The binding of polyphenols (rutin and some of itsO-β-hydroxyethyl derivatives) to human serum proteins

Summary A binding of polyphenols (rutin and its o--hydroxyethyl derivatives) to human serum was demonstrated. The results showed an increase of binding proportional to the number of free phenolic groups on the molecule of rutin.Acknowledgments. We should like to thank MissC. Gaillard and MissE. Engels for their valuable assistance in this study.     

Action ofβ-(4-chlorophenyl-GABA) on uptake and metabolism of GABA in different subcellular fractions of rat brain

Summary -(4-chlorophenyl)-GABA, a GABA mimetic compound, acts as an inhibitor of GABA metabolism in both synaptosomal and extrasynaptosomal compartments. It has no significant action on GABA or Glu uptake by synaptosomes.     

The Rise and Fall of the Glassmaker Paul Bosc d'Antic (1753–1784)

Abstract

Thanks to the efforts made in the first decade of the 18th century by Réaumur and, to a lesser extent, by Buffon, glassmaking attracted the attention of Academic French scientists. In the early 1750s, in order to bridge the gap between the protected system of French glass manufactories and the academic thirst for innovation and technological improvement, technical experts with solid scientific backgrounds were charged by the Académie des sciences to supervise the organisation of several royal manufactories. Paul Bosc d'Antic was chosen in 1755 to solve the problems at the mirror manufactory in Saint-Gobain. Bosc d'Antic's career, in its tension between his ambition as an academic author and drive as a technical inventor, and the economic interest of a free entrepreneur, provides an interesting example of the complex and contradictory evolution of the French chemical arts and manufactories during the second half of the 18th century.

“Les arts ont entr'eux des rapports plus ou

moins marqués, […] mais celui de la verrerie

est le fondement de presque tous les autres”.

Bosc d'Antic     

The anatomical and physiological bibliography of George E. Day (1815–1872)

The history of the Greenlandic mineral cryolite is outlined from its discovery in late-eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, when its potential for industrial use was first recognized by the Danish chemist Julius Thomsen. During the 1850s, several attempts were made to exploit cryolite for the production of soda and/or aluminium, of which only the soda process became implemented on an industrial scale. The main part of the paper examines the early cryolite soda manufacture, its chemical basis as well as its industrial significance. The focus is thus the intersection of chemical science and technology. It is argued that Thomsen's process depended intimately on current chemical knowledge, and that, with regard to the science-technology relationship, the cryolite soda manufacture signified a new kind of industrial chemistry.     

The presence of β-phenylethylamine,p-tyramine,m-tyramine and tryptamine in ganglia and foot muscle of the garden snail (Helix aspersa)

Summary The concentrations of -phenylethylamine,p-tyramine,m-tyramine,m-octopamine and tryptamine in the ganglia or foot muscle ofHelix aspersa range from <0.6 to 11 ng/g.p-Octopamine levels are higher in ganglia (327 ng/g) than in foot muscle (4.1 ng/g). Dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine range from 840 to 2710 ng/g while their acid metabolites, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid range from <20 to 130 ng/g.Acknowledgments. We thank Dr A.A. Boulton for helpful discus sion, Dr D.A. Durden for supervising the mass spectrometric analyses, Dr B.A. Davis for the synthesis of the deuterated standards, G.H. Wheatley, E.P. Zarycki and M. Mizuno for expert technical assistance, and Saskatchewan Health and the MRC of Canada for providing financial support.     

Poinsinet's Edition of the Naturalis historia (1771–1782) and the Revival of Pliny in the Sciences of the Enlightenment

This paper analyses the revival of Pliny's Naturalis historia within the scientific culture of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, focusing on a French effort to produce an edition with annotations by scientists and scholars. Between the Renaissance and the early eighteenth century, the Naturalis historia had declined in scientific importance. Increasingly, it was relegated to the humanities, as we demonstrate with a review of editions. For a variety of reasons, however, scientific interest in the Naturalis historia grew in the second half of the eighteenth century. Epitomizing this interest was a plan for a scientifically annotated, Latin-French edition of the Naturalis historia. Initially coordinated by the French governmental minister Malesherbes in the 1750s, the edition was imperfectly realized by Poinsinet a few decades later. It was intended to rival two of the period's other distinguished multi-volume books of knowledge, Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie and Buffon's Histoire naturelle, to which we compare it. Besides narrating the scientific revival of the Historia naturalis during this period, we examine its causes and the factors contributing to its end in the first half of the nineteenth century.     

Purification and characterization of aβ-glucosidase (linamarase) from the haemolymph ofZygaena trifolii Esper, 1783 (Insecta,Lepidoptera)

Summary A -glucosidase (linamarase) was purified 52-fold with a recovery of 27% from the haemolymph of the larvae ofZygaena trifolii, ESPER, 1783 (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae). The final enzyme preparation was found to be nearly homogeneous on both disc polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of the enzyme was determined to be about 130 kDa; it consisted of two subunits of about 66 kDa. The enzyme showed an optimum between pH 4.5 and 5 with linamarin and a broad optimum between pH 3.5 and 6.5 for p-nitrophenyl--D-glucoside; the temperature optimum was 40°C. The -glucosidase showed a high specificity for its endogenous substrates linamarin and lotaustralin. Among the other natural and artificial substrates tested, only prunasin and p-nitrophenyl--D-glucoside were hydrolyzed by the enzyme, whereas linustatin, salicin, cellobiose and trehalose were not. The enzyme is strongly inhibited by -glucosylpiperidine.     

Localisation of acetylcholinesterase in rat myotubes in the presence of β-endorphin and β-endorphin-(1-27)

Summary In rat embryo skeletal myotubes, acetylcholinesterase is present, as multiple forms, and can be detected in deposits at the cell surface. Myotubes cultured in the presence of -endorphin, exhibit an increased predominance of the globular (precursor) forms of the enzyme, which are largely restricted to intracellular sites associated with nuclei. In the presence of -endorphin-(1-27), the relative proportions of the different forms of acetylcholinesterase is similar to that seen in the controls, but the enzyme is intracellular and has a characteristic focal localisation in the myotube.     

Effect of glucose and phloretin-2′-β-D-glucose (phloridzin) on in vitro fertilization of mouse ova

Summary The fertilization ratio of mouse ova in vitro decreased when glucose concentration in the medium was lowered. However, the addition of phloretin-2--D-glucose (phloridzin), known as a glucose uptake inhibitor, restored the fertilization ratio back to the control level. The glucose moiety of the phloridzin seemed to be responsible for this effect.     

History and Epistemology of Models: Meteorology (1946–1963) as a Case Study

An early example is von Neumann's and Charney's Princeton Meteorological Project in the period 1946–53 which ended with daily numerical prediction in less than 2 hours. After this stage, the questions of long-range forecasting and general circulation of the atmosphere became of greater importance. The late 1950s saw the emergence of an alternative: were atmospheric models used mainly for prediction or understanding? This controversial debate in particular occurred during an important colloquium in Tokyo in 1960 which gathered together J. Charney, E. Lorenz, A. Eliassen, and B. Saltzman, among others, and witnessed discussions on statistical methods for predictions and/or maximum simplification of dynamic equations. This phase ended in 1963 with Lorenzs seminal paper on “Deterministic non periodic flows.” (Received February 11, 2000)     

Enterohepatic cycling of O-(β-hydroxyethyl) rutosides and their biliary metabolites in the rat

Summary O-(-Hydroxyethyl)rutosides are shown to undergo reabsorption from the intestine following their secretion in bile.Acknowledgment. The authors wish to thank Mr P. B. Wood and Mr S. D. Godfrey for skilled technical assistance and Zyma, S. A., Nyon, Switzerland, for financial support.     

Characterization of 17β-estradiol 3-(β-D-glucopyranoside) and 17-(α-D-glucopyranoside) as the metabolites of 17β-estradiol in the cultured ovaries of the silkworm,Bombyx mori

Summary The structures of the metabolites formed upon incubation of 17-estradiol with the ovaries of silkworm,Bombyx mori, have been determined as 17-estradiol 3-(-D-glucopyranoside) (1) and 17-(-D-glucopyranoside) (2) by spectroscopic means.     

Totally synthetic (±)-13-Alkyl-3-hydroxy and methoxy-gona-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-ones and related compounds

Zusammenfassung Von mehreren (±) 3-Oxy- und (±) 3-Methoxy-13-alkylgona-1,3,5(10)trien-17-onen und verwandten Verbindungen, einschliesslich von Vertretern der (±) 13-Alkylgon-4-en-3-on-Reihe, werden Totalsynthese und biologische Wirksamkeit beschrieben.     

Correlations between glucose-inhibition and control parameters of α-glucosidase kinetics inApis mellifica haemolymph (Hymenoptera: Insecta)

Summary Kinetics studies of haemolymph -glucosidase inhibition by D. glucose led to general correlations between inhibition and control parameters, all over the honeybee development. Maximum velocities are not affected by the inhibition, while affinity constants are always significantly increased, and Hill coefficients tend to decrease, especially in foraging adults and in prenymphs. In this later case, the n-type effect tends to break the manifestation of the K-type mechanism.     

Effect of α- and β-ecdysone on DNA synthesis inAeshna cyanea (Insecta,Odonata) midgut

Summary InAeshna cyanea larvae, - and -ecdysone stimulate DNA synthesis in the midgut regenerative cells. In last larval instar, the number of cells obtained after the imaginal epithelium genesis is greater after - than after -ecdysone supply. Such a result should be compared with the imaginal epithelium differentiation which occurs earlier after -ecdysone injection.     

An antagonism between 3–4 dioxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP)

Riassunto Recentemente è stata formulata l'ipotesi che la 5-idrossitriptamina e la noradrenalina agiscano come mediatori a livello del S.N.C. I risultati ottenuti dall'A. dimostrano che la diossifenilalanina può antagonizzare il potenziamento della narcosi barbiturica indotto dal 5-idrossitriptafano.

---

---

Research fellow from Keio University, Tokyo (Japan).     

Protein profiling of 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation and (tumor necrosis factor α-mediated) starvation

The increased incidence of obesity and related disorders in Western societies requires a thorough understanding of the adipogenic process. Data at the protein level of this process are scarce. Therefore we performed a proteome analysis of differentiating and starving 3T3-L1 cells using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry. Effects of different starvation conditions were examined by subjecting 3T3-L1 adipocytes to caloric restriction, either in the absence or the presence of the lipolysis inducer tumor necrosis factor-. Ninety-three differentially expressed proteins were found during differentiation and starvation of 3T3-L1 cells, 50 of which were identified. GenMAPP/MAPP-finder software revealed a non-reciprocal regulation of the glycolytic pathway during 3T3-L1 differentiation followed by starvation. Furthermore, proteins involved in growth regulation, cytoskeletal rearrangements and protein modification, 16 of which have not been described before in 3T3-L1 cells, were identified. In conclusion, our data provide valuable information for further understanding of the adipogenic process.Received 9 November 2004; received after revision 21 December 2004; accepted 28 December 2004     

Oxygen isotope paleotemperature analyses of lower and middle Jurassic fossils from pliensbach,Württemberg (Germany)

Zusammenfassung In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Temperaturbestimmungen an 22 Belemniten, 2 Muscheln und Seeigelstacheln aus dem mittleren und oberen Lias, sowie dem mittleren und unteren Dogger angegeben. Die Proben wurden in der Umgebung von Pliensbach (Württemberg) gesammelt.Aus diesen Analysen geht hervor, dass für die Zeit des Toarcian ein Temperaturmaximum angenommen werden muss, während im mittleren Lias sowie im mittleren Dogger niedrigere Temperaturen vorherrschten. Die Temperaturschwankungen betragen zwischen Lias und Lias ca. 6°C und zwischen Lias und Dogger ca. 11°C.