Thrombolytic Therapy in Haemolytic-Uraemic Syndrome

The treatment of five children with the haemolytic-uraemic syndrome using streptokinase is described to illustrate the difficulties and limitations of thrombolytic therapy in this disease. This experience is germane to the design of multicentre clinical trials.A multivariate analysis relating clinical outcome to the data obtained at the time of admission was also carried out for 31 children with the disease treated in four centres. The results suggest that this technique may help to identify those patients likely to have a fatal outcome. An expanded form of this type of analysis should be incorporated in future clinical trials.     

Prostaglandin I2 is less relaxant than prostaglandin E2 on the lamb ductus arteriosus.

Prostaglandin (PG) I2 and its stable metabolite, 6-keto-PGF1alpha, were tested on the isolated ductus arteriosus from mature fetal lambs. PGI2 relaxed the ductus in high doses (threshold 10(-6)M) and its activity disappeared on standing at room temperature for 30 minutes. 6-keto-PGF1alpha was inactive at all doses. By contrast, PGE2 produced a dose-dependent relaxation over a range between 10(-10) and 10(-6)M. These findings confirm that PGE2 is the most potent ductal relaxant among the known derivatives of arachidonic acid. PGE2 probably maintains ductus patency in the fetus and, together with PGE1, remains the compound of choice in the management of newborns requiring a viable ductus for survival.     

CYTOGENETICS OF SPECIATION

i
The essence of speciation lies in the origin of genetic isolating mechanisms. Argument has raged as to whether the primary isolating mechanisms which initiate specific divergence operate at the pre-mating or post-mating level and whether complete geographic isolation necessarily precedes divergence. Speciation is essentially a cytogenetic process and the role of chromosomal rearrangements as primary isolating factors has probably been underestimated in the past. But speciation depends on many factors such as population size, vagility and type of life cycle, so it is unlikely that any universal model is applicable.     

Arts students in debt: Concerns,consequences, and interventions

While there are many educational and experiential benefits to attending professional higher arts education programs, students who incur excessive student loan debt during their studies may experience unanticipated or poor professional outcomes either over the course of their artistic careers, shortly after the expiration of a loan grace period, or after they can no longer defer payments. To date, little to no research exists on the effects of an excessive student loan debt burden on professional arts careers. To address this gap in the higher arts education literature, and in an effort to facilitate scholarly discussion on the topic, this article identifies concerns, consequences, and potential interventions.     

Dietary vitamin E and the response of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), to infection with Yersinia ruckeri

Rainbow trout fed diets containing 7, 86 or 806 mg vitamin E kg⁻¹ for 22 weeks were exposed to virulent Yersinia ruckeri by bath or injection. Mortalities were always least among those fed the highest concentration of vitamin E but serum antibody production was not affected by vitamin E levels.     

Rapid development of cleaning behaviour by Torresian crows Corvus orru on non-native banteng Bos javanicus in northern Australia

In this paper we report the observation of a rapidly developed vertebrate symbiosis involving ectoparasite cleaning by a native corvid of northern Australia, the Torresian crow Corvus orru , on a recently introduced bovid ungulate, the banteng Bos javanicus . Facultative symbioses benefiting both participants (mutualisms) between birds and mammals appear to be rare, despite the apparent advantages obtained by the participants (ecto-parasite removal from the host and food provision to the cleaner). On three separate dates we observed a total of four C. orru individuals eliciting facilitation behaviours by a total of ten female banteng to assist in the removal of ectoparasites. Our observations document the first-known incidence of facultative cleaning behaviour by a native bird species on a non-native, wild vertebrate that has developed in approximately 150 years since the banteng's introduction to Australia.     

FOSSIL FUNGI (ENDOGONACEAE) FROM THE TRIASSIC OF ANTARCTICA

Fungal sporocarps are described from Triassic silicified peat deposits from Antarctica. Sporocarps possess a two-layered wall and contain a single spore. The outer layer is mycelial; the inner layer, noncellular. The combination of primitive and advanced features suggests that this fungus is intermediate in complexity between the lower and evolutionarily more advanced fungi. The Antarctic fungus and morphologically similar fossils resemble extant members of the Endogonaceae, but appear to have been saprophytes rather than mycorrhizal symbionts.