New and little known species of the family Saldidae (heteroptera) from india and adjacent countries

Data on 13 species of the family Saldidae distributed in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Vietnam are reported. Two new species, Macrosaldula indica sp. n. (Himachal Pradesh) and Saldula pericarti sp. n. (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh), are described from the Himalayas. Macrosaldula indica is similar to the dark specimens of M. scotica (Curtis, 1835) and M. variabilis variabilis (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1835) of the scotica group, but differs in a shorter body and in the structure of the genitalia. The montane Middle Asian M. tadzhika (Kiritshenko, 1912) is larger and differs from the new species in the color pattern of its fore wing and in a short and arched paramere. An isolated dark spot on the fore tibia and a pale pattern on the corium identify Saldula pericarti sp. n. as a member of the saltatoria group, but the species differs from the other members of this group in the presence of erect hairs on the head, antennae, pronotum, and wings (the character of the orthochila group). New records of Micracanthia minor Hamid et Sultana, 1972, comb. n., are made in Western and Eastern Pakistan. Micracanthia ornatula (Reuter, 1882) is found for the first time in Nepal and Vietnam, Saldula burmanica Lindskog, 1975 and S. palustris (Douglas, 1874), in Pakistan, and S. pilosella (Thomson, 1871), in Afghanistan.     

Fractionation of digestive proteinases from Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) larvae and role in protein digestion

Tenebrio molitor larval digestive proteinases were purified and characterized by gel filtration chromatography combined with activity electrophoresis. Cysteine proteinases, consisting of at least six distinct activities, were found in three chromatographic peaks in anterior and posterior midgut chromatographies. The major activity in the anterior midgut, peak cys II, consisted of cysteine proteinases with Mm of 23 kDa. The predominant peak in the posterior, cys I, was represented by 38 kDa proteinases. The activities of all cysteine proteinases were maximal in buffers from pH 5.0 to 7.0, with 80% stability at pH values from 4.0 to 7.0. In the conditions of the last third of the midgut, the activity and stability of cysteine proteinases was sharply decreased. Trypsin-like activity included a minor peak of "heavy" trypsins with Mm 59 kDa, located mainly in the anterior midgut. An in vitro study of the initial stages of digestion of the main dietary protein, oat 12S globulin, by anterior midgut proteinases revealed that hydrolysis occurred through the formation of intermediate high-Mm products, similar to those formed during oat seed germination. Cysteine proteinases from the cys III peak and heavy trypsins were capable of only limited proteolysis of the protein, whereas incubation with cys II proteinases resulted in substantial hydrolysis of the globulin.     

Dependence of myocardial damage on the anion composition and osmotic pressure in the extracellular fluid during "calcium paradox" in rats]

The data obtained reveal that elevation of extracellular osmolarity with sucrose during reintroduction of Ca-containing medium after 10 minutes of Ca2+ removal prevents loss of haemoglobin in a concentration-dependent mode. Reducing the extracellular osmolarity of the reperfusion medium by means of decreasing the concentration of sodium chloride and calcium chloride exacerbates the loss of haemoglobin from the cardiomyocytes. There is a close correlation between the water contents in tissues and the loss of haemoglobin during the "calcium paradox". The findings suggest dependence of the heart damage during the "calcium paradox" on anionic composition of extracellular space and activity of anionic transporters.     

Dependence of the protective effect of the elevated sodium level on the type of oxidative substrate in the isolated heart during "calcium paradox"

Isolated guinea pig heart were perfused with the Tyrode solution followed in 15 min. by a 10-min. Ca(2+)-free solution with subsequent return to the normal Ca(2+)-containing Tyrode solution. Sarcolemma damage was measured by myoglobin release. The perfusion resulted in damage of the myocardium cells. The data obtained show that elevation of the extracellular pressure during reperfusion with the Ca(2+)-containing medium is more important than the absolute value of the osmotic pressure.     

Modulation of human peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis by ultraviolet C-range radiation and by gamma-irradiation

It was found that the irradiation with in vitro UVC (254 nm) in the dose range of 6-600 J/m2 accelerates the apoptosis of human peripheral blood neutrophils in a dose-dependent manner, with saturation occurring at UVC doses of 250-300 J/m2. gamma-Irradiation with a dose of 2 Gy accelerates the apoptosis of neutrophils, whereas the irradiation with doses of 10 and 20 Gy suppresses it (by 9 h of cultivation). Lipopolysaccharide (1 microgram/ml) suppresses the UVC-induced apoptosis of neutrophils.     

Dependence of myocardial contracture on energy resources during the calcium paradox

Perfusion of the rat isolated hearts with calcium-free and calcium containing solution revealed a complex and deep myocardial damage called the calcium paradox. The reperfusion of the rat heart with calcium rich media resulted in myoglobin loss from the heart, significant decreasing of ATP and phosphocreatine level, complete uncoupling of respiration and phosphorylation in mitochondria, occurrence of myocardial contracture. Decreasing of sodium level to 30 mM--80 mM in calcium free media exacerbates the heart damage due to the calcium paradox with absence of contracture. Addition of phosphocreatine (1 mM, 5 mM, 10 mM) evoked some restoration of ATP contents in the tissue with appearance of significant contracture. Phosphocreatine exacerbated the loss of myoglobin from the heart subjected to the calcium paradox. A discrepancy between myocardial contracture and degree of cellular damage has been observed during the calcium paradox.     

Apoptosis dynamics in human neutrophils induced by ultraviolet C irradiation during lipopolysaccharide and zinc exposure]

The action of ultraviolet radiation with lambda = 254 nm (UVC), zinc and lipopolysaccharide on the apoptosis of human neutrophils was investigated by flow cytometry. It was shown that zinc (0.2-1 mM) inhibits the UVC-dependent acceleration of neutrophil apoptosis. Preliminary treatment with UVC cancels the inhibition of neutrophil apoptosis by lipopolysaccharide.     

Proteinase inhibitors in Nauphoeta cinerea midgut.

Proteinase inhibitors were studied in the midgut of Nauphoeta cinerea Oliv. (Blattoptera: Blaberidae) in experimental conditions, excluding their nutritional origin. One trypsin inhibitor (TI) with M(r) 8,000 and two subtilisin inhibitors (SI1 and SI2) with M(r) 13,000 and 8,000 were detected after fractionation of total protein preparation on Sephadex G-50. Ninety-four percent of both types of inhibitors was located in anterior midgut (AM). TI was 120-fold purified by FPLC-chromatography on Mono Q. Its isoelectric point was 4.3. TI lost a large part of activity in acidic and especially in alkaline medium. TI, SI1, and SI2 effectively inhibited activities of endogenous proteinases from posterior midgut (PM) of the cockroach. A search for inhibitor of endogenous unusual SH-dependent proteinase from AM revealed in AM a new inhibitor with M(r) 18,000. It was also inactivated in alkaline medium and was effective against proteinases from PM along with unusual SH-dependent proteinase from AM. A mechanism of regulation of activity of midgut proteinases is proposed based on pH-stability of inhibitors.