Linearized Growth Curve,Proper Age and Age at Menarche

A mathematical model of the linearized growth curve and its physiological interpretation by the introduction of proper age, which is proportional to the chronological age, are presented here. In the second phase, but not in the first phase, this constant of proportionality is highly correlated with the age at menarche.     

Analytical studies on the responses of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) to various defoliation treatments

The effects of defoliation treatments on plant growth in sunflower (Helianthus annuus) were studied in the field. Four defoliation treatments, 0 (control), 37.4, 56.1 and 93.4% of the total leaf dry weight, were applied to plants that had small third leaves. Decreased leaf weight/whole plant weight (F/W) ratios in defoliated plants rapidly recovered to almost the same ratio as that observed in the control within 12 to 16 days after defoliation according to the degree of defoliation. The mechanism involved in the recovery of the F/W ratio in defoliated plants mainly consisted of three parameters: enhancement of (1) carbon distribution ratios in the leaves, (2) photosynthetic activity in the remaining leaves, and (3) retranslocation of carbon from the stem and/or roots to leaves. Inhibitive effects of defoliation on relative growth rate and net assimilation rate were seen at an early stage, but subsequently both rates became larger in defoliated plants than in controls. Defoliated plants tended to show rapid development and expansion of new leaves, and to show increased specific leaf area and protein synthesis in individual leaves. The sugar content of leaves in defoliated plants was higher than that in controls, while the content in both stem and roots was lower. These responses seem to be advantageous for development of the photosynthetic system. Heights of defoliated plants were clearly depressed according to the degree of defoliation, and this was attributed largely to differences in the elongation rates of the internodes resulting from defoliation.     

Host range differentiation of spore-positive and spore-negative strain types of Frankia in stands of Alnus glutinosa and Alnus incana in Finland

Host compatibility of different spore-positive (Sp⁺)and spore-negative (Sp^?) strain types of Frankia from alder stands in Finland was studied in Modulation tests with hydrocultures of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertner, A. incana (L.) Moench and A. nitida Endl. Root nodules and soil samples from stands of A. incana (Lammi forest and Hämeenlinna forest) were dominated by Sp ⁺ types of Frankia (coded AiSp⁺ and AiSp⁺ H. respectively), which caused effective root nodules in test plants of A. incana, but failed to induce nodules in A. nitida. In A. glutinosa Frankia strain types AiSp ⁺ and AiSp ⁺ H caused small, ineffective root nodules with sporangia (coded Ineff ^?), which were recognized by the absence or near absence of vesicles in the nodule tissue. Ineffective nodules without sporangia (coded Ineff ^?) were induced on A. glutinosa with soil samples collected at Lammi swamp. The spore-negative strain type of Frankia was common in root nodules of A. glutinosa in Finland (Lammi swamp) and caused effective Sp^? type root nodules (coded AgSp ^?) in hydrocultures of A. incana, A. glutinosa and A. nitida. A different Sp ⁺ strain type of Frankia. coded AgSp⁺ Finland, was occasionally found in stands of A. glutinosa. It was clearly distinguished from strain type AiSp ⁺ by the ability to produce effective nodules on both A. glutinosa and A. incana. The nodulation capacities of soil and nodule samples were calculated from the nodulation response in hydrocutlure and served as a measure for the population density of infective Frankia particles. Sp ⁺ nodules from both strain types had equal and high nodulation capacities with compatible host species. The nodulation capacities of Sp type root nodules from A. glutinosa were consistently low. High frequencies of Frankia AiSp⁺ and AiSp⁺ H were found in the soil environment of dominant AiSp ⁺ nodule populations on A. incana. The numbers of infective particles of this strain type were insignificant in the soil environment of nearby Sp ^? nodule populations on A. glutinosa and in the former field at Hämeen-linna near the Sp⁺ nodule area in Hämeenlinna forest. Strain type AgSp^? had low undulation capacity in the soil environment of both A. incana and A. glutinosa stands, Explanations for the strong associations between Frankia strain types AiSp⁺ and AiSp ^? H and A. incana and between strain type AgSp^? and A. glutinosa are discussed in the light of host specificity and of some characteristics of population dynamics of both strain types. The possible need to adapt the concept of Frankia strain types Sp ⁺ and Sp ^? to strains with some variation in spore development was stressed by the low potentials of strain type AiSp ⁺ H to develop spores in symbioses with hydrocultures of A. incnna.     

Induction of reversible changes in cell-surface glycoconjugates and lung colonization potential by 13-cis retinoic acid

Murine squamous carcinoma cells (KLN205) grown in a medium supplemented with the retinoid, 13-cis retinoic acid (RA), had dose-dependent, selective increases in the expression of certain lectin receptors, which correlated with a dramatic decrease in the ability to form pulmonary colonies (P ?.0003) (Couch MJ, Pauli BU, Weinstein RS, Coon JS: JNCI, 78:971 ?977, 1987). These findings suggest a possible relationship between the RA-induced glycoconjugate alterations and the decreased experimental metastatic behavior. We further define the mechanism of RA's action. The finding that RA treatment (5 × 10^?6 M, 5 × 10^?7 M) did not perturb the cell cycle of KLN205 cells provides further proof that the decreased metastatic behavior is not attributable to any inhibition in the rate of growth or to alterations in the cell cycle. Furthermore, since stable subpopulations with variable lectin binding could not be detected, the mechanism of RA's action does not appear to be due to selection of variant tumor-cell subpopulations. Finally, in a scries of experiments designed to determine the reversibility of the RA treatment, the RA-induced decrease in metastatic behavior reverted back to a more metastatic state in the same time frame (3 days) as the reversion of the RA-induced changes in cell-surface glycoconjugate expression. This reversion provides further evidence for a close relationship between the RA-induced modulation of tumor cell-surface glycoconjugate expression and the decreased metastatic behavior; it suggests that transient, reversible modulation of the tumor cell surface may play a role in determining metastatic behavior.     

Growth factor modulation of melanoma growth stimulatory activity mRNA expression in human malignant melanoma cells correlates with cell growth

This report demonstrates that the expression of melanoma growth stimulatory activity (MGSA) mRNA can be modulated in a positive fashion in the Hs294T human melanoma cell line by PDGF and MGSA. There is close correlation between MGSA expression and the pattern of cell growth in Hs294T cells.     

Ca modulates outward current throughI K1 channels

Summary Inward-rectifier channels in cardiac cells (I _K1) stabilize the resting membrane potential near the K equilibrium potential. Here we investigate the role ofI _K1 in the regulation of action potentials and link this to the influx of Ca during beating. Inward Ca current alters the open-channel probability of outwardI _K1 current. Thus Ca ions depolarize cells not only by carrying an inward current but also by blocking an outward current.     

Evaluation of two unstructured mathematical models for the penicillin G fedbatch fermentation

The mathematical model for the penicillin G fed-batch fermentation proposed by Heijnen et al. (1979) is compared with the model of Bajpai & Reuß (1980). Although the general structure of these models is similar, the difference in metabolic assumptions and specific growth and production kinetics results in a completely different behaviour towards product optimization. A detailed analysis of both models reveals some physical and biochemical shortcomings. It is shown that it is impossible to make a reliable estimation of the model parameters, only using experimental data of simple constant glucose feed rate fermentations with low initial substrate amount. However, it is demonstrated that some model parameters might be key factors in concluding whether or not altering the substrate feeding strategy has an important influence on the final amount of product.It is illustrated that feeding strategy optimization studies can be a tool in designing experiments for parameter estimation purposes.