Diurnal changes in psychophysiological variables of school girls: comparison with regard to age and teacher's appreciation of learning.

Ninety-five nonresident girls of a private school volunteered for the study with the teachers' help as well as parental consent. Ages were approximately 8, 9, and 10 years. They were synchronized with diurnal activity from 0730 to 2100 h and nocturnal rest. Fatigue, drowsiness, and attention were self-rated using visual analogue scales; oral temperature was self-measured and a letter cancellation test was performed. Each of these variables was measured at school at 0900, 1100, 1400, and 1600 h on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for two consecutive weeks in 1987 (March 30-April 11) and again in 1989 (March 13-25) when the youngest group had become 10 years old. According to conventional teacher evaluation of learning (learning performance) within each group, three subgroups were formed: top third, middle third, and bottom third. Time series (more than 50,000 data) were analyzed according to several statistical methods, but mainly chronograms with ANOVA. Similar diurnal changes in oral temperature were validated for each group and subgroups. The occurrence of a diurnal change in self-rated variables (fatigue and drowsiness) and score in letter cancellation was age related: no detection in the 8-year-old group (and subgroups) and validation (p less than 0.002) in 9- and 10-year-old groups (and respective subgroups). A good learning performance was associated with a reduced drowsiness in school girls of 9 and 10 years. Age-related, time-of-day differences in drowsiness (when detected) as well as learning performance effect were not associated with observed duration of sleep. Validated changes in self-rated fatigue were close to that of drowsiness. At 0900 h, girls of 9 and 10 years were more tired when belonging to the bottom third than top third subgroup. Whatever the time of day, self-rated attention was greater in the top than in the bottom third for these girls. Differences related to learning performance were validated in each grade. However, best scores were recorded for the bottom third in the 8-year-old group, while best scores were provided by top third subgroups in 10-year-old girls. It seems that in girls around 8 years of age, critical changes can be detected with regard to the (ontogenic?) occurrence of time-of-day differences in a set of psychophysiologic variables as well as influential effects of learning performance on the same variables. Reported finding are compatible with the hypothesis of circadian oscillators working at the level of the cortex of the human brain.     

Application of nuclear magnetic resonance for the determination of the structure of proteins in solution

Knowledge of three-dimensional structure is a key factor in protein engineering. It is useful, for example, in predicting and understanding the functional consequences of specific substitution of one or more amino acids of the polypeptide chain. It is also necessary for the design of new effectors or analogs of the substrates of enzymes and receptors. X-ray diffraction by crystals of the biomolecule was for a long time the only method of determining three-dimensional structures. In the last 5 years, it has been joined by a new technique, two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR), which can resolve the structure of middle-sized proteins (less than 10 kilodaltons). The technique is applied on solutions whose pH, ionic strength, and temperature can be chosen and changed. The two basic measurements, COSY and NOESY, detect respectively the systems of hydrogen nuclei, or protons, coupled through covalent bonds, and those in which the interproton distances are less than 0.5 nm. A systematic strategy leads from resonance assignments of the two-dimensional spectrum to molecular modeling with constraints and finally to the determination of the molecular structure in the solution. Much sophistication is needed even today for the first task, the assignment of the resonances. Each of the COSY and NOESY spectra is a two-dimensional map, where the diagonal line is the one-dimensional spectrum, and the off-diagonal peaks indicate connectives between protons. Peak assignment to a specific type of amino acid is based on the pattern of scalar couplings observed in the COSY spectrum. Next, the amino acids are positioned in the primary sequence, using the spatial proximities of polypeptide chain protons, as observed in the NOESY spectrum. The principal secondary structures (alpha helix, beta sheets, etc.) are then identified by their specific connectivities. The tertiary structure is detected by NOESY connectivities between protons of different amino acids which are far apart in the primary sequence. The distance constraints from the NOESY connectivities also provide the starting point for modeling the tertiary structure. This is then refined using distance geometry and molecular dynamics algorithms. The resolution of the structures obtained with the help of recent algorithmic developments may be comparable to that provided by X-ray diffraction. The COSY measurement can be completed or substituted by other measurements, useful albeit more complex. For example, the HOHAHA experiment, currently in wide use, gives the correlations through multiple covalent bonds. Multiquanta experiments, which select systems of a given number of coupled spins, provide spectral simplification.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Tg (9 HSA-MYC), a homozygous lethal insertion in the mouse

Transgenic mice generated with different DNA sequences were surveyed for possible homozygous mutant phenotypes. We found an embryonic lethal mutation in the transgenic mouse strain (MT-MYC12.4) containing the human c-myc gene. Embryos homozygous for the transgene die shortly after implantation. The strain MT-MYC12.4 carries approximately 50 tandem copies of the recombinant plasmid sequence. The 3 flanking sequence has been cloned and analyzed. It contains a unique sequence that has been conserved during evolution and maps to Chromosome (Chr) 9. This mutant has been designated Tg 9 (HSA-MYC).     

华东地区黑果蝇自然群体同工酶遗传多态的研究

我们用标准垂直板聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳和水平板琼脂糖凝胶电泳技术检测了黑果蝇(D.virilis)在合肥、芜湖、九江、南昌、福州、泉州和常州7个自然群体中Est-α、Est-β、Amy、Acph和α-Gpdh 5个座位的遗传变异,发现Est-α、Est-β和Amy 3个座位是高度多态的,Acph、α-Gpdh两个座位则是单态的。根据这5个座位等位基因的频率,我们计算了群体间的遗传距离。综合何朝珍报道的宁波、杭州、南京和洪泽4个群体的结果和我们的结果,我们作出系统树并发现泉州、福州两群体和其他群体在基因频率的分布和遗传距离方面有显著差异;分析显示这种差异与群体间地理隔离有关。     

Flux-dependent increase in the stoichiometry of charge translocation by mitochondrial ATPase/ATP synthase induced by almitrine

After studying the effects of almitrine, a new kind of ATPase/ATP synthase inhibitor, on two kinds of isolated mammalian mitochondrion, we have observed that: (1) Almitrine inhibits oligomycin-sensitive ATPase; it decreases the ATP/O value of oxidative phosphorylations without any change in the magnitude of delta mu H+. (2) Almitrine increases the mechanistic H+/ATP stoichiometry of ATPase as shown by measuring either (i) the extent of potassium acetate and of potassium phosphate accumulation sustained by ATP utilisation, or (ii) the electrical charge/ATP (K+/ATP) ratio at steady-state of ATPase activity. (3) Rat liver mitochondria are at least 10-times more sensitive to almitrine than beef heart mitochondria. (4) The change in H+/ATP stoichiometry induced by almitrine depends on the magnitude of the flux through ATPase. The inhibitory effect of almitrine on ATPase/ATP synthase complex, as a consequence of such an H+/ATP stoichiometry change, is discussed.     

不同发育时期中华绒螯蟹血淋巴渗透压的分析

中华绒螯蟹血淋巴渗透压随不同的生长阶段而异;不论是在淡水中,还是在不同盐浓度的海水中,都具有保持血淋巴高渗调节控制的能力。青春期前,6—9月份,血淋巴渗透压自390mOsm/Kg H_2O升至560mOsm/Kg H_2O;青春期后,9—12月份,自555mOsm/Kg H_2O升至656mOsm/Kg H_2O,但12月到翌年3月份却明显下降。雌蟹从淡水移入海水后的血淋巴渗透压调升速度,青春期后是青春期前的三倍左右。     

Age-related flight and reproductive performance of the light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana

The relationship between flight activity, reproduction and age of Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) was studied using tethered flight assays. Flights began on the day of emergence, peaking on days four and five in females and on day five in males, and lasted for nine to ten days. The development of flight capacity was well synchronised with the build-up and decline of reproductive behaviours (calling, mating and oviposition). Flights of E. postvittana are thus inter-reproductive, and there is no obvious pre-oviposition period. Males were more active than females as 45–50% of male moths in comparison to 15–18% of female moths were capable of prolonged flights during the peak activity period. The results suggest that flights of E. postvittana are appetitive flights to a large extent, but it is suggested that some individuals may migrate, as there is no diapause in this species. The sexual dimorphism of flight capacity is discussed in relation to those of other tortricids and Lepidoptera in general.

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Zusammenfassung Die Beziehungen zwischen Flugaktivität, Fortpflanzung und Alter von Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Tortricidae) wurden untersucht mit Hilfe von angebudenen Flugapparaten. Flüge begannen am Tage des Schlüpfens, mit einen Maximum am vierten und fünften Tag bei Weibchen und am fünten Tag bei Männchen, und dauerten neun bis zehn Tage. Die Entwicklung des Flugvermögens war gut mit der Zu- und Abnahme des Fortpflanzungsverhaltens (Rufen, Kopulieren und Eiablage) korreliert. Flüge von E. postivittana finden also während der Fortpflanzungsperiode statt, und es gibt keine deutliche Periode vor der Eiablage. Männchen waren aktiver als Weibchen: 45–50% der Männchen verglichen mit 15–18% der Weibchen waren zu langen Flügen während der maximalen Aktivitätsperiode fähig. Das Ergebnis deutet an, das Flüge von E. postvittana im grossen Masse Appetenzflüge sind, doch es wird auf die Möglichkeit hingewiesen, dass einige Individuen wandern können, da die Art keine Diapause hat. Der Geschlechtsdimorphismus in der Flugaktivität wird diskutiert und verglichen mit dem anderer Tortriciden und der Lepidoptera allgemein.

     

The role of availability of food and water to the adult Epiphyas postvittana, the light brown apple moth, in its reproductive performance

Female Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) moths were able to lay fertile eggs without feeding, but they require water to achieve their full reproductive potential. Fecundity of moths given water from emergence was not different from that of moths fed with 30% honey solution. Deprivation of feeding during the early stage (up to three days after emergence) showed no significant decrease in fecundity provided that honey solution was available from the age of four days after emergence. Starved moths laid less than 30% of the number of eggs laid by those fed with honey solution or water. Fecundity was correlated with moth weight at emergence when moths were fed with water or honey solution, but not when no food or water was provided. Moths of both sexes fed on honey solution copulated less frequently, lost body weight at a lower rate and had a greater longevity, compared with those fed with water or nothing. These results are discussed in relation to the reproductive strategy of this species.

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Zusammenfassung Weibliche Motten der Art Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) legten fruchtbare Eier ohne Nahrung aufzunehmen, brauchten jedoch Wasser, um ihr volles Fortpflanzung — Potential zu erreichen. Fruchtbarkeit von Motten, denen Wasser von der Zeit des Schlüpfens an gegeben wurde, unterschied sich nicht von der Fruchtbarkeit der Motten, die mit einer 30 prozentigen Honiglösung gefüttert wurden. Nahrungsentzug während der frühen Entwicklung (bis zu drei Tagen nach Schlüpfen) führte nicht zu einer Reduktion der Fruchtbarkit, vorausgesetzt dass Honiglösung von einem Alter von vier Tagen nach Schlüpfen angeboten wurde. Hungernde Motten legten weniger als 30% der Eier als mit Honiglösung oder Wasser gefütterte Motten. Fruchtbarkeit war korreliert mit dem Gewicht der Motten zur Zeit des Schlüpfeus, wenn die Motten mit Wasser oder Honiglösung gefüttert wurden, jedoch nicht, wenn weder Nahrung noch Wasser angeboten wurde. Mit Honiglösung gefütterte Motten beiderlei Geschlechts kopulierten weniger häufig, verloren Gewicht langsamer und lebten langer als mit Wasser oder nicht gefütterte Motten. Die Ergebnisse werden diskutiert in Bezug auf die Fortpflanzungsstrategie der Art.

     

Première biozonation du Pléistocène Européen,principal résultat biostratigraphique de l'étude des Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia,Perissodactyla) du Miocène terminal au Pléistocène supérieur d'Europe Occidentale

For the Uppermost Miocene the already known zones MN 9 to MN 13 are used without any change; they prove to be particularly useful for the study of fossil rhinocerotids. The Plio-Villafranchian age corresponds to the zones 14 to 19, the definition of the first five being completed and the last being new. Middle to Upper Pleistocene age deals with the zones 20 to 26, all being new and defined following the same principles.