Proctolin's role in neurally evoked contractions of the locust oviducts.

The effects of proctolin (RYLPT) on neurally evoked contractions of locust oviduct muscle were studied to examine the role of proctolin as a cotransmitter. Increasing the number of stimuli in a burst (from one to 30 stimuli) resulted in an increase in amplitude of contraction of locust oviduct muscle. Proctolin was capable of increasing the amplitude of neurally evoked contractions at lower-stimulus regimes (one- and two-stimulus bursts) but did not do so at higher-stimulus regimes (five- and 10-stimulus bursts).

Strategic retrieval and the frontal lobes: evidence from confabulation and amnesia.

Confabulation and amnesia are considered disorders of episodic but not of semantic memory. To test the limits of this view, retrieval from episodic and semantic memory was investigated in eight confabulating and nine non-confabulating amnesic subjects, and in 17 matched control subjects, by using a personal and an historical version of the Crovitz [Unconstrained search in long-term memory, Paper presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St Louis, MO, 1973] cue-word test. In response to cue words such as letter or battle subjects had to describe in detail, respectively, a related event from their personal lives or from history before their birth.

The origin and early evolutionary history of amniotes.

Recent phylogenetic analyses of Paleozoic tetrapods have yielded startling new insights into the origin and early evolutionary history of amniotes. The origin of this successful group involves evolutionary innovations that are associated with the development of the cleidoic egg and related reproductive strategies, and are therefore not represented directly in the fossil record. Despite this obvious difficulty, recent studies have been able to distinguish Paleozoic amniotes from their anamniotic tetrapod relatives to determine major patterns of interrelationships.

Temperament and food neophobia in children and their mothers.

We obtained measures of behavioral neophobia, rated neophobia, temperament, and liking for novel and familiar foods for 81 pairs of siblings (ranging in age from 5-11 years) and their mothers. The children's data revealed a decrease with age in behavioral but not rated neophobia, and there were positive correlations between both measures of neophobia and the temperament dimensions of emotionality, shyness, and negative reactions to foods. In addition, liking for good-tasting novel foods was negatively related to shyness and to negative reactions to foods.

Xenopus heat shock factor 1 is a nuclear protein before heat stress.

Stress-induced expression of the heat shock (hs) genes in eukaryotes is mediated by a transcription factor known as heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). HSF1 is present in a latent, monomeric form in unstressed metazoan cells and upon exposure to heat or other forms of stress is converted to an "active" trimeric form, which binds the promoters of hs genes and induces their transcription. The conversion of HSF1 to its active form is hypothesized to be a multistep process involving (i) oligomerization of HSF1, plus (ii) additional changes in its physical conformation, (iii) changes in its phosphorylation state, and for some species (iv) translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus.

"Try it; it's good and it's good for you": effects of taste and nutrition information on willingness to try novel foods.

In an attempt to understand the effects of information on willingness to taste foods, we presented college students with a variety of familiar and novel foods of animal and vegetable origin. Participants received one of four types of information about the foods: none, they tasted good, they were high in vitamins, or they were high in vitamins and might soon be available in the college cafeteria. The information manipulation had no effect on willingness to taste familiar foods.

Auditory dynamic range derived from the mean rate-intensity function in the cat.

Loudness change is perceived over a far greater range than the discrimination range of single afferents-the "dynamic range problem" [1]. However, earlier neural count models have not fully considered how variability in the dynamic ranges, thresholds, spontaneous rates, and saturation rates of these afferents may affect overall dynamic range. In the present model, all four of these characteristics appear in a logistic rate-intensity function that fits well with sigmoidally firing cat neurons (a double logistic fits well with sloping-saturating units).

Detection and quantification of asymmetric lipid vesicle fusion using deuterium NMR.

It is demonstrated that deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (2H NMR) spectroscopy can be used to detect and to quantify fusion between anionic giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) and cationic small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs). The sensitivity to fusion relies on the conformational response of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) to changes in membrane surface electrostatic charge due to lipid mixing upon fusion. This conformational change is reported in the 2H NMR spectrum as a change in the quadrupolar splitting from choline-deuterated POPC.

Training and transfer-of-learning effects in disabled and normal readers: evidence of specific deficits.

Two experiments were conducted to assess the specificity of training and transfer deficits in disabled readers, aged 7 to 9 years. Forty-eight children (reading disabled, age-matched normal controls, and reading-level-matched normal controls) participated in both a reading and a nonreading (music) acquisition paradigm. Children received instruction in grapheme-phoneme and symbol-note correspondence patterns, respectively.

Conflict between antipredator and antiparasite behaviour in larval damselflies.

 Larval damselflies resist infestation by parasitic larval mites by exhibiting behaviours such as grooming, crawling, swimming, and striking at host-seeking mites. Larval damselflies are known to increase time spent in these behaviours in the presence of mites but reduce time spent in these behaviours in the presence of fish predators. The presence of both fish and larval mites presents an obvious conflict: a larval damselfly may actively avoid parasitism by mites, thus increasing its risk of predation, or it may reduce its activity when fish are present, thus increasing its risk of parasitism.

Food neophobia in humans: effects of manipulated arousal and individual differences in sensation seeking.

The study examined the effects of manipulated arousal and the trait of Sensation Seeking on willingness to taste novel foods (as assessed by means of a choice task). Arousal was manipulated by having subjects play an exciting, neutral, or boring video game. In line with predictions from optimal level of arousal theories, subjects chose more novel foods when manipulated arousal was low (vs.

Proctolin analogues and a proctolin metabolite as antagonist of the peptide proctolin.

The locust oviduct bioassay was used to assess a variety of proctolin analogues as possible agonists and antagonists of the peptide proctolin. Both [alpha-methyl-L-tyrosine2]proctolin and [N-methyl-L-tyrosine2] proctolin were antagonists of proctolin with thresholds of 5 x 10(-9) M. Interestingly, at these threshold doses the analogues were antagonists when applied along with proctolin, being capable of shifting the dose-response curve for proctolin an order of magnitude to the right.

DNA-induced lateral segregation of cationic amphiphiles in lipid bilayer membranes as detected via 2H NMR.

2H NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate the response of specifically choline-deuterated 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) to changes in surface electrostatic charge in membranes consisting of mixtures of POPC plus various cationic amphiphiles plus polyadenylic acid (polyA). Three different cationic amphiphiles were investigated: cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), dioleoyldimethylaminopropane (DODAP), and 3 beta [N-(N',N'-dimethylaminoethane)carbamoyl]-cholesterol (DC-CHOL). Each of the cationic amphiphiles elicited a concentration-dependent decrease (increase) in the quadrupolar splitting from POPC-alpha-d2 (POPC-beta-d2), as expected for the accumulation of cationic charges at the surface of a lipid bilayer.

FEMALE CHOICE FOR AN INDICATOR OF MALE SIZE IN THE SONG OF THE BLACK-HORNED TREE CRICKET, OECANTHUS NIGRICORNIS (ORTHOPTERA: GRYLLIDAE: OECANTHINAE).

The calling song of male crickets, including Oecanthus nigricornis (Walker), attracts females for mating and provides a model system of sexual communication. We give the first conclusive identification of a feature of cricket song that is both attractive to females and indicates a phenotypic feature (body size) that determines male mating success and female reproductive benefits. We do this by first testing for correlations between song characteristics and aspects of male phenotype that are hypothesized to indicate male quality.

Reduction of Aryl Thiocyanates with SmI(2) and Pd-Catalyzed Coupling with Aryl Halides as a Route to Mixed Aryl Sulfides.

A series of aryl iodides, with a range of substituents, has been successfully coupled using 10 mol % Pd catalyst with samarium thiolates, derived from the corresponding aryl thiocyanates upon reductive cleavage with SmI(2). Reactions proceed in THF at 65 degrees C in yields ranging from good to excellent and are compatible with both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents, except NO(2). The reactions may also be conducted with aryl bromides although with somewhat lower yields.

Sodium salicylate decreases intracellular ATP, induces both heat shock factor binding and chromosomal puffing, but does not induce hsp 70 gene transcription in Drosophila.

Sodium salicylate has long been known to be an inducer of the heat shock puffs and presumably heat shock gene transcription in the polytene chromosomes of Drosophila salivary gland cells. Stress-induced transcription of the heat shock genes is mediated by the transcription factor known as Heat Shock Factor (HSF). In yeast, sodium salicylate has been reported to induce the DNA binding of HSF but not heat shock gene transcription itself, and similar findings have been reported in human cells.

Neurometamorphosis of the ear in the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, and its homologue in the earless forest tent caterpillar moth, Malacosoma disstria.

The adult gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (Lymantriidae: Noctuoidea) has a pair of metathoracic tympanic ears that each contain a two-celled auditory chordotonal organ (CO). The earless forest tent caterpillar moth, Malacosoma disstria (Lasiocampidae: Bombycoidea), has a homologous pair of three-celled, nonauditory hindwing COs in their place. The purpose of our study was to determine whether the adult CO in both species arises from a preexisting larval organ or if it develops as a novel structure during metamorphosis.

Ethoxyzolamide Differentially Inhibits CO2 Uptake and Na+-Independent and Na+-Dependent HCO3- Uptake in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. UTEX 625.

The effects of ethoxyzolamide (EZ), a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, on the active CO2 and Na+-independent and Na+-dependent HCO3- transport systems of the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. UTEX 625 were examined. Measurements of transport and accumulation using radiochemical, fluorometric, and mass spectrometric assays indicated that active CO2 transport and active Na+-independent HCO3- transport were inhibited by EZ.

Genetic exchange and recombination in populations of the root-infecting fungus Armillaria gallica.

Genetic individuals, or genets, of Armillaria and other root-infecting basidiomycetes are usually found in discrete patches that often include the root systems of several adjacent trees. Each diploid individual is thought to arise in an unique mating event and then grow vegetatively in an expanding territory over a long period of time. Our objective in this study was to describe the population from which such genetic individuals are drawn.

Phosphorus 31 solid state NMR characterization of oligonucleotides covalently bound to a solid support.

31P cross polarization (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were acquired for various linear and branched di- and tri-nucleotides attached to a controlled pore glass (CPG) solid support. The technique readily distinguishes the oxidation state of the phosphorus atom (phosphate versus phosphate), the presence or absence of a protecting group attached directly to phosphorus (cyanoethyl), and other large changes in the phosphorus chemistry (phosphate versus phosphorothioate). However, differences in configurational details remote from the phosphorus atom, such as the attachment position of the ribose sugar (2'5' versus 3'5'), or the particulars of the nucleotide bases (adenine versus uridine versus thymine), could not be resolved.

regeneration of and in the Great Lakes forest communities of Canada.

Two extensive forest vegetation survey datasets are explored, using ordination and classification, for evidence of regeneration by (Eastern white pine) and (Red pine). Ordination of tree species contributions to total basal area in 320 upland northern hardwood- conifer stands produced distinct stand groups for , and mesic hardwoods in an ascending sequence along the first axis. (red oak), (white oak) and tolerant conifer groups formed segregates from the hardwood complex along the second axis.

A comparison of different methods for the identification of genets of Armillaria spp.

In a previous study, somatic incompatibility (SI) was used to map the genotypes (or genets) of three Armillaria species (A. ostoyae, A. gallica, A.

Chemical and behavioral stimulation from females accelerates recrudescence in male Syrian hamsters exposed to short days.

Interaction with female hamsters maintained under long photoperiods (LP) accelerates behavioral recrudescence in short photoperiod (SP) males. In this experiment, the authors investigated the effects of various types of female sociosexual cues on different measures of reproductive recrudescence in the male. Five groups of SP males were exposed to different female cues for 3 weeks (Weeks 12 to 15).

Recall of frequency of occurrence of self-generated and examiner-provided words after frontal or temporal lobectomy.

Patients with unilateral excisions from the frontal or temporal lobe and normal control subjects were given two tasks requiring the recall of the frequency of occurrence of words that differed in the number of times they occurred in study lists. In one task, subjects were required to generate words in response to cues, whilst in the other they merely had to read responses that satisfied the cues. All subject groups gave higher frequency estimates to words they had generated than to words they had read.