Conformation and local anesthetic activity of carbanilates

Summary The influence of spatial configuration on intensity, onset, and duration of anesthetic effect has been observed in some carbanilate local anesthetics of fixed conformation. Synthesis of the carbanilates is described.     

Antinicotinic properties of papaverine in guinea-pig taenia coli

Zusammenfassung Mit Hilfe der Saccharosetrennwand-Methode wird nachgewiesen, dass Papaverin antinikotinisch an der glatten Muskulatur (Taenia coli) des Meerschweinchens wirkt.     

New selective inhibitors of the transmembrane Ca conductivity in mammalian myocardial fibres. Studies with the voltage clamp technique

Zusammenfassung Die Ca⁺⁺-Leitfähigkeit der Myokardfaser-Membran wird durch Verapamil und sein Methoxyderivat D 600 teilweise bis zum vollständigen Verlust reduziert. Dieser Effekt erfolgt selektiv, da die Na⁺-Leitfähigkeit der Membran unbeeinflusst bleibt. Die während der Erregung der Myokardfaser fliessenden transmembranären Ca⁺⁺- und Na⁺-Ströme benutzen demzufolge voneinander unabhängige Membrankanäle.     

Adenohypophyseal degradation of thyrotropin releasing hormone regulated by thyroid hormones

Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH; pyroGlu-His-Pro-NH2) is important in the regulation of adenohypophyseal hormone secretion and also serves neurotropic functions in extra-hypothalamic brain areas, indicating that it is involved in neurotransmission and other forms of cellular communication. This hypothesis is strengthened by the observation that TRH is hydrolysed at the pyroGlu-His bond by a particulate enzyme located in the synaptosomal and adenohypophyseal plasma membrane. Furthermore, this enzyme has been identified as a heterogeneously distributed ectoenzyme which has a high degree of substrate specificity like the TRH-degrading serum enzyme studied previously. In the rat, the activity of the TRH-degrading serum enzyme has been shown to be influenced by the thyroid status of the animals; here I report that the activity of the membrane-bound TRH-degrading enzyme of the anterior pituitary is stringently controlled by thyroid hormones, but that the activity of the brain enzyme is not.     

Collapse of long-range charge order tracked by time-resolved photoemission at high momenta

Intense femtosecond (10(-15)?s) light pulses can be used to transform electronic, magnetic and structural order in condensed-matter systems on timescales of electronic and atomic motion. This technique is particularly useful in the study and in the control of materials whose physical properties are governed by the interactions between multiple degrees of freedom. Time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy is in this context a direct and comprehensive, energy- and momentum-selective probe of the ultrafast processes that couple to the electronic degrees of freedom. Previously, the capability of such studies to access electron momentum space away from zero momentum was, however, restricted owing to limitations of the available probing photon energy. Here, using femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet pulses delivered by a high-harmonic-generation source, we use time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to measure the photoinduced vaporization of a charge-ordered state in the potential excitonic insulator 1T-TiSe(2 )(refs 12, 13). By way of stroboscopic imaging of electronic band dispersions at large momentum, in the vicinity of the edge of the first Brillouin zone, we reveal that the collapse of atomic-scale periodic long-range order happens on a timescale as short as 20?femtoseconds. The surprisingly fast response of the system is assigned to screening by the transient generation of free charge carriers. Similar screening scenarios are likely to be relevant in other photoinduced solid-state transitions and may generally determine the response times. Moreover, as electron states with large momenta govern fundamental electronic properties in condensed matter systems, we anticipate that the experimental advance represented by the present study will be useful to study the ultrafast dynamics and microscopic mechanisms of electronic phenomena in a wide range of materials.     

Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behaviour

The appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe and the nature of the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic are matters of intense debate. Most researchers accept that before the arrival of anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals had adopted several 'transitional' technocomplexes. Two of these, the Uluzzian of southern Europe and the Chatelperronian of western Europe, are key to current interpretations regarding the timing of arrival of anatomically modern humans in the region and their potential interaction with Neanderthal populations. They are also central to current debates regarding the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals and the reasons behind their extinction. However, the actual fossil evidence associated with these assemblages is scant and fragmentary, and recent work has questioned the attribution of the Chatelperronian to Neanderthals on the basis of taphonomic mixing and lithic analysis. Here we reanalyse the deciduous molars from the Grotta del Cavallo (southern Italy), associated with the Uluzzian and originally classified as Neanderthal. Using two independent morphometric methods based on microtomographic data, we show that the Cavallo specimens can be attributed to anatomically modern humans. The secure context of the teeth provides crucial evidence that the makers of the Uluzzian technocomplex were therefore not Neanderthals. In addition, new chronometric data for the Uluzzian layers of Grotta del Cavallo obtained from associated shell beads and included within a Bayesian age model show that the teeth must date to ~45,000-43,000 calendar years before present. The Cavallo human remains are therefore the oldest known European anatomically modern humans, confirming a rapid dispersal of modern humans across the continent before the Aurignacian and the disappearance of Neanderthals.     

Surface composition of Hyperion

Hyperion, Saturn's eighth largest icy satellite, is a body of irregular shape in a state of chaotic rotation. The surface is segregated into two distinct units. A spatially dominant high-albedo unit having the strong signature of H2O ice contrasts with a unit that is about a factor of four lower in albedo and is found mostly in the bottoms of cup-like craters. Here we report observations of Hyperion's surface in the ultraviolet and near-infrared spectral regions with two optical remote sensing instruments on the Cassini spacecraft at closest approach during a fly-by on 25-26 September 2005. The close fly-by afforded us the opportunity to obtain separate reflectance spectra of the high- and low-albedo surface components. The low-albedo material has spectral similarities and compositional signatures that link it with the surface of Phoebe and a hemisphere-wide superficial coating on Iapetus.