Some dermatoglyphic traits in breast carcinoma

The finger and palmar prints of 60 women with breast carcinoma were studied. The results were compared with two groups of healthy women, the first consisted of old women and the second of young women. The dermatoglyphics seem to be of little use in the diagnosis of cancers of ectodermic origin. Supported by M.P.I. 60%, 1983     

Application of the Red List Index as an indicator of habitat change

For the first time ever, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List Index for habitat types was calculated for an entire country, Finland. The RLIs were based on species threat assessments from 2000 and 2010 and included habitat definitions for all 10,131 species of 12 organism groups. The RLIs were bootstrapped to track statistically significant changes. The RLI changes of species grouped by habitats were negative for all habitat types except for forests and rural biotopes which showed a stable trend. Trends of beetles and true bugs were positive in rural and forest habitats. Other 16 observed trends of species group and habitat combinations were negative. Several trends observed were in accordance with studies focusing on particular taxa and habitats, and drivers for their change. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the RLI as a tool for observing habitat change based on species threat assessment data.     

Sexual advertisement and immune function in an arachnid species (Lycosidae)

A simple version of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesizesthat through condition-dependence, the size of the sexual traitmay be positively related to immune function at the populationlevel. In the present study, we investigated the relationshipbetween sexual advertisement and immune function in a naturalpopulation of male wolf spiders, Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata (Araneae:Lycosidae). Males of H. rubrofasciata have a costly and condition-dependentacoustic signal, courtship drumming. In the mating season, malesdrum against dry leaves while wandering around the habitat searchingfor receptive females. Males increase their mating success byincreasing their drumming rate and mobility. We used drummingrate and mobility measured without female proximity as estimatesof sexual advertisement. As estimates of male immune function,we used encapsulation rate and lytic activity. Encapsulationrate is a common challenging technique, which measures immuneresponse against multicellular parasites. Lytic activity isa monitoring technique, which measures immune response againstpathogens. Our results show that males with higher drummingrate had higher encapsulation rate. This suggests that femalesmight use drumming rate as a signal for choosing males withgood immunocompetence. Moreover, our results show that maleswith higher mobility had higher lytic activity. As females aremore likely to encounter those males that have higher mobility,this might also select males with better immune function. Ourresults suggest that the immunocompetence handicap might workalso among spiders, although we could not assess the causalityof the relationship between sexual selection and immune functionin this correlational study.     

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PHYLOGENY AND MORPHOLOGY OF SNOWELLA SPP. AND WORONICHINIA NAEGELIANA,CYANOBACTERIA COMMONLY OCCURRING IN LAKES1

In this study, the first reported isolates of the genera Snowella and Woronichinia were characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and morphological analysis. Phylogenetic studies and sequences for these genera were not available previously. By botanical criteria, the five isolated strains were identified as Snowella litoralis (Häyrén) Komárek et Hindák Snowella rosea (Snow) Elenkin and Woronichinia naegeliana (Unger) Elenkin. This study underlines the identification of freshly isolated cultures, since the Snowella strains lost the colony structure and were not identifiable after extended laboratory cultivation. In the 16S rRNA gene analysis, the Snowella strains formed a monophyletic cluster, which was most closely related to the Woronichinia strain. Thus, our results show that the morphology of the genera Snowella and Woronichinia was in congruence with their phylogeny, and their phylogeny seems to support the traditional botanical classification of these genera. Furthermore, the genera Snowella and Woronichinia occurred commonly and might occasionally be the most abundant cyanobacterial taxa in mainly oligotrophic and mesotrophic Finnish lakes. Woronichinia occurred frequently and also formed blooms in eutrophic Czech reservoirs.     

Population cytogenetics of aphidicolin-induced fragile sites

Summary Chromosome fragile sites are inducible by aphidicolin in cultured human lymphocytes. To assess the frequency and distribution of these common fragile sites in the general population, a cytogenetic survey was performed on 126 subjects, 59 males and 67 females, whose age ranged from 1 day to 72 years. Common fragile sites, induced by aphidicolin, were widespread and showed a remarkably different sensitivity among individuals; age influenced the overall frequency of fragile sites. Moreover, both age and sex seemed to modulate the expression of specific fragile sites. In our population, the most common fragile sites were: 3p14, 16q23, Xp22, 6q26, 1p31, 4q31, 1p22, 7q22, 2q33, 3q27, 2q31, 7q32, 14q24, 10q22, 5q31, 2q37, 6p21.     

Conformational analysis of a toxic peptide from Trimeresurus wagleri which blocks the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The 22-residue toxic peptide (WTX1) from the venom of the Southeast Asian snake Trimeresurus wagleri has multiple sites of action, but its lethal effect has been attributed to blocking the postsynaptic acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction. The 3-dimensional structure of WTX1 was studied using 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and computer simulations. In aqueous solution, WTX1 was shown to have extended and flexible "tails" defined by a short, rigid disulfide-bonded loop. The flexible regions can undergo structural rearrangement when moved from an aqueous to a less polar environment and may contribute to its effectiveness at different receptor sites. By substituting Gly or Phe for His at position 10, significant effects on the disulfide bond formation and, thereby, the activity of the peptide were observed. These results suggest that even subtle differences in single residues can have profound effects on the dynamics of folding, disulfide bond formation, and activity of this toxic peptide.     

The effects of temperature and adrenergic agonists on cardiac myocytes of perch (Perca fluviatilis) in cell culture conditions

1. 1. Isolated cardiac myocytes of perch, Perca fluviatilis, were kept in culture conditions for 1–2 months at 12 or 22°C. In the culture most myocytes flattened, lost their spindle-shaped morphology, protruded pseudopod-like branches and many of them started visible contractions in 1–2 weeks and continued beating for several months. Myocytes did not divide in the sparse cell population used. Typical intracellular structures could be seen in electron micrographs still after 1–2 months, but the sarcoplasmic organization became gradually more irregular in the culture.

2. 2. Beat rates showed linear temperature relationship on the Arrhenius plot. Myocytes cultivated at 22°C showed higher frequencies and slightly less dependence on temperature than myocytes cultivated at 12°C (apparent activation energies (E_a) 86 and 107 kJ/mol, respectively).

3. 3. Temperature dependence of frequencies was related to the presence of added serum or adrenergic agonists: β-adrenergic agonists increased the frequencies and rendered the cells less dependent on temperature; apparent activation energy was 43 kJ/mol for isoprenaline or adrenaline and 108 kJ/mol for noradrenaline and control group.

4. 4. Heat tolerance was greater in myocytes cultivated at 22°C than in myocytes cultivated at 12°C, and the change in tolerance appeared in 12 h after the alteration of culture temperature and the increased tolerance was persistent after that.

5. 5. It is suggested, that the processes of quick heat-hardening and of slower but persistent heat resistance acclimation developed in these cells in culture conditions but not the capacity acclimation, which seems to be dependent on adrenergic regulation of beat rate.

Effects of salinity on metabolism and life history characteristics of Daphnia magna

In the Baltic Sea area, the cladoceran Daphnia magna is commonly found in brackish water rockpools and it has been suggested that salinity is one of the niche dimensions that affects the distribution of the species. The salinity tolerance of D. magna was studied both in physiological and life history experiments. The experimental salinities were freshwater, 4S and 8S. The highest respiration and ammonium excretion rates were measured in the freshwater treatment with decreasing respiration and ammonium excretion rates at higher salinities. The lowest O/N ratio (oxygen consumption to ammonium excretion), describing the metabolic status of an organism, was obtained at 8S, although the only significant differences were detected when comparing to 4S treatments. Individual growth rate, reproductive output and population growth rate were highest at 4S. At 8S growth and reproduction were reduced as compared to freshwater and 4S. The life history parameters in the performed experiments indicated higher fitness (expressed as r) as well as more favourable conditions for growth and reproduction at 4S, whereas the O/N ratio was more difficult to interpret and, in this case, gave a less clear picture of the salinity influence.