Electrophysiological evidence for the action of light on the pineal gland in the rat

Résumé La lumière a un effet inhibiteur sur l'activité électrique tonique spontanée de l'épiphyse du rat, enregistrée dans l'obscurité. Les éléments photosensibles se trouvent au niveau des yeux. Le fait que la réponse a été bloquée par le chlorure de hexamethonium suggère qu'elle est transmise à l'épiphyse par les nerfs sympathiques postganglionnaires.     

How not to integrate the history and philosophy of science: a reply to Chalmers

Alan Chalmers uses Robert Boyle’s mechanical philosophy as an example of the irrelevance of ‘philosophy’ to ‘science’ and criticizes my 2006 book Atoms and alchemy for overemphasizing Boyle’s successes. The present paper responds as follows: first, it argues that Chalmers employs an overly simplistic methodology insensitive to the distinction between historical and philosophical claims; second, it shows that the central theses of Atoms and alchemy are untouched by Chalmers’s criticisms; and third, it uses Boyle’s analysis of subordinate causes and his debate with Henry More in the 1670s to demonstrate the inadequacy of Chalmers’s construal of the mechanical philosophy.     

均匀细圆环和均匀薄圆盘对任意轴线的转动惯量

分别运用一般方法和投影法计算了均匀细圆环和均匀薄圆盘对任意轴线的转动惯量,在验证投影法计算结果正确性的基础上,对计算结果进行了讨论,可以用于对实际问题的分析研究.     

Dependence on pH of polarized sorting of secreted proteins

The plasma membranes of epithelial cells are divided into apical and basolateral domains. These two surfaces are characterized by markedly different protein compositions, reflecting the ability of the cell to target newly synthesized membrane proteins to specific regions of the cell surface. This targeting capability is also apparent in the polarized release of secretory products. Recent studies using canine renal tubule (MDCK) cells have suggested that distinct sets of secretory proteins are released from their apical and basolateral poles. We report experiments designed to examine secretory protein sorting by MDCK cells. We have shown that secretion of basement membrane components (laminin and heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG] takes place from the basolateral cell surface and that this polarized release results from active sorting. The sorting process which mediates this polarized secretion requires an acidic intracellular compartment. MDCK cells treated with NH4Cl to raise the pH of their intracellular compartments, secrete laminin and HSPG by a default pathway which leads to their release in roughly equal quantities into the medium of both the apical and basolateral compartments.     

Genetic linkage between X-chromosome markers and bipolar affective illness

A pedigree study shows close linkage of bipolar affective illness (manic depression) to the X-chromosome markers colour blindness and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. The maximum lod score ranges from 7.52 (assuming homogeneity) to 9.17 (assuming heterogeneity); that is, the odds in favour of linkage range between 3 X 10(7) to 1 and 10(9) to 1. These results provide confirmation that a major psychiatric disorder can be caused by a single genetic defect. As a possible first step in characterizing the primary genetic abnormality, this finding may have important implications for the aetiology, nosology, pathophysiology and, possibly, prevention and treatment of bipolar affective disorder. It also provides a means for identifying and characterizing homogeneous populations of patients and may help in clarifying aetiological heterogeneity.