Metabolic biochemistry and the making of a mesopelagic mammal.

Large seals such as northern and southern elephant seals and Weddell seals are able to dive for startling duration and enormous depth. The current dive duration record is 120 minutes (recorded for the southern elephant seal); the current depth record is 1.5 km (recorded for the northern elephant seal). Equally striking is the widespread observation that these seals when at sea spend close to 90% of the time submerged and often at great depth. For practical purposes, these species can be viewed as true mesopelagic animals when they are at sea. A review of current knowledge indicates that low power output but high efficiency metabolic functions of skeletal muscles coupled with inherently low (and potentially further suppressible) metabolic rates constitute strategic biochemical components in the 'making' of a mesopelagic mammal.     

Ontogenic development and anatomical distribution of a supernumerary limb-inducing factor

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This work was supported by a Rackham Grant from the University of Michigan.     

The peculiarities of capacitance vessel reflex responses

Conclusion Changes of the vessel capacity resulted from the pressor synocarotid reflexes, intestinal chemoreflexes and reflexes from the right atrium or ventricle and electric stimulation of the somatic nerve afferents can be either similarly or differently directed as compared with the responses of the resistance vessels.

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Artificial lung ventilation during diaphragmatic paralysis

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Isoforms of baker's yeast transketolase

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Interaction of polyene antibiotics and serum lipoproteins

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Protein biosynthesis and hyperpolarization of cells

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Normalization by nucleotides of impairments in deamination of nitrogenous compounds in liver of tumor-bearing mice

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The tonically acting pulmonary receptors innervated by C fibres

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Effect of some monoamine oxidase inhibitors on deamination of biogenic monoamines by rat liver mitochondrial monoamine oxidase

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Deamination by ‘Transformed’ mitochondrial amine oxidase of the ε-amino group of lysine and selective inhibition of this reaction by β-aminopropionitrile

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Structural changes accompanying the reversible cold inactivation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from rat skeletal muscle

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Discovery of toxicogenicStachybotrys chartarum strains in Finland

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The authors wish to thank the National Research Councils for Medical Sciences and for Agriculture and Forestry for supporting the work with a grant.     

The “day of Brahman” in the work of Āryabhata

Summary In the astronomical treatise ryabhatya of ryabhata several verses are interpolated, namely all those verses in which either Brahman was mentioned or extremely large periods were introduced. The interpolator was known to AlBrn as ryabhata of Kusumapura, who belongs to the school of the elder ryabhata. The aim of the interpolator was to bring the teaching of the elder ryabhata into accordance with the revelation of Svayambh. Svayambh is another name for Brahm.     

Synthesis and pharmacological properties of [1-N4-dimethyl-asparagine]-angiotensin II

Summary [1-N⁴-Dimethyl-asparagine]-angiotensin II was synthesized by Merrifield's solid-phase procedure. The analogue gave rat blood pressure about 70% relative potency to Hypertensin (Ciba). Rabbit aorta strips gave intrinsic activity _E=1, a PD₂ of 6.92±0.09 and an affinity relative to [Asn¹]-angiotensin II of 6.5%.The editors do not hold themselves responsible for the opinions expressed in the authors' brief reports. — Les auteurs sont seuls responsables des opinions exprimées dans ces brèves communications. — Für die Kurzmitteilungen ist ausschliesslich der Autor verantwortlich. — Per le brevi comunicazioni è responsabile solo l'autore. — . — Solo los autores son responsables de las opiniones expresadas en estas comunicationes breves.Acknowledgment. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Dr Emanuel Escher, School of Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Sherbrooke, Quebec, for his help in providing the biological data and critical comments.     

Zur Genese hepatozellulärer Kerneinschlüsse bei Colchicinvergiftung

Summary The colchicin-induced nuclear inclusions are a postmitotic phenomena. Fusing chromosome vesicles often include a portion of cytoplasm, surrounded by persisting parts of the vesicle membranes (indirect or membraned n.i.). This membrane sometimes degenerates; the n.i. then lies free in the karyoplasm (secondarily direct or free n.i.).     

The in vivo expression of the globin genes of theβ cistron in γ-,δ-, andδβ-thalassemia heterozygotes

There is considerable evidence suggesting that the switch from to and chain production after birth is due, in part, to silencing of the genes by stage-specific factors which bind to their promoters and to the competition from the adult ( and ) genes for a common enhancer element located in the locus control region. As a consequence one can expect that the increased Hb F production in adults with hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin or -thalassemia is directed mainly by -globin genes in cis to the deletion(s) responsible for these conditions. Here we review data on heterozygotes with -, -, or -thalassemia, who also had an^AT mutation, in cis or in trans, which was used as a marker of gene expression. The results show that a deletion affecting adult genes favors the expression of genes in cis, while the deletion of a single gene does not affect the expression of the gene in cis but leads to a faster switch postnatally.     

The selective esterification of the 5′-hydroxyl of thymidine

Zusammenfassung Ein einfacher Weg zur selektiven Esterbildung mit der 5-Hydroxylgruppe von Thymidin wird beschrieben. Beispiele: Thymidin-5-phosphat, Thymidin-5-sulfat und Thymidin-5-trichloracetat.     

A historical review of the problem of mitogenetic radiation

Summary The miracle of caryokinesis was the starting point that stimulated Alexander G. Gurwitsch to carry out his famous mitogenetic experiments in 1923. The results obtained confirmed his hypothesis of a weak radiation from cells, which is able to trigger the growth of other cells. Extensive experimental work within the first two decades after this discovery indicated that the problem of mitogenetic radiations is generally related to the biological significance of UV-radiation. Both energetic and informational aspects have to be considered, namely radiation effective in activating molecules, and that involved in arranging them into larger units.The molecular organization of biological structures is evidently governed by nonequilibrium conditions needing the uptake or emission of radiation. These concepts of A. G. Gurwitsch can be linked with modern approaches based on hypotheses of coherence in biology, synergetics and dissipative structures. However, the question of causal interrelationships between this part of non-equilibrium radiation and biological matter on different levels of evolution has to be solved now.     

Tumor necrosis factor α in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria

Physiologically in the brain, cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TN) are released by the immune system and can modulate neurological responses. Conversely, the central nervous system (CNS) is also able to modulate cytokine production. In the case of CNS disorders, cytokine release may be modified. Cerebral malaria (CM) is a complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection in humans and is characterized by a reversible encephalopathy with seizures and loss of consciousness. Central clinical signs are partly due to sequestration of parasitized red blood cells in the brain microvasculature due to interactions between parasite proteins and adhesion molecules. TNF is produced and released by host cells following exposure to various malarial antigens. The increase of TNF release is responsible for the overexpression of adhesion molecules. This article reviews the involvement of TNF in cerebral malaria and the relation with all the processes involved in this pathology. It shows that (i) TNF levels are increased in plasma and brain but with no clear correlation between TNF levels and occurrence and severity of CM; (ii) TNF is responsible for intercellular adhesion molecule-1 upregulation in CM, the relation being less clear for other adhesion molecules; (iii) TNF receptors are upregulated in CM, with TNF receptor 2 (TNFR2) showing a higher upregulation than TNFR1 in vivo; (iv) in murine CM, low doses of TNF seem to protect from CM, whereas excess TNF induces CM and anti-TNF therapies (antibodies, pentoxifylline) did not show any efficiency in protection from CM. Moreover, the involvement of lymphotoxin a, which shares with TNF the same receptors with similar affinity, appears to be an interesting target for further investigation.Received 4 December 2002; received after revision 7 February 2003; accepted 14 February 2003