Aminoadamantanes containing monoterpene-derived fragments as potent tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 inhibitors

The ability of a number of nitrogen-containing compounds that simultaneously carry the adamantane and monoterpene moieties to inhibit Tdp1, an important enzyme of the DNA repair system, is studied. Inhibition of this enzyme has the potential to overcome chemotherapeutic resistance of some tumor types. Compound (+)-3c synthesized from 1-aminoadamantane and (+)-myrtenal, and compound 4a produced from 2-aminoadamantane and citronellal were found to be most potent as they inhibited Tdp1 with IC₅₀ values of 6 and 3.5 µM, respectively. These compounds proved to have low cytotoxicity in colon HCT-116 and lung A-549 human tumor cell lines (CC₅₀ > 50 µM). It was demonstrated that compound 4a at 10 µM enhanced cytotoxicity of topotecan, a topoisomerase 1 poison in clinical use, against HCT-116 more than fivefold and to a lesser extent of 1.5 increase in potency for A-549.     

Cartography and Clandestinité in Leïla Sebbar’s Shérazade: 17 ans, brune, frisée, les yeux verts

In this paper, I read Leïla Sebbar’s staging in her novel Shérazade: 17 ans, brune, frisée, les yeux verts of the resistance by children of North African and other immigrants in the early 1980s to the French state’s cartographic modes and documents of control. The paper will consider the many uses to which the map was put by the French state in its colonization of North Africa and particularly Algeria, and later in its attempts to control the banlieues its policies of citizenship and cartographic control yielded on the margins of Paris. In this context, I will explore the ways in which the novel’s characters, living clandestinely in a squatt, simultaneously resist, put to use, and even supercede state documents of control as they disrupt everyday life and conduct heists across the city of Paris. The paper will explore unofficial cartographies of Paris, from those afforded by the radios libres and alternative publications such as Libération and Sans Frontièrez, to oral and almost proverbial networks of knowledge criss-crossing the city of Paris, while also tracing the uses to which supplemental cartographic sketches and counterfeit identity cards are put in the pages of the novel. The paper will be in dialogue with theoretical and critical formulations of space, cartography, and state control put forward by Michel de Certeau, Henri Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, and Tom Conley. The paper will conclude with a consideration of the means and limits of resistance by the novel’s characters in the context of this body of theory and criticism.     

Distinct feeding strategies of generalist and specialist spiders

1. Feeding behaviour of generalist and specialist predators is determined by a variety of trophic adaptations. Specialised prey‐capture adaptations allow specialists to catch relatively large prey on a regular basis. As a result, specialists might be adapted to exploit each item of prey more thoroughly than do generalists. 2. It was expected that obligatory specialist cursorial spiders would feed less frequently than generalists but for a longer time and, thus, that their foraging pause would be longer. First, the feeding frequencies of three generalist spider species (Cybaeodamus taim, Harpactea hombergi, Hersiliola sternbergsi) were compared with those three phylogenetically related specialist species: myrmecophagous Zodarion rubidum, and araneophagous Nops aff. variabilis and Palpimanus orientalis. 3. Generalists captured more prey, exploited each item of prey for a significantly shorter time, and had a shorter foraging pause than was the case for specialists. Generalists also gained significantly less relative amount of prey mass than did specialists. 4. Second, the study compared the prey DNA degradation rate in the gut of generalists and specialists by means of PCR. The degradation rate was not significantly different between specialists and generalists: the detectability half‐life was estimated to exist for 14.3 days after feeding. 5. This study shows that the feeding strategies of cursorial generalist and obligatory specialist spiders are different. Obligatory specialists have evolved a feeding strategy that is based on thorough exploitation of a few large prey, whereas generalists have evolved a strategy that is based on short exploitation of multiple small items of prey.     

Application of muonic X-rays for elemental analysis

Because of the large μ mass compared to the electron mass, the muonic X-rays have energies very suitable for standard γ-ray spectroscopy (Ge detectors), so every element is easily recognized. By selecting the primary μ energies appropriately any part of the specimen, also well inside, can be nondestructively investigated. On the other hand, surface layers may be analyzed. Accuracies of quantitative analyses are 1% of the atomic abundance of the element in question in favorite cases. Results on applications in nuclear medicine and surface physics are presented, and ways of improving the muon flux density are discussed.     

柚花头香化学成分的研究(一)

本文首次报道柚花的香气成分。作者利用憎水性树脂XAD-4吸附柚鲜花的头香,并以毛细管气相色谱和毛细管气相色谱-质谱-计算机联用方法研究头香的化学组分,分离鉴定了17个已知化学成分。它们是芳樟醇、β-蒎烯、β-水芹烯、橙花叔醇等。     

Host plant variation in mortality of the leaf-folding sawfly on the arroyo willow

Abstract. 1. We tested the hypothesis that survival and sources of mortality of the leaf-folding sawfly ( Phyllocolpa sp.) varied significantly among host plants of the arroyo willow ( Salix lasiolepis Bent ham).
2. Survival of the leaf folder differed among field and potted willows in a common environment in two of three cases, and sources of mortality differed among plants in four of five cases.
3. Egg mortality differed among field plants but not among the potted willow plants.
4. Larval mortality and parasitism differed among field and potted willows in 2 years, and appeared to be compensatory mortality sources.
5. Leaf folder density among plants was not generally correlated with percentage of leaf folds with no egg (galls formed but no subsequent oviposition), percentage survival, or percentage mortality, indicating a general lack of density dependence.
6. The proportion of folds with no egg oviposited differed significantly among field and potted plants, and was only correlated with survival or sources of mortality in one of three years.
7. The data support the hypothesis that host plant genotype affects the interaction of the leaf folder with its natural enemies, and thus represents a three trophic level interaction.     

Immunocytochemical localization of lipophorins in the flight muscles of the migratory locust (Locusts migratoria) at rest and during flight

Summary Locust lipoproteins (lipophorins) were localized by indirect immunofluorescence- and immunogold labelling in cryosections of dorsolongitudinal flight muscles. Immunolabelling was performed with monoclonal antibodies against apolipoprotein epitopes that are exposed at the surfaces of the lipophorin particles. Both at rest and during flight, lipophorins were located only in the wider spaces of the extracellular matrix, in the basement membranes of the individual muscle fibers and in the extracellular spaces that surround interfibrillar tracheoles. No internalization of lipophorins by the flight muscle cells was observed. Our results indicate that the unloading of lipophorins at the flight muscles is an extracellular event. Similarities with the vertebrate system of chylomicron and very-low-density lipoprotein degradation are discussed.     

Trophic level assessment of profundal sediments of the artificial Lake Campotosto (Central Italy), using midge larval community (Diptera: Chironomidae)

A study on the profundal chironomids of the artificial Lake Campotosto (Central Italy) was carried out during the summer/early autumn of 1983 and 1984, in order to analyse their composition and community structure in relation to the lake trophic level assessed by water chemical analysis.A total of about 2000 specimens belonging to 15 taxa were collected during the study.Chironomus plumosus group andTanytarsus spp. dominated in 1983 and 1984, respectively, showing a competitive relationship probably due to the larval size. The functional feeding organization was mostly composed of collectors (percentages greater than 90%), revealing the presence of abundant fine organic deposits (FPOM). Diversity and evenness appeared to be negatively affected by the monotony of food, which seems to constitute the key factor in governing both the taxonomic and the trophic structure of chironomid fauna.A clear discrepancy between water chemical data and profundal chironomid analyses was observed in the assessment of the lake trophic level. Sediments exhibited eutrophicated conditions, whereas overlying waters indicated an oligotrophic status. The relevance of profundal macrobenthic investigations in detecting eutrophication is stressed.     

Sedimentary records of accelerated nutrient loading in Florida lakes

Transfer functions relating trophic state (Carlson's TSI_{chlorophyll-a}) to present day accumulation rate of (1) nutrients, (2) cations, and (3) organic sediment, are computed using Binford's ²¹⁰Pb-dilution method. As computed from surficial sediments of 27 lakes, former trophic states are reconstructed for recent (²¹⁰Pb-dated) sedimentary histories of 14 lakes. Of the three kinds of models potentially available, model (3) (TSI vs. organic accumulation) is the weakest statistically, and may be unduly influenced by exceptional deposition and/or preservation of allochthonous organic matter. At present, however, it is the only model applicable to all 14 of the histories tested. Results are encouraging in that model accurately predicts observed TSI's in several mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes. Clearly significant increases (accelerations) are inferred only for a of the most eutrophic lakes of the set, while the model consistently overpredicts TSI's of the 7 most oligotrophic lakes. As Whitmore's diatom-assemblage index is a better predictor of TSI than is model (3) in the one eutrophic lake in which it has been tested, we expect more persuasive results when models (1) and (2) can be tested within a more complete set of analytical data. We were surprised to find 3 severely disturbed lakes among the 12 that show little or no acceleration in rate of eutrophication in recent decades, but we defer attempts at explanation until former nutrient loading can be tested by model (1).     

Effect of habitable space on substrate selection by Paragnetina media (Walker) (Plecoptera: Perlidae)

A biological measure of space available within substrates was used as an index to examine substrate selection by the stonefly nymph Paragnetina media (Walker). Physical measures, such as total surface area of substrate, have not worked well in the past in explaining distribution of aquatic invertebrates. Although analysis of habitable space within substrate did not explain selection completely, the technique provided a precise measure and might be a more rigorous means by which substrate selection could be examined.