The effects of membrane lipid order and cholesterol on the internal and external cationic sites of the Na+−K+ pump in erythrocytes

Cholesterol depletion alters the apparent affinity of the internal cationic sites and the maximal translocation rate but not the affinity of the external cationic sites of the $\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{?K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ pump in human erythrocytes. To test whether these effects were mediated by a direct cholesterol-internal site interaction or by a change in membrane lipid order, the effects of five fluidizing amphiphiles (chlorpromazine, imipramine, benzyl alcohol, sodium oleate and sodium benzenesulphonate) on the kinetic parameters of the $\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{?K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ pump were determined. The cholesterol removal and all the agents used induced dose-response decreases in membrane lipid order as measured by fluorescence polarization or ESR. Positive and neutral amphiphiles mimicked the effects of cholesterol removal on the affinity of the internal sites of the pump and to a lesser extent on the maximal translocation rate. Anionic amphiphiles had no effect on internal sites, probably because they distributed preferentially within the outer leaflet on the membrane. These results indicate that cholesterol controls the affinity of the internal sites of the $\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{?K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ pump by altering the membrane lipid order. In contrast, neither cholesterol depletion nor the agents used altered the affinity of the external sites of the $\text{Na}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{?K}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ pump. This difference in sensitivity to membrane lipid order suggests that internal and external cationic sites, although borne by the same protein, are in different lipid environments.     

The first optic ganglion of the bee

Summary The arrangement of first and second order neurons in an optic cartridge and the topographical relationships of the second order neurons within a cartridge and to groups of surrounding cartridges have been analyzed in the visual system of the bee, Apis mellifera, from light and electron microscope studies on Golgi preparations. At the level of the monopolar cell body layer, the nine retinula cell fibres of each ommatidium, the six short visual fibres arranged in a circle surrounding the three long visual fibres, become cartridges as a consequence of the appearance of the second order neurons (L-fibres) which join the R-fibre bundles. Two of the four different L-fibre types, L-1 and L-2, remain together in the centre of the cartridge throughout the lamina. The axons of the L-3 and L-4 fibres, however, have their position integrated into the circle formed by the endings of the short visual fibres. On the basis of further examination of light and especially electron microscopical Golgi material, the different L-fibres can be classified into four types which appear in each cartridge. The clear stratification in the first synaptic region (A, B and C) seems to be the best criterion for a morphological classification since such a classification necessarily also includes a functional basis. According to a naming system based on the position of the lateral processes, L-fibres with side branches in strata A, B and C are called L-1 fibres. Fibres with lateral processes in strata A and B are L-2 fibres; monopolar cell fibres with branches only in the second stratum B are L-fibres of type 3; and all monopolar cells with branches only in stratum C are called L-4 fibres. In addition to the branching pattern covering only the parent cartridge, two of the four fibre types (L-2 and L-4) have long collaterals reaching neighbouring cartridges: L-2 in stratum A and L-4 in stratum C. These collaterals presumably form a substrate for lateral interactions.     

The estimation of a bivariate fitness function from two samples taken from a population

Summary The fitness of animals subjected to natural selection can be defined as the probability of surviving selection for a given interval of time, or some convenient multiple of this. If the fitness is related to some measurable variablesX, Y, Z,… then the relationship is expressed mathematically in the fitness functionw(x, y, z,…) and this function can be estimated by comparing the joint distribution ofX, Y, Z,… in samples taken before and after selection. In an earlier paper (Manly, 1975) the problems involved in estimating a fitness function of one variable were discussed. In the present paper various methods for estimating a bivariate fitness function are proposed and compared on some semiartificial sample data. It is concluded that either a generalized version ofO’Donald’s (1968) method of moments or a weighted multiple regression method will be most satisfactory. Alternative methods involving assumptions of normality will need to be used with great care.     

Gene order and recombination rates in the linkage group S-Phi-Hal-H-(Po2)-Pgd in pigs

Families of Czech Landrace (94 litters and 636 offspring) were tested for halothane sensitivity, A-O (S), H, PHI and PGD phenotypes. Informative matings for the estimation of recombination rates between marker loci were selected. The following recombination frequencies were established: S-Phi = 4.8 % (2.5 % -10.7 %);S-H = 6.8 % (4.3 %-11.7 %); Phi-H = 2.6 % (0.9 %-5.3 9%); H-Pgd = 4.4 % (1.6 %-8.0 %). CCCC-overs were observed also between S- Hal, Hal-H andHal - Pgd, but were not found between Phi - Hal. On the basis of these results it has been possible to revise the position of the S locus in this linkage group. The most probable gene order would be: S - Phi - Hal (or Hal - Phi) -H- (P02) - Pgd.
A striking difference was found between the number of halothane-sensitive pigs (87) and HalⁿHal ⁿ genotypes determined by haplotyping (123). Segregation rates in 19 backcross matings and experimental matings of the animals proved that this difference is mostly due to incomplete CCC or low expression of halothane sensitivity.     

Daily Rhythms Related to Distinct Social Tasks inside an Eusocial Bee Colony

A bee colony is often compared to a multicellular organism, mainly because of its spatial organization. We propose that a temporal organization of equal importance is also present. To support this view, we studied the reproductive processes of two closely related species of stingless bees. Stingless bees enable observations of daily rhythms that are performed by distinct social classes. The emergent process, POP, is cyclic and consists of the building and provisioning of brood cells by the worker bees and egg‐laying by the queen. Colonies were kept in the laboratory under constant conditions with the exit tube opening to the environment; thus, foragers had direct access to environmental cycles. At a later stage of the experiment, the exit tube was closed by a sieve; in this case, bees had their own stock of food, but the environmental LD cycle could still be detected when they were inside the exit tube. Daily POP rhythms were present and showed distinct temporal patterns in each species. A third condition was imposed on one of the species only: the exit tube was closed by a sieve and maintained inside a box that was provided with constant illumination. In this colony, the POP rhythm was perturbed by the destruction of the brood cells. Restoration of POP consisted of a rapid reconstruction of cells followed by a late oviposition in the same day. As different rhythmic patterns were detected, but showed regular timings with respect to one another, an interpretation based upon the concept of an internal temporal order is suggested.     

Homeoviscous theory under pressure: II. The molecular order of membranes from deep-sea fish

The molecular order of brain and liver membranes isolated from deep sea and continental shelf fish species have been estimated and compared using the fluorescence polarization technique in order to determine whether life in a high pressure habitat is associated with an adjustment of membrane order. Fish were trawled at depths between 200 m and 4000 m, liver and brain membranes were fractionated, and fluorescence polarization was measured at 4°C and ambient pressure. Polarization of the brain myelin fraction provided a statistically significant regression with depth of capture ($\text{P<0.001}$) with a slope of ?0.004 km^?1. This change in polarization with depth was sufficient to offset approximately half of the pressure-induced increase in polarization and thus represents the first structural evidence of homeoviscous adaptation to pressure. Polarization of the brain synaptic and liver mitochondrial fraction was not significantly related to depth. This may be due, at least in part, to a high individual variability of polarization compared to laboratory-acclimated freshwater fish.     

Development and validation of an experimental and theoretical method for the chiral discrimination of dinotefuran

Dinotefuran is a low-cost agrochemical considered a highly toxic product. In this sense, there is a need for its constant environmental, biological, and food control, aiming to ensure its use to humans as well as to preserve biodiversity and ecosystems. In the present work, we developed an experimental and theoretical method for dinotefuran chiral discrimination. According to the main results, the dinotefuran enantioselective separation was efficiently optimized by high-performance liquid chromatography evaluating the influence of different percentage compositions in the mobile phase to improve the resolution of the peaks in the chromatogram. The novelty of this work was the proposition of a reduced molecular model for the chiral selector amylose-Tris-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) polysaccharide that was able to adequately describe at the molecular level its interaction with the dinotefuran enantiomers. Besides, the thermodynamic and structural parameters obtained via density functional theory calculations pointed out the chiral discrimination as well as the enantiomeric elution order of the analyte studied, confirming the experimental data, thus validating our proposed method. Finally, hydrogen bonds and repulsive interactions played a key role in the discrimination between the diastereomeric complexes, and consequently, for the dinotefuran enantioselective separation.     

早产儿肠道微生态变化及其与胎龄、出生体质量的关系

目的探讨早产儿肠道微生态变化及其与胎龄、出生体质量的关系。方法选取2018年5月至2020年5月我院收治的80例早产儿作为早产组,同期收治的80例足月新生儿作为对照组。收集入组新生儿出生后3 d、3周的粪便,比较2组研究对象粪便标本中细菌丰富度和Shannon Wiener指数;根据早产组胎龄和出生体质量不同分组,分析胎龄、出生体质量与肠道微生态变化的关系。结果(1)出生3 d,早产组新生儿粪便标本的DGGE图谱条带数、Shannon Wiener指数均显著低于对照组(t=3.179、3.521,均P<0.05);(2)出生3 d,胎龄34⁺¹~36⁺⁶周组新生儿粪便标本的DGGE图谱条带数、Shannon Wiener指数显著高于28~30周组、30⁺¹~32周组和32⁺¹~34周组(q=9.653、6.476、4.848和8.796、8.008、6.277,均P<0.05);(3)出生3 d,体质量>2 000 g组新生儿粪便标本的的DGGE图谱条带数、Shannon Wiener指数显著高于≤1 500 g组(q=5.601和4.593,均P<0.05);(4)不同出生体质量、胎龄的早产儿,出生3周粪便标本的DGGE图谱条带数、Shannon Wiener指数相比差异无统计学意义(F=1.577和2.326,均P>0.05)。结论与足月新生儿相比,早产儿出生后细菌定植出现延迟且多样性差,胎龄越小、出生体质量越低的早产儿的肠道菌群的多样性更低、定植延迟的可能性更大,出生3周后其肠道微生态逐渐恢复正常。     

Effects of Parenteral Lipid Infusion on DNA Damage in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are known to have poorly developed antioxidant system and may be at increased risk for radical damage. Previous studies have reported higher levels of lipid peroxide products in lipid emulsion used for parenteral nutrition. To examine the direct effects of parenteral lipid infusion on DNA damage in VLBW infants, we measured urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels in VLBW infants before, during, and after the parenteral lipid infusion. In both the lipid-infused and lipid-free groups, urinary 8-OHdG excretion levels at 14 days old were significantly ( p <0.01) lower than those at 2 and 7 days old. However, there were no significant differences in urinary 8-OHdG excretion levels between the lipid-infused and lipid-free groups at 2, 7, and 14 days old. Our results suggest that parenteral lipid infusion does not cause oxidative DNA damage, but irrespective of the infusion DNA damage during the first week of life is enhanced when compared with 14 days after birth in VLBW infants.