Norzooanemonin in the hydroidTubularia larynx

Summary The hydrochloride of 1,3-dimethyl imidazole-4-carboxylic acid (norzooanemonin), has been isolated from the hydroidTubularia larynx and its structure determined by X-ray analysis.This investigation was supported by grant No. HD-04543 from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development. One of us (RLM) also wishes to thank the National Institutes of Health for a Career Development award No. HD-19931.     

Effects of calcium and daminozide on ethylene production and softening of apple fruits

Summary Ethylene production of McIntosh apples was reduced by both a postharvest treatment with CaCl₂ and a daminozide treatment applied in the field. The CaCl₂ treatment was more effective than daminozide in reducing the rate of softening during storage at 1°C.Acknowledgment. This investigation was supported by the National Research Council, Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. A gift of Keltrol from the Charles Tennant & Company, Weston, Ontario, is also acknowledged.     

The effect of amphetamine on food intake in rats with hypothalamic hyperphagia

Zusammenfassung Amphetamin vermindert die Nahrungsaufnahme von durch beidseitige Zerstörung des ventromedialen Nucleus des Hypothalamus hyperphagisch gemachten Ratten. Es scheint den Appetit durch die Hemmung des lateralen Nahrungsaufnahmezentrums, nicht aber durch Reizung des medialen Sättigungszentrums herabzusetzen.     

Photooxidation,reduction of the ferric ion-glucose complex

Summary Ferric ions in an acid solution of glucose are reduced by irradiation with light of wavelengths less than 400 nm. The action spectrum for this reaction and the oxidation products of glucose have been determined.     

Cavity solitons as pixels in semiconductor microcavities

Cavity solitons are localized intensity peaks that can form in a homogeneous background of radiation. They are generated by shining laser pulses into optical cavities that contain a nonlinear medium driven by a coherent field (holding beam). The ability to switch cavity solitons on and off and to control their location and motion by applying laser pulses makes them interesting as potential 'pixels' for reconfigurable arrays or all-optical processing units. Theoretical work on cavity solitons has stimulated a variety of experiments in macroscopic cavities and in systems with optical feedback. But for practical devices, it is desirable to generate cavity solitons in semiconductor structures, which would allow fast response and miniaturization. The existence of cavity solitons in semiconductor microcavities has been predicted theoretically, and precursors of cavity solitons have been observed, but clear experimental realization has been hindered by boundary-dependence of the resulting optical patterns-cavity solitons should be self-confined. Here we demonstrate the generation of cavity solitons in vertical cavity semiconductor microresonators that are electrically pumped above transparency but slightly below lasing threshold. We show that the generated optical spots can be written, erased and manipulated as objects independent of each other and of the boundary. Numerical simulations allow for a clearer interpretation of experimental results.     

Synaptic defects in ataxia mice result from a mutation in Usp14, encoding a ubiquitin-specific protease

Mice that are homozygous with respect to a mutation (ax(J)) in the ataxia (ax) gene develop severe tremors by 2-3 weeks of age followed by hindlimb paralysis and death by 6-10 weeks of age. Here we show that ax encodes ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (Usp14). Ubiquitin proteases are a large family of cysteine proteases that specifically cleave ubiquitin conjugates. Although Usp14 can cleave a ubiquitin-tagged protein in vitro, it is unable to process polyubiquitin, which is believed to be associated with the protein aggregates seen in Parkinson disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1; ref. 4) and gracile axonal dystrophy (GAD). The physiological substrate of Usp14 may therefore contain a mono-ubiquitin side chain, the removal of which would regulate processes such as protein localization and protein activity. Expression of Usp14 is significantly altered in ax(J)/ax(J) mice as a result of the insertion of an intracisternal-A particle (IAP) into intron 5 of Usp14. In contrast to other neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson disease and SCA1 in humans and GAD in mice, neither ubiquitin-positive protein aggregates nor neuronal cell loss is detectable in the central nervous system (CNS) of ax(J) mice. Instead, ax(J) mice have defects in synaptic transmission in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. These results suggest that ubiquitin proteases are important in regulating synaptic activity in mammals.