Modification of clonazepam anticonvulsive activity by its association with other anti-epileptic drugs

Summary The modification of the anti-epileptic activity of clonazepam by other anticonvulsivants is studied. The results vary according to the drug and technique used. The usefulness of the 2 techniques employed is discussed.     

Fluoride-resistant acid phosphatase system of nociceptive dorsal root afferents

Zusammenfassung Fluorid-resistente saure Phosphatase wird aus den kleinen (dunklen) Nervenzellen des Spinalganglions mittels axoplasmatischer Strömung durch die Hinterwurzeln in die Rolando-Substanz des Rückenmarkes transportiert, wo das Enzym in den Nervendendigungen eine freie axoplasmatische Lokalisation aufweist.     

The effect of anoxia and of muscle activity on the lymphatic and venous transport of lactate dehydrogenase

Zusammenfassung Nach 3 1/2 stündiger Muskelischämie wurde bei Hunden mit Ductus thoracicus-Fistel eine signifikante Zunahme der Milchsäuredehydrogenase-Aktivität im Blutserum und in der Lymphe der anoxischen Extremität bei gleichzeitiger signifikanter arterovenöser Aktivitätsdifferenz beobachtet. Auch Muskelarbeit verursachte eine Erhöhung der Enzymaktivität im Serum und in der Lymphe. Durch Unterbrechen der Verbindung zwischen Venen und Lymphsystem konnte das direkte Eindringen des Enzymproteins in die Blutkapillaren bewiesen werden.     

Continuous disintegration of microorganisms in a new laboratory apparatus

Zusammenfassung Die kontinuierliche Desintegration von Hefen und Bakterien mit Hilfe einer horizontalen, schnellaufenden Labor-Kugelmühle wird beschrieben, deren Arbeitsprinzip auf industrielle Desintegrationsverfahren anwendbar ist.     

Increasing dominance of large lianas in Amazonian forests

Ecological orthodoxy suggests that old-growth forests should be close to dynamic equilibrium, but this view has been challenged by recent findings that neotropical forests are accumulating carbon and biomass, possibly in response to the increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. However, it is unclear whether the recent increase in tree biomass has been accompanied by a shift in community composition. Such changes could reduce or enhance the carbon storage potential of old-growth forests in the long term. Here we show that non-fragmented Amazon forests are experiencing a concerted increase in the density, basal area and mean size of woody climbing plants (lianas). Over the last two decades of the twentieth century the dominance of large lianas relative to trees has increased by 1.7-4.6% a year. Lianas enhance tree mortality and suppress tree growth, so their rapid increase implies that the tropical terrestrial carbon sink may shut down sooner than current models suggest. Predictions of future tropical carbon fluxes will need to account for the changing composition and dynamics of supposedly undisturbed forests.     

Spike train dynamics predicts theta-related phase precession in hippocampal pyramidal cells

According to the temporal coding hypothesis, neurons encode information by the exact timing of spikes. An example of temporal coding is the hippocampal phase precession phenomenon, in which the timing of pyramidal cell spikes relative to the theta rhythm shows a unidirectional forward precession during spatial behaviour. Here we show that phase precession occurs in both spatial and non-spatial behaviours. We found that spike phase correlated with instantaneous discharge rate, and processed unidirectionally at high rates, regardless of behaviour. The spatial phase precession phenomenon is therefore a manifestation of a more fundamental principle governing the timing of pyramidal cell discharge. We suggest that intrinsic properties of pyramidal cells have a key role in determining spike times, and that the interplay between the magnitude of dendritic excitation and rhythmic inhibition of the somatic region is responsible for the phase assignment of spikes.     

A receptor kinase gene regulating symbiotic nodule development

Leguminous plants are able to establish a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with soil bacteria generally known as rhizobia. Metabolites exuded by the plant root activate the production of a rhizobial signal molecule, the Nod factor, which is essential for symbiotic nodule development. This lipo-chitooligosaccharide signal is active at femtomolar concentrations, and its structure is correlated with host specificity of symbiosis, suggesting the involvement of a cognate perception system in the plant host. Here we describe the cloning of a gene from Medicago sativa that is essential for Nod-factor perception in alfalfa, and by genetic analogy, in the related legumes Medicago truncatula and Pisum sativum. The identified 'nodulation receptor kinase', NORK, is predicted to function in the Nod-factor perception/transduction system (the NORK system) that initiates a signal cascade leading to nodulation. The family of 'NORK extracellular-sequence-like' (NSL) genes is broadly distributed in the plant kingdom, although their biological function has not been previously ascribed. We suggest that during the evolution of symbiosis an ancestral NSL system was co-opted for transduction of an external ligand, the rhizobial Nod factor, leading to development of the symbiotic root nodule.     

Exceptional sperm cooperation in the wood mouse

Spermatozoa from a single male will compete for fertilization of ova with spermatozoa from another male when present in the female reproductive tract at the same time. Close genetic relatedness predisposes individuals towards altruism, and as haploid germ cells of an ejaculate will have genotypic similarity of 50%, it is predicted that spermatozoa may display cooperation and altruism to gain an advantage when inter-male sperm competition is intense. We report here the probable altruistic behaviour of spermatozoa in an eutherian mammal. Spermatozoa of the common wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, displayed a unique morphological transformation resulting in cooperation in distinctive aggregations or 'trains' of hundreds or thousands of cells, which significantly increased sperm progressive motility. Eventual dispersal of sperm trains was associated with most of the spermatozoa undergoing a premature acrosome reaction. Cells undergoing an acrosome reaction in aggregations remote from the egg are altruistic in that they help sperm transport to the egg but compromise their own fertilizing ability.