Thermotoga thermarum sp. nov. and Thermotoga neapolitana occurring in African continental solfataric springs

Three new strains of eubacterial hyperthermophiles were isolated from continental solfataric springs at Lac Abbé (Djibouti, Africa). Due to their morphology, lipids, and RNA polymerases they belong to the genus Thermotoga. Strains LA4 and LA10 are closely related to Thermotoga neapolitana found up to now only in the marine environment. Strain LA 3 differs from Thermotoga maritima and Thermotoga neapolitana in significant physiological and molecular properties. It is described as the new species Thermotoga thermarum.     

A new species of the clingfish genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Apletodon</Emphasis> (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) from Sao Tome and Principe,Eastern Central Atlantic

The clingfish Apletodon wirtzi sp. nov. is described on the basis of ten specimens and colour photos from Bombom Island, Principe Group, Sao Tome and Principe, eastern central Atlantic Ocean. The species is very small, apparently not exceeding 16 mm total length; it is characterized by having three pores in the mandibular canal, the head length 2.2–2.5 in standard length: SL, the head broad, head width in males 3.6–4.0 (mean 3.8) in SL, the snout in males long, more or less pointed, conical, preorbital length in males 3.1–4.0 in head length, the occipital region with a large pinkish blotch behind each eye (in alcohol specimens), and the lower sides of the body with a row of dark blotches, scattered with white spots in between. The new species is compared with other species of the genus; a key to the males of the four known species of the eastern Atlantic genus Apletodon is presented. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic format at     

Family organization and the wage labor transition in a Tamang community of Nepal

This paper explores familial contexts of transition to a wage labor economy using ethnographic and survey data from Tamang communities at the northern edge of Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. Historically agro-pastoralist, the Tamang of this area have experienced social watersheds drawing them into ever closer relationships with Kathmandu. The earliest was their nineteenth century induction into corvée labor for national elites; more recent has been the accelerating monetization of the twentieth century. This analysis demonstrates trends and frames hypotheses about the social structuring of this latest process, testing them at the individual level with combined ethnographic and survey data from 1028 respondents. Multivariate analyses explore the effects of birth cohort, education, domestic group status, and settlement location on participation in non-family organized wage work. Substantive findings are related to the broader historical literature on household and family with special attention to varieties of subsistence to monetized transition.     

Synthesis of Two Natural Salmon Calcitonins

The structure of calcitonin isolated from salmon¹ (SCT 1) has been recently established² and confirmed by synthesis⁸. It possesses an exceptionally high level of activity, exhibiting about 20–50 times the hypocalcaemic potency of any other calcitonin isolated from mammalian species.     

Callionymus leucopoecilus,a new dragonet (Callionymidae) from the Yellow Sea

Callionymus leucopoecilus, a new species of dragonet from the Yellow Sea, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by 4 spines in the first dorsal fin, 9 rays each in the second dorsal and anal fins, ii, 5, ii principal caudal fin rays, a preopercular spine formula of      

Release of 3H-gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) by inhibitory neurons of the crayfish

Inhibitory neurons innervating the muscle receptor organ (MRO) of crayfish were used to study the uptake and release of tritiated GABA. MROs that have been directly exposed to ³H GABA for 60–75 min release radioactivity during low-frequency electrical stimulation. When ganglia containing the inhibitory cell bodies are exposed to ³H GABA, the isotope travels along a pathway unique to the inhibitory axon, at rates that range between 160 and 240 mm per day. Electrical stimulation of inhibitory axons whose cell bodies have been exposed to ³H GABA for 4–5 hr produces release of isotope from isolated MROs. Low calcium, high magnesium exposure prevents the stimulus-dependent release of radioactivity. Thin layer chromatographic analyses indicate that GABA comprises at least a major fraction of the radioactivity collected from stimulated preparations. A number of unidentified radioactive compounds are usually present with GABA, and it is suggested that most of these are catabolites of GABA.