factors are tissue- and species- specific, researchers often rely on generalized, and fixed trophic discrimination factors that have not been experimentally derived. In this experimental study, captive wild boar (Sus scrofa) were fed a controlled diet of corn (Zea mays), a popular and increasingly dominant food source for wild boar in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe, and trophic discrimination factors for stable carbon (Δ¹³C) and nitrogen (Δ¹⁵N) isotopes were determined from hair samples. The mean Δ¹³C and Δ¹⁵N in wild boar hair were –2.3 ‰ and +3.5 ‰, respectively. Also, in order to facilitate future derivations of isotopic measurements along wild boar hair, we calculated the average hair growth rate to be 1.1 mm d^-1. Our results serve as a baseline for interpreting isotopic patterns of free-ranging wild boar in current European agricultural landscapes. However, future research is needed in order to provide a broader understanding of the processes underlying the variation in trophic discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen across of variety of diet types.     

Essential‐Oil Constituents and Alkanes of Cephalaria ambrosioides Roem. & Schult. (Family Caprifoliaceae,Subfamily Dipsacaceae) and (Chemo)taxonomic Discernment of the Subfamilies Dipsacaceae and Morinaceae

Herein, the results of the first study of the volatile and alkane profiles of Cephalaria ambrosioides Roem. & Schult . (Caprifoliaceae, subfamily Dipsacaceae) were reported. The GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses of the essential oils hydrodistilled from leaves and stems (CA1) and flowers (CA2) of C. ambrosioides allowed the identification of 284 different components. The main compounds of the studied oil samples were palmitic acid (24.3 and 32.5% for CA1 and CA2, resp.), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (1.4 and 10.8% for CA1 and CA2, resp.), (Z)‐hex‐3‐en‐1‐ol (7.0 and <0.1% for CA1 and CA2, resp.), and linoleic acid (1.9 and 6.5% for CA1 and CA2, resp.). Essential‐oil compositional data of selected plant species belonging to the Dipsacaceae (15) and Morinaceae (2) subfamilies were used to resolve taxonomical ambiguities regarding the genus Cephalaria and its infrageneric relations, especially concerning the subfamily Morinaceae (formerly a genus within Dipsacaceae). The results of multivariate statistical analyses (25 different essential‐oil samples) supported the exclusion of Morina species from the Dipsacaceae subfamily. The relative abundances of alkanes from n‐, iso‐, and anteiso‐series followed a (distorted) Gaussian‐like distribution and suggested that the biosyntheses of n‐ and branched alkanes in C. ambrosioides are possibly not controlled by the same elongase. Also, the obtained results suggested that there was a difference in the biosynthesis/accumulation of alkanes in the vegetative and reproductive parts of C. ambrosioides.     

The effect of aging on prolactin secretion in rat pituitary monolayer culture.

A high basal rate of prolactin (PRL) secretion (.16±.03 μg/well/hr) was produced for over four weeks by pre-confluent male rat pituitary monolayer cell cultures. When the media was changed, a rapid release of microgram quantities of PRL occurred followed by a return to the basal PRL secretory rate by seven hours. Theophylline (3.8×10^?3M), but not dibutyrl cAMP (1×10^?3M), produced a significant (p<.02) increase in PRL secretion, and simultaneous addition of these agents potentiated the PRL secretory rate. TRH (2×10^?8M) had no effect on PRL release by six hours, whereas dopamine (4.9×10^?5M) produced a significant suppression (p<.002) of PRL secretion. In addition, the effects of theophylline, TRH, and dopamine on PRL secretion were similar in cultures of various ages. Ovine prolactin in concentrations up to 50 μg per ml produced no change in PRL secretion during 72 hours of incubation suggesting that PRL feedback control of its own secretion may be transmitted via the hypothalamus. These studies show that a high rate of PRL secretion can be maintained by pre-confluent monolayer cultures for extended periods of time, permitting repeated experimentation on the same wells.