Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-I antibodies in Falashas and other ethnic groups in Israel

Epidemiological studies of the human T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I), a type-C retrovirus of the human T-lymphotropic virus family, have used serological surveys to identify population subgroups possessing a high prevalence of naturally occurring HTLV-I-specific antibodies. Studies carried out to delineate the global distribution of the virus have demonstrated natural antibodies to HTLV-I in the serum of healthy donors from specific geographical areas, and have defined viral endemic areas in Japan, the Caribbean basin, Africa and the southeastern United States. Such studies have suggested that the prevalence of HTLV-I antibodies is directly correlated with age, is associated with the clinical syndrome of adult T-cell lymphoma, and is associated with transmission from mother to child. A separate subtype of the human retrovirus, HTLV-II (refs 21, 22), has also been identified. The population of Israel in part comprises groups of immigrants of various ethnic and geographical origins. Because of this, and the fact that Israel has a highly developed public health system, we surmised that the ethnic groups in Israel could be used in a seroepidemiological survey of HTLV infection. The serological survey reported here demonstrates a high prevalence of HTLV-I antibodies in new immigrants from Ethiopia. This previously ethnically and geographically isolated group, the 'Black Jews' or 'Falashas', from the Gondar region in the northern rural highlands of Ethiopia, has the highest endemic rate of HTLV-I yet reported outside Japan.     

On the glutamine and γ-aminobutyric acid contents of various regions of the cat brain

Résumé Les auteurs ont déterminé par la méthode de la chromatographie à deux dimensions, la teneur en glutamine et en acide -aminobutyrique des différentes parties du cerveau du chat. La concentration la plus élevée de l'acide -aminobutyrique a été trouvé dans l'hypothalamus, tandis que celle de la glutamine a été constatée dans le noyau caudé. Les concentrations les plus basses de ces deux protéines apparaissent dans la substance blanche du cerveau.     

"数字地球"时代的我国西部可持续发展

“数字地球”作为新世纪信息时代的新目标和制高点,必将在西部大开发战略的实施过程中起到至关重要的作用。从“数字地球”的基本概念出发,应用“数字地球”的理论和技术,阐述了“数字地球”技术对西部大开发的战略意义和应用方向,为我国西部地区的可持续发展提供了新的思路和技术方法。     

Hox cluster disintegration with persistent anteroposterior order of expression in Oikopleura dioica

Tunicate embryos and larvae have small cell numbers and simple anatomical features in comparison with other chordates, including vertebrates. Although they branch near the base of chordate phylogenetic trees, their degree of divergence from the common chordate ancestor remains difficult to evaluate. Here we show that the tunicate Oikopleura dioica has a complement of nine Hox genes in which all central genes are lacking but a full vertebrate-like set of posterior genes is present. In contrast to all bilaterians studied so far, Hox genes are not clustered in the Oikopleura genome. Their expression occurs mostly in the tail, with some tissue preference, and a strong partition of expression domains in the nerve cord, in the notochord and in the muscle. In each tissue of the tail, the anteroposterior order of Hox gene expression evokes spatial collinearity, with several alterations. We propose a relationship between the Hox cluster breakdown, the separation of Hox expression domains, and a transition to a determinative mode of development.