7th Drug hypersensitivity meeting: part two

No abstract availabl

Mitochondrial efficiency in rat skeletal muscle: influence of respiration rate, substrate and muscle type.

Aim: To investigate the hypothesis that mitochondrial efficiency (i.e. P/O ratio) is higher in type I than in type II fibres during submaximal rates of respiration. Methods: Mitochondria were isolated from rat soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles, representing type I and type II fibres, respectively. Mitochondrial efficiency (P/O ratio) was determined with pyruvate (Pyr) or palmitoyl-L-carnitine (PC) during submaximal (constant rate of ADP infusion) and maximal (Vmax, state 3) rates of respiration and fitted to monoexponential functions. Results: There was no difference in Vmax between PC and Pyr in soleus but in EDL Vmax with PC was only 58% of that with Pyr. The activity of 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HAD) was 3-fold higher in soleus than in EDL. P/O ratio at Vmax was 8-9% lower with PC (2.33±0.02 (soleus) and 2.30±0.02 (EDL)) than with Pyr (2.52±0.03 (soleus) and 2.54±0.03 (EDL)) but not different between the two muscles (P>0.05). P/O ratio was low at low rates of respiration and increased exponentially when the rate of respiration increased. The asymptotes of the curves were similar to P/O ratio at Vmax. P/O ratio at submaximal respirations was not different between soleus and EDL neither with Pyr nor with PC. Conclusion: Mitochondrial efficiency, as determined in vitro, was not significantly different in the two fibre types neither at Vmax nor at submaximal rates of respiration. The low Vmax for PC oxidation in EDL may relate to low activity of β-oxidation.The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.co

How intragroup dynamics affect behavior in intergroup conflict: The role of group norms, prototypicality, and need to belong

This study explores the role of intragroup dynamics in intergroup conflict. In a computer-mediated negotiation experiment (N = 107), we investigated how a group representative’s standing in the group, group norm, and the representative’s need to belong influence behavior in intergroup negotiations. We hypothesized that the extent to which peripheral representatives adhere to group norms is contingent on their need to belong, whereas prototypical representatives behave in norm-congruent ways regardless of their need to belong. In support of this idea, results showed that prototypicals behaved more cooperatively when the group norm prescribed cooperation rather than competition. By contrast, peripherals only adhered to the group norm when they had a high need to belong. These findings suggest that peripherals only represent the interests of their group when doing so furthers their self-interest. We discuss implications for theorizing about prototypicality, social exclusion, and conformity to group norms. Copyright © 2011 by SAGE Publication

The architecture of Permian glossopterid ovuliferous reproductive organs

A historical account of research on glossopterid ovuliferous reproductive structures reveals starkly contrasting interpretations of their architecture and homologies from the earliest investigations. The diversity of interpretations has led to the establishment of a multitude of genera for these fossil organs, many of the taxa being synonymous. We identify a need for taxonomic revision of these genera to clearly demarcate taxa before they can be used effectively as palaeobiogeographic or biostratigraphic indices. Our assessment of fructification features based on extensive studies of adpression and permineralized fossils reveals that many of the character states for glossopterids used in previous phylogenetic analyses are erroneous. We interpret glossopterid fertiligers to have been borne in loose strobili in which individual polysperms represent fertile cladodes of diverse morphologies subtended by a vegetative leaf or bract. Polysperms within the group are variously branched or condensed with ovule placement ranging from marginal to abaxial, in some cases occurring on recurved branchlets or in cupule-like structures. Glossopterid polysperms of all types are fringed by one or two ranks of wing-like structures that may represent the remnants of megasporophylls that were, ancestrally, developed on the fertile axillary shoot. Glossopterid fertiligers have similarities to the condensed bract/ovuliferous scale complexes of conifer cones, but comparisons with Mesozoic seed-ferns are hindered by insufficient data on the arrangement and homologies of the ovulebearing organs of the latter group. Nevertheless, glossopterid polysperms differ from the ovuliferous organs of Mesozoic seed-ferns by longitudinal versus transverse folding, respectively.Also funded by the National Science Foundation [project #1636625]; University of the Witwatersrand; Rhodes University; the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences and the NRF African Origins Platform [UID: 98822]</p