Identification of precoccinellin in the ladybird beetle,Coleomegilla maculata

Zusammenfassung Isolierung und Strukturzuteilung für ein Alkaloid ausColeomegilla maculata (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

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Coleoptera: Curculionidae.

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In cooperation with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762. Received for publication.

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Mention of a proprietary product does not necessarily imply endorsement of this product by the USDA.     

Fibre type composition of single motor units during synapse elimination in neonatal rat soleus muscle

Skeletal motor neurones innervate the specialized 'types' of fibres comprising most mammalian muscles in a characteristic fashion: each motor neurone forms a 'motor unit' by innervating a set of fibres all of the same type. Because the type expression of adult muscle fibres is plastic and apparently controlled by their innervation, each motor neurone is thought to impose a common type differentiation on all the fibres in its motor unit. However, the situation in developing muscles cannot be this simple. Muscle fibres in neonates receive synaptic input from several motor neurones and achieve the adult, single innervation only after a period of 'synapse elimination. Despite this polyneuronal innervation, differentiated fibre types are present in neonatal muscles. This means either that the motor neurones polyneuronally innervate fibres in a random fashion and type expression is not determined by innervation or that the polyneuronal innervation is ordered in such a way that each fibre could receive unambiguous instructions for type differentiation. We have investigated these possibilities here by determining the fibre type composition of motor units in neonatal rat soleus muscle. We find that even during the time of polyneuronal innervation each motor neurone confines its innervation to largely one of two fibre types present in the muscle. Therefore, some mechanism during early development segregates the synapses of two groups of soleus motor neurones onto two separate populations of soleus muscle fibres.     

Novel form of growth cone motility involving site-directed actin filament assembly.

Regulation of cytoskeletal structure and motility by extracellular signals is essential for all directed forms of cell movement and underlies the developmental process of axonal guidance in neuronal growth cones. Interaction with polycationic microbeads can trigger morphogenic changes in neurons and muscle cells normally associated with formation of pre- and postsynaptic specializations. Furthermore, when various types of microscopic particles are applied to the lamellar surface of a neuronal growth cone or motile cell they often exhibit retrograde movement at rates of 1-6 microns min-1 (refs 3-6). There is strong evidence that this form of particle movement results from translocation of membrane proteins associated with cortical F-actin networks, not from bulk retrograde lipid flow and may be a mechanism behind processes such as cell locomotion, growth cone migration and capping of cell-surface antigens. Here we report a new form of motility stimulated by polycationic bead interactions with the growth-cone membrane surface. Bead binding rapidly induces intracellular actin filament assembly, coincident with a production of force sufficient to drive bead movements. These extracellular bead movements resemble intracellular movements of bacterial parasites known to redirect host cell F-actin assembly for propulsion. Our results suggest that site-directed actin filament assembly may be a widespread cellular mechanism for generating force at membrane-cytoskeletal interfaces.     

Variation in intestinal serotonin levels,and the effect of reserpine in sprague-dawley rats from different sources

Zusammenfassung Es wurde ein statistisch gesicherter unterschiedlicher Serotoningehalt im Darmtraktus zweier unabhängig gezüchteter Rattengruppen von Sprague-Dawley Abstammung und ihre unterschiedliche Ansprechbarkeit auf die Serotonin entleerende Wirkung des Reserpins gefunden.     

外耦合布拉格光栅5um量子级联激光器

窄带宽的AlGaAs/GaAs布拉格光栅耦合到InP的半导体量子级联激光器从而产生稳定的激光频谱,其激 光谱线宽度在1纳米左右。如果不加光栅，非稳定的自由激射的激光器的谱线宽度有30nm左右。隔离的分布式布 拉格光栅可以独立调谐几个纳米。     

SD振子、吸引子的转迁过程及其特性

SD振子及SD吸引子的动力学行为决定于一个光滑参数α的连续变化。当α>0时,系统表现为光滑特征;当α=0时,系统表现为不连续特性。这是一个具有强非线性特征的振动系统,它提供了一个从光滑动力学行为向不连续动力学行为光滑转迁的典型示范,这种直接的转迁并不需要连续系统的过渡。当系统为光滑动力学性态时,表现出与Duffing系统类似的双井等标准动力学行为;当系统表现为不连续性态时,除表现为标准的双井动力学行为外,也表现出如类鞍点和类同宿轨道等非标准动力学行为,展示了这个系统的转迁过程和特性及其相应的吸引子的复杂动力学行为。     

Observation of the radiative decay mode of the free neutron

The theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) predicts that beta decay of the neutron into a proton, electron and antineutrino should be accompanied by a continuous spectrum of soft photons. While this inner bremsstrahlung branch has been previously measured in nuclear beta and electron capture decay, it has never been observed in free neutron decay. Recently, the photon energy spectrum and branching ratio for neutron radiative decay have been calculated using two approaches: a standard QED framework and heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory (an effective theory of hadrons based on the symmetries of quantum chromodynamics). The QED calculation treats the nucleons as point-like, whereas the latter approach includes the effect of nucleon structure in a systematic way. Here we observe the radiative decay mode of free neutrons, measuring photons in coincidence with both the emitted electron and proton. We determined a branching ratio of (3.13 +/- 0.34) x 10(-3) (68 per cent level of confidence) in the energy region between 15 and 340 keV, where the uncertainty is dominated by systematic effects. The value is consistent with the predictions of both theoretical approaches; the characteristic energy spectrum of the radiated photons, which differs from the uncorrelated background spectrum, is also consistent with the calculated spectrum. This result may provide opportunities for more detailed investigations of the weak interaction processes involved in neutron beta decay.