New window on Proterozoic life

This article briefly discusses the the new fossil assemblage found in the 600-650-million-year-old shales of the Pertatataka formation in central Australia. It includes about two dozen taxa of spinose, process-bearing or otherwise ornamented acritarchs, many of them extremely large relative to comparably ornamented fossils in younger rocks. These acritarchs reveal a glimpse of early evolution and Proterozoic life.     

用磷酸铝分子筛和硅磷酸铝分子筛作催化剂合成丙酸戊酯的研究

用新型磷酸铝分子筛和硅磷酸铝分子筛作催化剂,对丙酸和正戊醇液—固相酯化反应进行了研究.考察了合成条件及用不同方法制备的催化剂对醇产率的影响,当醇酸摩尔比为1.2∶1、催化剂用量为0.6～1.0g/mol丙酸、带水剂环己烷用量为5.0ml/mol丙酸,反应温度为140～160"C时,5hr酯化反应的酯产率大于98％.同时对酯产物的物理常数进行了测定,实测值与文献值相符.     

三旋钮高精度数字酸度计的研制

本文具有对一次仪表转换系数进行校准的功能,温度补偿及模数转换电路设计方法独特,只用一块运算放大器与一块单片模数转换电路完成了pH转换功能。     

产物分离固相化细胞反应器的设计和数学模型

设计了一种以挥发性产物和非挥发性底物为特征的四相反应器——分离器。在此反应器中,生物催化剂被固定在固体柱填充物上并与含有底物的液相接触,汽相流过柱子而将挥发性产物蒸发迸入汽相。反应器由同方向流的浓缩器和反方向流的分离器两个基本汽——液流部分组成。并建立了吸附的单层细胞稳态群体数学模型和反应器平衡状态模型。     

Antidiuretic effects of oxytocin in the Brattleboro rat

Summary The antidiuretic activity of oxytocin (OT) was measured in Brattleboro rats with congenital diabetes insipidus. A dose dependent antidiuretic response was found in animals receiving chronic infusions of 0.1 g/h, 1.0 g/h, and 5 g/h of OT. OT infused at the rate of 5 g/h over a 7-day period completely reversed the symptoms of diabetes insipidus. The results support the concept that OT serves as a weak agonist of vasopressin at the level of the kidney and at pharmacological levels exhibits antidiuretic activity.     

AnAnolis skin melanophore assay suitable for photoaffinity labeling studies with α-MSH

Summary Visual determination of MSH-induced pigment migration in melanophores of small pieces ofAnolis carolinensis skin is standardized by first measuring photoelectrometrically the change in reflection/transmission of the whole dorsal skin in response to different hormone concentrations. This method allows the rapid and precise recording of time-response curves after photoaffinity labeling of MSH receptors or of dose-response curves of large series of synthetic compounds.Acknowledgments. We wish to thank Ms V. Jäggin, Ms C. Schulthess and Ms G. van Hees for excellent technical assistance, Dr. R. Andreatta, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, for his generous gift of -MSH and Prof. A Pletscher for his continuous interest. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

Bicuculline and picrotoxin block γ-aminobutryic acid-gated Cl− conductance by different mechanisms

Summary Using isolated, internally perfused bullfrog dorsal root ganglion cells we have studied the dose-response curves for -aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the presence of internally or externally applied GABA antagonists. With external application of antagonists the inhibition of the GABA current by bicuculline was competitive and that by picrotoxin was noncompetitive. Picrotoxin but not bicuculline blocked when internally perfused.To whom reprint requests should be addressed.Acknowledgments. We thank Drs S. Minakami and S. Yasui for helpful discussions and comments.     

Discovery of Jupiter's 'gossamer' ring

Jupiter's ring system has previously been described as being composed of a 'bright' narrow ring and an interior, vertically-extended halo. The one image which reveals this morphology most clearly is Voyager 2's parting shot of the Jupiter system, a wide-angle (WA) view of the ring ansa in forward-scattered light (FDS 20693.02). The bright ring is plainly visible, and the halo appears after slight contrast enhancement. By further enhancement of this image we have discovered an additional ring, which is far fainter than either of the (already faint) components previously identified, extending to a radius of 210,000 km.     

Differential effects of prostaglandins and isoproterenol on cAMP content and Na,K pump activity in rat submandibular acini

Summary The -adrenergic agonist isoproterenol and prostaglandins E₁ and E₂ (but not F₂) increased the cAMP content of rat submandibular acini in vitro, but only isoproterenol enhanced ouabain-sensitive⁸⁶Rb (K) uptake. These findings suggest that cAMP is not involved in the activation of the Na, K pump in salivary cells.     

An enzyme immunoassay for mouse epidermal growth factor utilizing a liquid phase double-antibody system

Summary An enzyme immunoassay for mouse epidermal growth factor (EGF) involving a liquid phase double-antibody system was developed. The EGF--galactosidase conjugate prepared was stable for at least 8 months. By this method, EGF was detectable at a concentration as low as 20 pg per tube. The concentrations of EGF in various tissues of mice are also presented.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.