Age-dependent response of lactate dehydrogenase of pituitary of rat to testosterone

Summary The effects of time and various doses of testosterone on the responsiveness of lactate dehydrogenase of pituitary of 7-, 38- and 78-week-old rats were studied. The activity of the enzyme increases in 78-week-old rats. Castration decreases the enzyme activity at all ages. Maximum increase in the enzyme activity is seen with 50 and 100 g of testosterone 4 h after administration of hormone to castrated rats. No further time and dose-dependent effect is observed. The magnitude of increase for the enzyme is higher at the age of 38 weeks and decreases in 78-week-old rats.To whom all correspondence should be addressed. The authors are grateful to Professor M.S. Kanungo, Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University for the suggestions and encouragement. K.V.G. thanks the PL-480 for a research fellowship.     

‘On the rocks’: reproductive biology of the endemic toad Xanthophryne (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Western Ghats,India

Xanthophryne is a toad genus endemic to the northern Western Ghats of India, with two extant sister species – Xanthophryne koynayensis and Xanthophryne tigerina. Both species are local endemics and endangered. We studied reproductive biology of these toads and found that they are specialized to the lateritic rocky outcrops at mid-elevations in high rainfall areas. Xanthophryne toads have sporadic, multiple spawning bouts lasting 2–4 days during early monsoon. In this explosive breeding behaviour, we observed male toads to engage in ‘pelvic thrusts’, a unique and novel behaviour among anurans. Females oviposit in shallow pools in depressions of lateritic boulders where their tadpoles metamorphose. These ephemeral rocky pools have limited resources and they desiccate rapidly with a break in the rains. To mitigate the stochastic risk of desiccation and subsequent large-scale egg/tadpole mortality, females may disperse their reproductive investment spatially and temporally in multiple clutches, and tadpoles metamorphose rapidly. Here, we describe the amplexus, spawning and male advertisement call, and provide a comparative account of the life history traits of the two Xanthophryne species. These toads face numerous threats and are in need of urgent conservation action. These toads, seemingly well adapted to the isolated rocky outcrops, offer an excellent opportunity to understand endemism, mating systems, anuran ecology and behaviour.     

The inhibitory effect of paraquat on histamine and isoproterenol induced changes of cyclic nucleotides in rat lung slices.

The incubation of rat lung slices with paraquat ion (10(-4) M) had no effect on cAMP and cGMP levels of the rat lung slices. The preincubation with the same concentration of paraquat inhibited the cAMP elevating effect of histamine (10(-5) M) and isoproterenol (10(-5) M) and reduced the cGMP level to approximately 50% of the level obtained without preincubation with paraquat.     

一种基于XML的CISL表示

针对入侵通用规范语言（CISL）描述入侵行为方式难以被人们所理解的问题，通过利用可扩展标记语言（XML）中的DTD（Document Type Define)对CISL词汇元素进行格式定义，给出了一种基于XML的CISL表示，从而提供一种查阅CISL数据的通用性方法，通过一个应用实例，详尽说明了基于XML的CISL表示的使用方法。     

The action of hydrogen peroxide on amino acids in presence of iron salts and its bearing on photolysis of amino acids

Zusammenfassung Es wurde der Abbau von Aminosäuren durch Wasserstoffsuperoxyd in Gegenwart von Eisensalzen untersucht. Papierchromatographische Analyse zeigte, dass dabei aus-Aminobuttersäure-Alanin und Glycin, aus-Alanin und Serin Glycin entsteht. Die Bildung von-Alanin und Asparaginsäure aus-Aminobuttersäure und von Asparaginsäure aus Glutaminsäure konnte ebenfalls festgestellt werden. Diese Resultate werden in Zusammenhang gebracht mit dem Mechanismus der Photolyse von Aminosäuren in Gegenwart von TiO₂.     

Tuning charge transport in solution-sheared organic semiconductors using lattice strain

Circuits based on organic semiconductors are being actively explored for flexible, transparent and low-cost electronic applications. But to realize such applications, the charge carrier mobilities of solution-processed organic semiconductors must be improved. For inorganic semiconductors, a general method of increasing charge carrier mobility is to introduce strain within the crystal lattice. Here we describe a solution-processing technique for organic semiconductors in which lattice strain is used to increase charge carrier mobilities by introducing greater electron orbital overlap between the component molecules. For organic semiconductors, the spacing between cofacially stacked, conjugated backbones (the π-π stacking distance) greatly influences electron orbital overlap and therefore mobility. Using our method to incrementally introduce lattice strain, we alter the π-π stacking distance of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) from 3.33?? to 3.08??. We believe that 3.08?? is the shortest π-π stacking distance that has been achieved in an organic semiconductor crystal lattice (although a π-π distance of 3.04?? has been achieved through intramolecular bonding). The positive charge carrier (hole) mobility in TIPS-pentacene transistors increased from 0.8?cm(2)?V(-1)?s(-1) for unstrained films to a high mobility of 4.6?cm(2)?V(-1)?s(-1) for a strained film. Using solution processing to modify molecular packing through lattice strain should aid the development of high-performance, low-cost organic semiconducting devices.     

基于支持向量机的MERIS土地覆盖制图及其空间一致性分析

遵循美国国家土地覆盖数据库2001分类主题及系统(30 m空间分辨率),研究中等分辨率成像光谱辐射仪MERIS(300 m)土地覆盖产品的发展及评价。4种监督分类器包括马氏距离、最大似然、决策树以及支持向量机被用来发展区域土地覆盖信息。结果表明:(1)支持向量机在土地特征刻画过程中分类性能最优;(2)由支持向量机导出的MERIS土地覆盖产品尽管其识别地面细节的能力不及NLCD2001,但其主要地物类型在空间分布上与NLCD2001比较接近。分析还进一步揭示MERIS数据可成功地区划水体、常绿森林、裸地及栽培作物等地物类型,而对于落叶林及灌木林的刻画则性能相对较差。在MERIS土地覆盖产品中观察到从灌木林向裸地、灌木林向常绿森林及灌木林向草地的误分现象。然而,MERIS土地覆盖产品的生产较NLCD2001要节省人力及成本,中等尺度的MERIS土地覆盖产品对于某些科学应用将具有独特的价值。MERIS土地覆盖产品的发展应该充分应用多种辅助信息以及区域调制的分类策略,以期获得更加可靠的分类结果。     

Cloning and expression of murine interleukin-1 cDNA in Escherichia coli

Interleukin-1 (IL-1), a peptide hormone produced by activated macrophages, possesses the ability to modulate the proliferation, maturation and functional activation of a broad spectrum of cell types and may play a major role in the initiation and amplification of immune and inflammatory responses through its action on these diverse cell populations. IL-1 exhibits microheterogeneity in terms of its relative molecular mass (Mr, 13,000-19,000) and charge properties, and although murine IL-1 has been purified and some of its basic structure-function relationships have been elucidated, it has proved difficult to prepare sufficient amounts of IL-1 for direct and detailed sequence and structural studies. Here we report the cloning, sequence analysis and expression of murine IL-1 cDNA in Escherichia coli. The IL-1 cDNA codes for a polypeptide precursor of 270 amino acids. Biologically active IL-1 was produced in E. coli by expressing the carboxy-terminal 156 amino acids of the IL-1 precursor.     

Studies on a possible method of separation ofγ-casein by high-speed centrifugation and its identification by agar electrophoresis

Résumé Le présent article traite de la possibilité d'obtenir une méthode de séparation du-caséine par centrifugation à grande vitesse et à basse température et son identification par l'électrophorèse avec la gelée.

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Deceased.