Electrical and magnetic properties of ion-exchangeable layered ruthenates

ArticleJournal of Solid State Chemistry. 177(12):4542-4545 (2004)journal articl

In Vivo oocyte maturation and ovulation in females and spermiation in males of hybrid sturgeon, bester

Bester, a hybrid sturgeon (Huso huso L. females ´ Acipenser ruthenus L. males), neither spermiate nor ovulate in the captivity. Thirteen-year-old adult male and female bester were injected with LH-RHa (0.1-0.3 mg/kg B.W.) intramuscularly and spawning status of the treated fish was checked 24-48 hours later. Additionally, changes in serum levels of DHP in both the responded and the non-responded individuals were monitored 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after treatment. Between 70-100 percent of the LR-RHa injected males individuals, and 11-40 percent of the females spawned 24-48 hours after the treatment; the rest did not respond to the injection. In the responded males, 3-9 hours after the treatment, serum levels of DHP increased; while in the females it occurred first after 12-24 hours. In contrast, during the same period, serum levels of DHP remained low in all non-responded individuals. The present study indicated that using 0.1-1.3 mg/kg B. W. of LH-RHa can induce oocyte maturation and ovulation in the females and spermiation in the males cultured bester. The results suggested additionally DHP as an appropriated steroid that could be used in the final maturation stage of the gonads

Genetic structure and molecular variability of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) collected in maize and cotton fields in Brazil

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the genetic similarity and structure of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), populations associated with maize and cotton crops in Brazil using amplified fragment length polymorphisms. Mean genetic similarity among populations was 0.45. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean analysis dendrograms did not separate populations of S. frugiperda into clusters related to the host plant in which the insects were collected. No genetic variation was observed among maize and cotton populations of S. frugiperda, suggesting that the same populations are injuring both crops in Brazil. This research validates the need for stewardship of crop-protection methods for managing S. frugiperda to reduce the incidence of pesticide resistance, due to the spatial and temporal overlapping of maize and cotton crops in some regions in Brazil

Discerning the origins of the Negritos, first Sundaland people: Deep divergence and archaic admixture

Human presence in Southeast Asia dates back to at least 40,000 years ago, when the current islands formed a continental shelf called Sundaland. In the Philippine Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, and Andaman Islands, there exist indigenous groups collectively called Negritos whose ancestry can be traced to the “First Sundaland People.” To understand the relationship between these Negrito groups and their demographic histories, we generated genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data in the Philippine Negritos and compared them with existing data from other populations. Phylogenetic tree analyses show that Negritos are basal to other East and Southeast Asians, and that they diverged from West Eurasians at least 38,000 years ago. We also found relatively high traces of Denisovan admixture in the Philippine Negritos, but not in the Malaysian and Andamanese groups, suggesting independent introgression and/or parallel losses involving Denisovan introgressed regions. Shared genetic loci between all three Negrito groups could be related to skin pigmentation, height, facial morphology and malarial resistance. These results show the unique status of Negrito groups as descended from the First Sundaland People

A visual pathway for skylight polarization processing in Drosophila

Many insects use patterns of polarized light in the sky to orient and navigate. Here, we functionally characterize neural circuitry in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, that conveys polarized light signals from the eye to the central complex, a brain region essential for the fly’s sense of direction. Neurons tuned to the angle of polarization of ultraviolet light are found throughout the anterior visual pathway, connecting the optic lobes with the central complex via the anterior optic tubercle and bulb, in a homologous organization to the ‘sky compass’ pathways described in other insects. We detail how a consistent, map-like organization of neural tunings in the peripheral visual system is transformed into a reduced representation suited to flexible processing in the central brain. This study identifies computational motifs of the transformation, enabling mechanistic comparisons of multisensory integration and central processing for navigation in the brains of insects

The frequency in Japanese of genetic variants of 22 proteins III. Phosphoglucomutase-1, phosphoglucomutase-2, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase, and adenosine deaminase

Five enzyme systems, PGM 1 , PGM 2 , ADA, 6-PGD and AK, were examined by electrophoresis in over 4000 samples from Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the frequencies of common and rare variants. In the PGM 1 , system, the PGM 2 1 allele and PGM 7 1 ; allele were found in polymorphic proportions. I n addition, five kinds of slow variants and three types of fast variants of PGM 1 were detected. The PGM 3 NGS 1 1 allele was found in five individuals from Nagasaki, but was not observed in samples from Hiroshima. There were no variants of PGM 2 . Three kinds of fast variants of 6-PGD were detected. NO variation in AK was observed. There were no rare variants of ADA. The 6-PGD c allele had a frequency of 0.084 in Hiroshima, and 0.093 in Nagasaki, and the ADA 2 allele frequencies of 0.025 in Hiroshima and 0.032 in Nagasaki.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65524/1/j.1469-1809.1977.tb01912.x.pd

Analysis of Differential Efficacy and Affinity of GABAA (α1/α2) Selective Modulators.

Selective modulators of the γ-amino butyric acid (GABAA) family of receptors have the potential to treat a range of disease states related to cognition, pain, and anxiety. While the development of various α subunit-selective modulators is currently underway for the treatment of anxiety disorders, a mechanistic understanding of the correlation between their bioactivity and efficacy, based on ligand-target interactions, is currently still lacking. In order to alleviate this situation, in the current study we have analyzed, using ligand- and structure-based methods, a data set of 5440 GABAA modulators. The Spearman correlation (ρ) between binding activity and efficacy of compounds was calculated to be 0.008 and 0.31 against the α1 and α2 subunits of GABA receptor, respectively; in other words, the compounds had little diversity in structure and bioactivity, but they differed significantly in efficacy. Two compounds were selected as a case study for detailed interaction analysis due to the small difference in their structures and affinities (ΔpKi(comp1_α1 - comp2_α1) = 0.45 log units, ΔpKi(comp1_α2 - comp2_α2) = 0 log units) as compared to larger relative efficacies (ΔRE(comp1_α1 - comp2_α1) = 1.03, ΔRE(comp1_α2 - comp2_α2) = 0.21). Docking analysis suggested that His-101 is involved in a characteristic interaction of the α1 receptor with both compounds 1 and 2. Residues such as Phe-77, Thr-142, Asn-60, and Arg-144 of the γ chain of the α1γ2 complex also showed interactions with heterocyclic rings of both compounds 1 and 2, but these interactions were disturbed in the case of α2γ2 complex docking results. Binding pocket stability analysis based on molecular dynamics identified three substitutions in the loop C region of the α2 subunit, namely, G200E, I201T, and V202I, causing a reduction in the flexibility of α2 compared to α1. These amino acids in α2, as compared to α1, were also observed to decrease the vibrational and dihedral entropy and to increase the hydrogen bond content in α2 in the apo state. However, freezing of both α1 and α2 was observed in the ligand-bound state, with an increased number of internal hydrogen bonds and increased entropy. Therefore, we hypothesize that the amino acid differences in the loop C region of α2 are responsible for conformational changes in the protein structure compared to α1, as well as for the binding modes of compounds and hence their functional signaling