Body shape and differences between species

The variation of body shape among prosimians is reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on the selective advantages, that is the mechanical reasons, to which variants of the locomotor apparatus can be traced back. There are differences found in the cheiridia, but at present they cannot be explained in terms of mechanics; there is nearly no knowledge about the mechanical meaning of their diversity. Myological characteristics of taxa can be explained mechanically, but this has not yet been done. Well known are variations of body proportions. These discriminate higher taxa, and are largely coincident with the often-used locomotor categories. In spite of this, there are only few sound arguments about the real biomechanic value of characteristic proportions for a given locomotor mode. What is known on this field, is reviewed. Progress can be made only, if the mechanical conditions, set by postural behavior and locomotion, are understood completely. The subtle distinctions between lower taxonomic units can normally be identified only on the basis of detailed and quantified analyses of movements on one hand, and of biometrics on the other. In the few cases in which such studies have been made, the differences of morphology fit to the mechanical requirements of locomotion which also differ only in quantitative details.     

Coaction of blue/ultraviolet-A light and light absorbed by phytochrome in controlling growth of pine (Pinus sylestris L.) seedlings

Photomorphogenesis is a conspicuous feature in conifers. In the case of the shade-intolerant Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), control of stem growth by light is well expressed at the seedling stage and can readily be studied. The present data show that hypocotyl growth is controlled by the far-red-absorbing form of phytochrome (Pfr). However, the Scots pine seedling requires blue or ultraviolet (UV-A) light to become fully responsive to Pfr. Blue/UV-A light has no direct effect on hypocotyl growth and its action appears to be limited to establishing the responsiveness of the seedling to Pfr. This type of coaction between phytochrome and blue/UV-A light has been observed previously in a number of angiosperm seedlings. With regard to the high irradiance reaction of phytochrome in long-term far-red light the pine seedling deviates totally from what has been observed in etiolated angiosperms since continuous far-red light has no effect on stem growth.Abbreviations B light of wavelength between 500 and 400 nm - FR standard far-red light - HIR high irradiance reaction of phytochrome - R high-fluence-rate red light (_R = 0.8) - RG9-light long-wavelength far-red light defined by the properties of the Schott RG9 glass filter (_RG₉<0.01) - = Pfr/Ptot wavelength-dependent photoequilibrium of the phytochrome system (far-red-absorbing form of phytochrome/total phytochrome) - UV-A near ultraviolet light of wavelength between 400 and 320 nm - W white light Research supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Schwerpunkt Physiologie der Bäume).     

“引黄济青”输水沿线水生生物分布与蓄水库富营养化关系的研究

“引黄济青”是国家“七五”重点工程,由黄河下游博兴县境内打渔张闸引水,在渠首沉沙后,再经惠民、东营、潍坊和青岛的10个县区约253km的明渠输送,到达唠山县棘洪滩蓄水库蓄存,实现向青岛市日供水3.0×10~5m~3。明渠输水过程中,来白沿线的营养物质会污染水体,加之输水在库中滞留时间长,会不会发生富营养化,这是社会普遍关注的问题。     

Diurnal variation of corticotropin-releasing factor binding sites in the rat brain and pituitary

Summary 1. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is thought to be involved in the regulation of the diurnal activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and to act as a neurotransmitter in the brain. To date it is unknown whether the binding sites of the central CRF system are subject to diurnal variations. 2. We measured the number of CRF binding sites over the course of a complete 24-hr light-dark cycle in the pituitary, amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), cingulate cortex, visceral cortex, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and locus ceruleus of rats byin vitro receptor autoradiography with iodinated ovine CRF. A 24-hr time course was also established for plasma CRF and corticosterone. 3. The diurnal pattern of plasma CRF does not correlate with the pattern of plasma corticosterone. Within the brain, CRF binding in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala showed a U-shaped curve with maximum levels in the morning and a wide hallow between 1500 and 0100. A biphasic profile with a small depression in the afternoon and a more pronounced depression in the second half of the activity period is characteristic for the other brain areas and the pituitary. The profile for the pituitary correlates with those for the BNST and the area of the locus ceruleus. Furthermore, the diurnal pattern of CRF binding sites in the BNST correlates with that of the hippocampus, and the daytime pattern of the visceral cortex is similar to that of both the hippocampus and the BNST. 4. Since the CRF-binding profiles in the brain and the pituitary clearly differ from the profiles of both plasma CRF and corticosterone, one may assume that the diurnal pattern of central CRF binding sites is not directly coupled to the activity of the HPA axis.     

Moral commitment without objectivity or illusion: Comments on Ruse and Woolcock

Peter Woolcock, in Ruse's Darwinian Meta-Ethics: A Critique, argues that the subjectivist (nonobjectivist) Darwinian metaethics proposed by Michael Ruse (in Taking Darwin Seriously) cannot work, because the illusion of objectivity that Ruse claims is essential to morality breaks down when it is recognized as illusion, and there then remain no good reasons for acknowledging or following moral obligations. Woolcock, however, is mistaken in supposing that moral behaviour requires rational motivation. Ruse's Darwinian metaethical analysis shows why such objective support for morality is neither plausible nor necessary; and when that is recognized, it can also be seen that Ruse's proposed illusion of moral objectivity is superfluous.     

使用MUG培养基定量检测植物药中大肠杆菌时荧光猝灭现象的发生与克服方法

实验中观察到,用ＭＵＧ培养基对植物药中的大肠杆菌定量时多发生荧光猝灭现象,影响检测结果。本文对此现象产生的原因与克服方法进行了系统的考察,发现以一种简便的转接方法可排除植物药介质对菌检的干扰。该方法由两组检验系列构成,当怀疑正常稀释系列（第一系列）４０ｈ培养液的荧光结果可能因猝灭现象呈假阴性时,立即分别将该系列的１—３号管培养液以０．５ｍｌ的接种量转接入新鲜的ＭＵＧ培养基（第二系列）,重新培养２４ｈ,荧光猝灭现象即可克服。综合两系列的荧光、产气和吲哚三项生化特征得出检品中大肠杆菌含量。实际应用表明,此法能显著提高使用该培养基时菌检结果的可靠性。     

THE LASER TOMOGRAPHICAL METHOD USINGMINIMUM OF PROJECTION FOR BIOLOGICAL OBJECT STRUCTURE STUDY

ＴＨＥＬＡＳＥＲＴＯＭＯＧＲＡＰＨＩＣＡＬＭＥＴＨＯＤＵＳＩＮＧＭＩＮＩＭＵＭＯＦＰＲＯＪＥＣＴＩＯＮＦＯＲＢＩＯＬＯＧＩＣＡＬＯＢＪＥＣＴＳＴＲＵＣＴＵＲＥＳＴＵＤＹＹｕｒｉＮ．Ｋｕｌｃｈｉｎ;ＯｌｅｇＢ．Ｖｉｔｒｉｋ;ＯｌｅｇＶ．Ｋｉｒｉｃｈｅｉ...     

Anchor-linked intermediates in peptide amide synthesis are caused by dimeric anchors on the solid supports

Cleavage and kinetic studies have been carried out using commercially obtained H-Tyr(tBu)-5-(4′-aminomethyl-3′,5′-dimethoxyphenoxy)valeric acid-TentaGelS (H-Tyr(tBu)-4-ADPV-TentaGelS) and H-Tyr (tBu)-4-ADPV-Ala-aminomethyl-resin (H-Tyr(tBu)-4-ADPV-AM-resin) prepared from commercially available resin and loaded with commercially available Fmoc-4-ADPV-OH amide anchor. Cleavage with pure trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) gave the intermediate H-Tyr-4-ADPV-NH₂, which was then degraded to H-Tyr-NH₂, and cleavage with TFA/dichloromethane (1:9) yielded H-Tyr-4-ADPV-NH₂ which could be isolated in preparative amounts. Cleavage reactions with ¹⁵N-labelled H-Ala-4-ADPV-[¹⁵N]-Gly-AM-resin yielded the intermediate H-Ala-4-ADPV-NH₂, which contained no ¹⁵N as demonstrated by ¹H-NMR. The analysis of the commercial Fmoc-4-ADPV-OH amide anchor showed the presence of Fmoc-4-ADPV-4-ADPV-OH as an impurity in high amounts. This dimeric anchor molecule is the cause of formation of the anchor-linked peptide intermediate obtained during the cleavage from the resin. The particularly high acid-lability of the amide bond between the two ADPV moieties was utilized to synthesize sidechain and C-terminally 4-ADPV protected pentagastrin on a double-anchor resin, and to cleave it using 5% trifluoroacetic acid in dichloromethane. This method may offer a new way for the synthesis of protected peptide amides with improved solubility to be used in fragment condensation.     

A novel, “hidden” penicillin-induced death of staphylococci at high drug concentration,occurring earlier than murosome-mediated killing processes

In log-phase cells of staphylococci, cultivated under high, non-lytic concentrations of penicillin G, there occurred a novel killing process hitherto hidden behind seemingly bacteriostatic effects. Two events are essential for the apprearance of this hidden death: (i) the failure of the dividing cell to deposit enough fibrillar cross-wall material to be welded together, and (ii) a premature ripping up of incomplete cross walls along their splitting system. Hidden death started as early as 10–15 min after drug addition, already during the first division cycle. It was the consequence of a loss of cytoplasmic constituents which erupted through peripheral slit-like openings in the incomplete cross walls. The loss resulted either in more or less empty cells or in cell shrinkage. These destructions could be prevented by raising the external osmotic pressure. In contrast, the conventional non-hidden death occurred only much later and exclusively during the second division cycle and mainly in those dividing cells, whose nascent cross walls of the first division plane had been welded together. These welding processes at nascent cross walls, resulting in tough connecting bridges between presumptive individual cells, were considered as a morphogenetic tool which protects the cells, so that they can resist the otherwise fatal penicillin-induced damages for at least an additional generation time (morphogenetic resistance system). Such welded cells, in the virtual absence of underlying cross-wall material, lost cytoplasm and were killed via ejection through pore-like wall openings or via explosions in the second division plane and after liberation of their murosomes, as it was the case in the presence of low, lytic concentrations of penicillin. Bacteriolysis did not cause any of the hitherto known penicillin-induced killing processes.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Georg Henneberg on the occasion of his 85th birthday