Proteolytic activity on endogeneous substrates in cell-free extracts ofTrypanosoma cruzi

Summary Cell-free extracts ofTrypanosoma cruzi contain proteolytic activity able to degrade endogenous substrates. The activity was maximal at pH 3 to 4, had an optimal temperature of 65°C, and was strongly inhibited by N--p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone.This investigation received financial support from the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, the Fundación Julio Cherny, and the Ministerio de Salud Pública y Medio Ambiente de la República Argentina. The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Mr Esteban Bontempi.     

Geomorphic investigations in the Medves Area, North Hungary

The Medves Area lies close to the Hungarian-Slovak boundary in North Hungary. Having "horst-graben-type" geological structure it can be characterised by steeply emerging horst-like hills and between them narrow trenches and deeply dissected erosional valleys. The recent morphology of the Medves Area is determined by four main elements: the structure, the petrographic setting, the exo-genic processes and the anthropogenic effects. In spite of the domination of the Oligocene-Miocene sedimentary rocks great part of the area is covered by Pliocene basalts having either stratovolcanic structure or consisting of only lavas, forming lavaplateaus, small cones, dykes or necks. In spite of the strong denudation their original form dominates yet. The decrease of the sheet of the Medves Plateau was considerable only on the rims by parallel retreat. In the southern part of the Medves Area the evolution of the landscape was determined mainly by exogenic processes. The great density of the valleys is very significant, but it is interesting that many tributary valleys are dry valleys, which can be explained by neotectonic movements and young captures. Anthropogenic forms are very frequent in the Medves Area, where the change of the natural environment caused by human activity is above average. Especially the landscape forming effects of the mining of basalt and browncoal and that of the related industry and infrastructure changed the surface. Very interesting are the depressions on the surface caused by collapse of underground galleries, moreover sometimes trench-like deep fissures came into being.     

Herbivorous and parasitic insect guilds associated with Great Basin wildrye ( Elymus cinereus ) in southern Idaho

Insects inhabiting Great Basin wildrye ( Elymus cinereus Scribn. & Merr.) were surveyed at two sites on the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho during 1982 and 1983. Forty-six species of phytophagous insects were observed. In addition, eight parasitoid species were reared from insect hosts in the plant culms and identified. Lifestage, abundance, plant part utilized, and study site were recorded for each insect species collected. Insect guilds at the two sites were compared based on species presence utilizing Sorensen's similarity index. Overall, 26 insect species were common to both sites, yielding a moderate similarity index of 0.62. The majority of the species that constitute the wildrye herbivore guilds were oligophagous (restricted to grasses). Many of these insects feed on grain crops as well as other native and introduced grasses. The relatively high diversity of phytophages on wildrye may be due to its tall, bunchgrass growth form, its abundance within its habitat, its broad geographic range, and the large number of related species of grasses in the region.     

Cytochrome oxidase activity in different hypothalamic areas. Influence of castration

Resumen En el presente trabajo se ha estudiado la actividad de la citocromooxidasa en diversas areas hipotalamicas de animales machos castrados y con terapia sustitutiva. Los resultados demonstraron que la castración deprime la actividad de la enzima en el hipotálamo anterior y posterior. La posible implicancia de estos hallazgos con cambios en la cadena respiratoria producidos por la castration es discutida en el trabajo.

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Supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.     

Immunelectrophoretic analysis of the lymph

Zusammenfassung Vergleichende immunelektrophoretische Untersuchungen des Blutplasmas, der Nieren-, Leber-, Darm- und Tr.-cervicalis-Lymphe zeigten mit Ausnahme der Leberlymphe in den Lymphproben die gleichen Proteinfraktionen wie im Blutplasma. Im Immunelektrophorogramm der Leberlymphe waren an den Stellen der - und-Globulinfraktionen mehrere Präzipitinstreifen sichtbar, die im Plasma bzw. in den Lymphproben anderen Ursprungs nicht vorhanden waren.     

Fullerenes from aromatic precursors by surface-catalysed cyclodehydrogenation

Graphite vaporization provides an uncontrolled yet efficient means of producing fullerene molecules. However, some fullerene derivatives or unusual fullerene species might only be accessible through rational and controlled synthesis methods. Recently, such an approach has been used to produce isolable amounts of the fullerene C(60) from commercially available starting materials. But the overall process required 11 steps to generate a suitable polycyclic aromatic precursor molecule, which was then dehydrogenated in the gas phase with a yield of only about one per cent. Here we report the formation of C(60) and the triazafullerene C(57)N(3) from aromatic precursors using a highly efficient surface-catalysed cyclodehydrogenation process. We find that after deposition onto a platinum (111) surface and heating to 750 K, the precursors are transformed into the corresponding fullerene and triazafullerene molecules with about 100 per cent yield. We expect that this approach will allow the production of a range of other fullerenes and heterofullerenes, once suitable precursors are available. Also, if the process is carried out in an atmosphere containing guest species, it might even allow the encapsulation of atoms or small molecules to form endohedral fullerenes.     

A variant associated with nicotine dependence, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease

Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death, causing about 5 million premature deaths worldwide each year. Evidence for genetic influence on smoking behaviour and nicotine dependence (ND) has prompted a search for susceptibility genes. Furthermore, assessing the impact of sequence variants on smoking-related diseases is important to public health. Smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer (LC) and is one of the main risk factors for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Here we identify a common variant in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene cluster on chromosome 15q24 with an effect on smoking quantity, ND and the risk of two smoking-related diseases in populations of European descent. The variant has an effect on the number of cigarettes smoked per day in our sample of smokers. The same variant was associated with ND in a previous genome-wide association study that used low-quantity smokers as controls, and with a similar approach we observe a highly significant association with ND. A comparison of cases of LC and PAD with population controls each showed that the variant confers risk of LC and PAD. The findings provide a case study of a gene-environment interaction, highlighting the role of nicotine addiction in the pathology of other serious diseases.