Social behaviour versus temperature in the ciliateColpidium campylum

Summary WhenColpidium campylum are put in an observation chamber, they form groups of hundreds or thousands of individuals. In a temperature gradient, these groups find their preferred temperature range within a few hours, whereas isolated individuals can achieve this in min. This difference is caused by the social tendency of these ciliates.To whom reprint requests should be addressed.     

Population dynamics of soil inhabiting mites in cucumber treated with granular insect growth regulatirs (IGRs)

Summary In small field trials, certain granular insect growth regulators (IGRs) induced significant reduction in soil inhabiting mites of cucumber plantation at a rate as low as 0.25 kg. a.i./acre. However, suborders speciificity relationship could easily be detected.     

The influence of 6-OHDA on hypothermia produced by intrahypothalamically-injected carbachol in the pigeon

Summary The involvement of the noradrenergic system in hypothermia induced by intrahypothalamically-injected carbachol (CCh) was studied by depleting hypothalamic noradrenaline (NA) with the catecholamine neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and repeating the CCh injections after 6-OHDA treatment. The results suggest that noradrenergic neurons may be involved in hypothermia produced by CCh in the pigeon.     

The application of sodium deoxycholate and Sephacryl-200 for the delipidation and separation of high density lipoprotein

Summary A method to remove lipids from human plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was developed. The procedure required column chromatography on Sephacryl-200 in the presence of the bile salt sodium deoxycholate. The lipid free protein obtained retained the immunological properties of the native HDL.The author is grateful to Ms L. Gray for her excellent technical assistance and Dr M. Fainaru of the Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem, and Dr C. Heuck of the Klinisches Institut für Herzinfarktoforschung of Heidelberg, for kindly supplying purified apo-A, apo-A antiserum and apo-B antiserum.     

The conduction velocity, number, and diameter of unmyelinated fibers in Remak's nerve

Remak's nerve in the chicken was examined ultrastructurally and electrophysiologically to determine the characteristics of fibers in the nerve trunk. The ration of unmyelinated fibers to myelinated ones was 111:1. The mean number of unmyelinated fibers was 3555 plus/minus 232 (SEM, n=5) and they had a mean diameter of 0.502 plus/minus 0.034 (SEM) micron. The compound action potential consisted almost entirely of a large diphasic waveform which had a mean peak conduction velocity of 0.62 plus/minus 0.031 (SEM, n=5) m.s-1 at 37 degrees C.     

Defining the resistance to oxygen transfer in tissue hypoxia

Studies of O2 supply in freshly isolated adult mammalian cells provide new insight into the factors that limit mitochondrial oxygenation in vivo. Of particular importance, mitochondria are present at high densities and often in apparent clusters, both of which contribute to local O2 gradients under hypoxic conditions. Current evidence indicates that the mitochondrial distribution is a component of the differentiated phenotype of adult mammalian cells and that specific motors and anchoring mechanisms are present to allow redistribution in response to developmental, physiological and pathological challenges. To compare the importance of resistance to O2 transfer under different conditions and at different sites along the supply path in vivo, a simple mathematical expression of relative resistance to O2 supply is introduced. Under various pathophysiological conditions, this resistance increases in specific regions of the pulmonary, circulatory or cellular supply path and results in O2 deficiency in the mitochondria. Regardless of cause, the relative resistance increases dramatically in the vicinity of mitochondrial clusters during hypoxia.     

Aging alters resynchronization of the circadian system in rats after a shift of the light-dark cycle

Four days following an 8-h advance of the light-dark cycle, the circadian rhythms in the pineal N-acetyltransferase activity and melatonin content reappeared in 7-week-old rats, but were still abolished in 24-month-old animals.     

Ein (M,F)-Problem

Summary The proof of the problem which was studied in a former work, was now brought to an end: that among all convex rotatory bodies of the constant lengthsl the cones possess the smallest surfaces ifM is given.     

New biochemical techniques applied to avian systematics

Résumé Les protéines solubles de la lentille et des muscles des oiseaux furent examinés au moyen de la micro-électrophorèse en agargel. La mobilité des fractions protéiques s'est présentée comme un caractère systématique important: il y a généralement des différences nettes et constantes, mais parfois aussi des ressemblances, qui indiquent probablement des relations de parenté.