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.     

Taurodontism: A biometric study

This study has been carried out in order to clarify various aspects of the phenomenon known as taurodontism. Samples of both taurodont and non-taurodont teeth were measured and statistical analyses were performed on the resultant data from which various conclusions may be drawn. The most important conclusion is that this phenomenon may be defined metrically. The distributions have shown that the taurodont trait grades into the normal and it is quite difficult to make a subjective judgment at the low end of the taurodont range. It is for this reason that an accurate mathematical means for performing this task is so invaluable. The question of the nature of cuneiform single rooted molars was also investigated, and they were found not to be true taurodonts although the statistical procedure classed them as such. It was demonstrated that through the construction of simple plots these teeth could be eliminated from any group classed by analysis as taurodonts. Various metrical attributes were evaluated with respect to their ability to distinguish taurodonts, and two were found to be satisfactory for this purpose in most cases. Certain changes in molar morphology regarding caries and age were also investigated.     

Differential irreversible insertion of protein kinase C into phospholipid vesicles by phorbol esters and related activators.

Incubation of protein kinase C (PKC) alpha with phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate and phospholipid vesicles promoted a time-dependent irreversible insertion of the enzyme into the vesicles and the generation of a calcium-independent kinase activity. Calcium neither caused insertion nor influenced the insertion induced by the phorbol ester. The effect was strongly dependent on the phosphatidylserine concentration in the vesicle and could also be supported by other anionic phospholipids. An analysis of the structure-activity relations of PKC activators for the calcium-independent kinase activity revealed marked relative differences in potencies for binding and for insertion. Compounds such as phorbol 13-myristate 12-acetate and mezerein were very efficient at inducing insertion. In contrast, 12-deoxyphorbol esters and diacylglycerol were relatively inefficient at inducing insertion, requiring higher concentrations than expected from their binding affinities. The insertion of PKC alpha depended substantially on the length of the aliphatic esters in the 12- and 13-positions of the phorbol derivatives, and once again, potencies for insertion and binding were not directly proportional. Our findings suggest two different sites for ligand interaction on the molecule of PKC alpha with different structure-activity requirements. We speculate that the differential ability of compounds to promote insertion could contribute to the documented marked differences in the biological behavior of PKC activators.     

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.