MBAT: A scalable informatics system for unifying digital atlasing workflows

Background  

Digital atlases provide a common semantic and spatial coordinate system that can be leveraged to compare, contrast, and correlate data from disparate sources. As the quality and amount of biological data continues to advance and grow, searching, referencing, and comparing this data with a researcher's own data is essential. However, the integration process is cumbersome and time-consuming due to misaligned data, implicitly defined associations, and incompatible data sources. This work addressing these challenges by providing a unified and adaptable environment to accelerate the workflow to gather, align, and analyze the data.     

Functional morphology of the neck organ in Artemia salina nauplii

Fine structure of the ion transporting epithelium of the neck organ in the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) nauplius is described. The neck organ is a dome-like gland situated atop the cephalothorax of the larva and is composed of 50 to 60 cuboidal epithelial cells. These cells possess many of the characteristics of salt-secretory cells from other tissues. They contain many mitochondria and exhibit a high degree of plasma membrane elaboration. This membrane amplification takes two forms; the apical plasmalemma is infolded into irregular loops, while the basal and lateral membranes penetrate the cytoplasm in the form of branching sinusoids. The labyrinth of tubular reticulum thus formed fills most of the cell volume. Mitochondria in the labyrinth are often in intimate contact with these tubular membranes and regular arrays of parallel mitochondria with constricted intervening sinusoids are often observed. Other organelles including Golgi complexes, multivesicular bodies, and rough endoplasmic reticulum are also numerous, particularly in the narrow rim of cytoplasm which lies between the apical infolds and the labyrinth. Yolk platelets and glycogen fields are conspicuous in the basal perinuclear regions of the cells.     

Of Two Minds: The Growing Disorder in American Psychiatry

Of Two Minds: The Growing Disorder in American Psychiatry. T. M. Luhrmann. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.337 pp.     

Ciliary receptors associated with the mouth and pharynx of Acoela (Acoelomorpha): a comparative ultrastructural study

The ultrastructure and distribution of receptor cells near the mouth and (where present) the pharynx of Hofstenia miamia, Proporus bermudensis, Conaperta thela, and Convoluta convoluta (Acoela) were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy of specimens stained with a fluorescence marker for actin. Five types of monociliary receptors were identified: (1) non‐collared receptors with a single long and narrow ciliary rootlet; (2) non‐collared receptors with a wide main ciliary rootlet and a smaller posterior rootlet; (3) non‐collared receptors with a single wide and hollow ciliary rootlet with a granulated core; (4) Collar (?) receptors with obliquely radial filament bundles in the cell apex and with a single hollow ciliary rootlet composed of numerous strand‐like elements; and (5) Collar receptors lacking a striated rootlet but with a granular body (swallow's nest rootlet). While H. miamia bears the first two receptor types, P. bermudensis has receptors of type 1, 3 and 5, and Cona. thela and Conv. convoluta have receptors of type 3, 4 and 5. The density of receptors is generally highest at the anterior body tip, regardless of where the mouth is located. Most receptor types occur scattered over the whole body but type 2 receptors of H. miamia are restricted to the pharynx and mouth region. The lack of a common receptor type specific for the mouth and pharynx of the investigated species points to an independent origin of the pharynges in Hofsteniidae and in Proporidae and of the mouth tube in Convolutidae. Moreover, the homology of the so‐called collar receptors in Acoela with typical collar receptors in other invertebrates is questioned.     

Effect of nutritional copper deficiency on carrageenin edema in the rat

The effects of nutritional copper deficiency on carrageenin edema in the rat were investigated with emphasis on studying the correlation between the degree of copper deficiency and the degree of edema. Carrageenin paw edema in both copper-sufficient and copper-deficient groups of rats was compared after either 20, 40, or 60 d on respective diets. The degree of copper deficiency was quantitated by analyzing total copper concentrations in a number of tissues. Other copper dependent parameters were also determined. Results indicated that: (1) although copper sufficient rats showed relatively little change in the degree of edema, copper-deficient rats showed a steady and significant increase in edema from d 20 to 40 to 60; (2) paw edema in copper-deficient animals was highly and negatively correlated to the concentrations of copper in the liver; the correlation with liver Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase activity, however, was inconsistent; (3) paw edema was not correlated either to copper concentration in tissues other than liver or to plasma ceruloplasmin activity; and (4) aggravation of carrageenin edema in copper-deficient animals seemed to be mediated via an as yet unknown secondary effect of copper deficiency.     

Role of endogenous opioids and histamine in morphine induced emesis

The role of opioid and histaminergic system in morphine induced emesis was investigated in dogs. Morphine (25 micrograms, icv) consistently evoked emesis with an average latency of 195 +/- 29 sec which was fully accounted for by an action on the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ) as its ablation rendered animals refractory to vomiting. Intraventricular pretreatment with opioid antagonist naloxone, histamine H1 antagonist mepyramine and H2 antagonists metiamide and cimetidine afforded protection to icv morphine emesis. The CSF histamine concentration was significantly raised 5 min after icv morphine administration. The results suggest that both endogenous opioid and histamine are involved in morphine emesis. Naloxone in high doses (1600 micrograms, icv) elicited emesis which was not blocked by CTZ ablation confirming our earlier report.     

Import of a precursor protein into chloroplasts is inhibited by the herbicide glyphosate

Import of the precursor to 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (pEPSPS) into chloroplasts is inhibited by the herbicide glyphosate. Inhibition of import is maximal at glyphosate concentrations of ≥10 μm and occurs only when pEPSPS is present as a ternary complex of enzyme–shikimate-3-phosphate–glyphosate. Glyphosate alone had no effect on the import of pEPSPS since it is not known to interact with the enzyme in the absence of shikimate-3-phosphate. Experiments with wild-type and glyphosate-resistant mutant forms of pEPSPS show that inhibition of import is directly proportional to the binding constants for glyphosate. Inhibition of import is thus a direct consequence of glyphosate binding to the enzyme–shikimate-3-phosphate complex. The potential for non-specific effects of glyphosate on the chloroplast transport mechanism has been discounted by showing that import of another chloroplast-designated protein was unaffected by high concentrations of glyphosate and shikimate-3-phosphate. The mechanism of import inhibition by glyphosate is consistent with a precursor unfolding/refolding model.     

Time-dependent subpopulation induction in heterogeneous tumors

Time-dependent induction of clonal heterogeneity in the neoplastic micro-environment is analysed within the context of a competitive ecology. A model that describes a constant source for clonal emergence was analysed by Michelsonet al. (1987) as an extension of a model proposed by Jansson and Revesz (1974). The extended model has been termed the JRE Model. This paper extends these analyses to time-dependent emergence rates which may represent induction in the presence of a cytotoxic agent. If the analysis is constrained to the tumor micro-environment, and if the emergent subpopulation is drug resistant, then the model may describe the induction and emergence of drug resistant subclones in a growing neoplasm. Asymptotic closed form solutions are derived for a class of emergence rate functions which decay asymptotically to a constant mutation rate. This underlying mutation rate may represent spontaneous mutation to the resistant phenotype, and has been analysed stochastically (Coldmanet al., 1985). The asymptotic solutions to the time-dependent model approach the steady state solution for the JRE Model which represents the dynamics observed in the presence of a constant, spontaneous mutation rate. The clinical and biological implications of these results are discussed. Research support provided in part by Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research Grant No. 6032/6319 and ACS Grant IN45-Z and ACS PDT 243B.