Childbearing outside marriage in western Europe

Across most European states in recent decades there have been significant increases in childbearing outside marriage. This article examines the extent to which women have their first child in one of four settings: prior to any partnership; in their first cohabiting partnership; in first marriage; and after a first partnership. Temporal changes in these behaviours and variation according to background characteristics of the women are also examined. For the women who had a child outside any partnership, we examine the extent to which they go on to form partnerships and how long after the birth this happens. For those who had their first child within a cohabiting union, we examine the extent to which they marry and how long after the birth this occurs. Finally, we investigate whether children born within cohabiting unions that do and do not convert into marriages are more or less likely than those born within marriage to see their parents separate.     

Unmarried parenthood: new insights from the Millennium Cohort Study

This study uses information from the Millennium Cohort Study to examine the characteristics of families where children are born within a marriage, within a cohabiting union or outside of a co-residential partnership. For this latter group, for the first time in a national data set, an assessment can be made of the 'strength' of the parent's relationship at the time of the birth. We show that the context of childbearing varies with respect to geography, ethnicity, age, parity and educational status of the mother, and that the socioeconomic wellbeing of families varies according to the partnership status of their parents. A closer look at the non-partnered parents shows that the extent to which the fathers were involved with the mother of the child around the time the baby was born was related to the presence of the father at the birth of the child and whether his name was recorded on the child's birth certificate; as well as to subsequent behaviour, such as, whether they moved in with the mother, saw their children on a regular basis or contributed money to the child's maintenance.     

A systematic, genome-wide, phenotype-driven mutagenesis programme for gene function studies in the mouse

As the human genome project approaches completion, the challenge for mammalian geneticists is to develop approaches for the systematic determination of mammalian gene function. Mouse mutagenesis will be a key element of studies of gene function. Phenotype-driven approaches using the chemical mutagen ethylnitrosourea (ENU) represent a potentially efficient route for the generation of large numbers of mutant mice that can be screened for novel phenotypes. The advantage of this approach is that, in assessing gene function, no a priori assumptions are made about the genes involved in any pathway. Phenotype-driven mutagenesis is thus an effective method for the identification of novel genes and pathways. We have undertaken a genome-wide, phenotype-driven screen for dominant mutations in the mouse. We generated and screened over 26,000 mice, and recovered some 500 new mouse mutants. Our work, along with the programme reported in the accompanying paper, has led to a substantial increase in the mouse mutant resource and represents a first step towards systematic studies of gene function in mammalian genetics.     

Silver staining of axons in subcellular fractions of nervous tissue

Résumé L'argyrophilie est la propriété d'une partie constituante protéique de l'axoplasme qui peut être dissoute et reprécipitée. Il est donc probable que c'est une substance, ou un groupe de substances, plutôt qu'une organelle formée, qui est responsable de la coloration de l'axone au contact de l'argent. Les qualités de cette protéine diffèrent d'une façon marquée de celles déjà connues des protéines intracellulaires membraneuses et fibreuses.     

Effect of interrupting retino-hypothalamic connections on the melanophore response inXenopus laevis

Résumé On a estimé possible que les axones rétinohypothalamiques décrits chez certains amphibiens jouent un rôle dans le contrôle neuro-endocrinien de la pars intermedia de l'hypophyse. Mais si on sectionne chez desXenopus cette voie supposée, ces animaux peuvent néanmoins modifier la couleur de leur peau lorsqu'on les place sur les terrains différents. Il n'est donc pas vraisemblable que ces connections fassent partie d'un arc réflexe contrôlant la sécrétion de l'hormone mélanotrophique.     

Effects of triiodothyronine on the cerebellar cortex of the new-born rat in tissue culture

Résumé La triiodothyronine produit in vitro des changements régressifs dans les cellules et dans les axones du cervelet du rat nouveau-né. Il est suggéré que les hormones thyroïdes provoquent une dégénérescence accélérée des neurones dont les connexions afférentes et efférentes ont été coupées, tandis qu'elles stimulent la croissance et la différenciation des neurones aux connexions périphériques intactes     

Effects of known and suspected neurotransmitter substances and of some nucleotides on isolated mast cells

Résumé Des suspensions de mastocytes péritoneaux isolées de rat furent incubées avec 10 substances différentes, connues ou presumées être des neurotransmitteurs. Seulement l'adenos ine triphosphate (ATP) aux concentrations supérieures à 2.64×10^–6 M causèrent la dégranulation des mastocytes. L'ATP cause également la dégranulation des mastocytes dans le mésentère. L'action de l'ATP peut être responsible de la dégranulation des mastocytes cutanées observée après la stimulation antidromique des nerfs sensorieux, alors que de l'ATP est libéré dans la peau.