ALBERT

Notes: Abstract Representative samples from the epiphytic and psammolittoral communities were made during the summer of 1968 in North Sea Harbor, Southampton, Long Island, USA. In the epiphytic communities, the foraminifera were very patchy; 2.6% of the total samples accounted for 56.4% of the total foraminifera collected. The standing crop and species composition of the foraminifera changed throughout the summer. Two seasonal peaks were observed in the epiphytes. In early summer Protelphidium tisburyensis was the dominant form. In late July and August Elphidium incertum was dominant. Taken as a whole over the entire summer, the following species comprised the epiphytic foraminiferan community: Elphidium incertum (46.63%); Protelphidium tisburyensis (25.64%); Ammotium salsum (9.88%); Elphidium clavatum (6.74%); E. translucens (3.47%); Ammonia beccarii (2.83%); Ammobaculites dilatatus (2.08%); Trochammina inflata (1.8%); Elphidium advenum (〈 1%); E. galvestonense (〈 1%); E. gunteri (〈 1%); Quinqueloculina lata (〈 1%); Q. seminulum (〈 1%) and Trochammina macrescens (〈 1%). Although fewer species were found, many more foraminifera live in the benthos than in the epiphytic community. Taken as a whole, over the entire summer, the following species comprised the foraminifera in the psammolittoral community: Trochammina inflata (49.6%); Elphidium incertum (31.8%); Ammotium salsum (10.9%); Quinqueloculina seminulum (4.2%); Elphidium sp. (1.5); Protelphidium tisburyensis (0.9%); Ammonia beccarii (0.7%); Elphidium clavatum (〈 0.1%); and E. translucens (〈 0.1%). Three species, Ammotium salsum, Elphidium incertum and Trochammina inflata bloomed successively in the psammolittoral community. The distribution of the latter two species was correlated with the vertical and horizontal changes of grain size; Elphidium incertum distribution clustered around a median grain size of 0.1 mm, whereas Trochammina inflata clustered around a median grain size of 0.46 mm. The sediments were sampled both at high and low tide. No evidence was obtained to suggest migration of foraminifera through the sediments as a function of tidal cycle. Horizontal distribution of the foraminifera in the marsh was correlated with the flow patterns of very small rivulets in the study area. With respect to many species of foraminifera, the overlying epiphytic communities are not continuous with the psammolittoral communities below them in the water column. Protelphidium tisburyensis was an early summer dominant epiphyte, but was rare in the psammolittoral communities. Trochammina inflata, on the other hand, was dominant in the coarser, deeper sediments and was rare in the epiphytic community. Elphidium incertum is presumably a generalist species. It formed half the foraminiferan population throughout the water column. Ammotium salsum was also abundant in both communities.

Notes: Abstract. The problem of presenting database query results has not been investigated sufficiently. This work proposes an approach to identify effective presentations for the results of database queries. This will be done by considering different kinds of information, such as user goals, the characteristics of the data to be presented, and the relationships among them. Our approach is based on the definition of composition operations which, on the basis of elementary presentation types, allow us to obtain designs of complex final presentations. Some effectiveness criteria are considered in order to identify those presentations which best match the user's goals and cognitive abilities. We consider multimedia environments at both the data and presentation level.

Notes: Abstract Objective: There is now good evidence that inhaled salmeterol is an effective agent in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),but, at the present time, data on the effects of bambuterol, which is an oral tarbutaline pro-drug, in patients with COPD are scarce. Moreover, no comparative study between bambuterol and salmeterol in patients with chronic obstructive airway disorders has been published. The objective of this research was, consequently, to compare the efficacy and safety of 20 mg oral bambuterol and 50 μg inhaled salmeterol in patients with partially reversible COPD. Methods: The speed and length of bronchodilation with 20 mg bambuterol and 50 μg inhaled salmeterol were compared in 16 patients with partially reversible COPD. The investigation and designed as a double-blind, double-dummy, cross-over, placebo controlled and randomised study. Lung function (FEV1, FVC) and systemic variables (subjective tremor, heart rate, blood pressure) were monitored prior to the administration of the drug and for 12 h after each agent on 3 non-consecutive days. Results: Inhalation of salmeterol induced a significant (P 〈 0.05) increase of lung function when compared with placebo. In addition, oral bambuterol elicited good bronchodilation, with its maximum slightly later than for salmeterol. The mean (±SE) AUC0–12 hs for all patients were 3.134 1 ± 0.553 for salmeterol and 1963 1 ± 0.573 for bambuterol. Both AUC0–12 h s were significantly greater than for placebo (P 〈 0.05), but there was no significant difference (P = 0.077) between the salmeterol and bambuterol AUC0–12 hs. Bambuterol, but not salmeterol, caused tremor in four patients. Moreover, it induced a higher heart rate when compared with salmeterol at each considered time after the administration of the drug; differences after 9 and 12 h  were statistically significant (P 〈 0.05). Conclusion: Both oral bambuterol and inhaled salmeterol resulted in good bronchodilation in patients with stable COPD. However, bambuterol, but not salmeterol, caused tremor in several subjects and elicited a more pronounced tachycardia.

Notes: Summary 1. Sensory reception in the molluscPleurobranchaea californica was studied in whole animals and surgically reduced preparations by delivering chemical and mechanical stimuli while observing behavior or recording extracellularly the responses of the corresponding nerves. Sensory structures studied included the rhinophores, tentacles and oral veil. 2. Specimens reliably (50% or more) exhibited feeding responses to 10 of 18 amino acids tested (Table 1), including alanine and glycine. In 14 electrophysiological experiments on the rhinophore, medium to high centripetal responses to alanine and/or glycine were obtained in 7 preparations (Fig. 2), while little or no response was obtained in 7 preparations. Responses to different amino acids were sometimes mediated by the same centripetal unit (Fig. 2). 3. The rhinophore nerves showed vigorous excitatory responses to variations in the salt concentration (Figs. 3, 4), osmolarity (Figs. 5, 6), and pH (Figs. 7, 8) of sea water solutions directed onto the rhinophore sensory epithelium. The rhinophore and tentacle nerves showed strong excitatory responses to various salt solutions directed onto the corresponding sensory structure, including 1 osmolar NaCl, NaBr, NaI, Na2SO4 and KCl, but not LiCl (Table 2). Curves relating extracellular discharge to stimulus strength typically showed a minimum in the physiological range and increases to either side of this range (Figs. 4, 8). 4. All nerves studied showed excitatory responses to stimulation with mechanical stimuli (Figs. 9–11). Maps of receptive fields of different nerves (Fig. 10) delineated areas of functional innervation for each nerve and showed little overlap. The same centripetal unit(s) typically responded to mechanostimulation of a wide peripheral area (Fig. 11). 5. All nerves studied showed excitatory responses to application of liquefied food substances to the sensory structures (Figs. 12–15). Dose response curves for different food stimuli (Fig. 13) were similar except at higher stimulus strengths, where mean discharge rates were significantly different for different foods. These and other data furnish neurophysiological evidence for discrimination between different food stimuli, as suggested also by earlier behavioral studies (Davis et al. 1980). 6. For all stimuli, severing the afferent nerves leading from the peripheral sensory epithelium abolished electrophysiological responses. Therefore the responses observed were mediated by the sensory epithelium rather than by direct stimulation of peripheral ganglia or nerves. 7. It is concluded that the rhinophores, tentacles and oral veil participate not only in food detection but also have the sensory capacity to detect changes in several other environmental parameters. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that incoming afferent information is processed by peripheral ganglia before it is relayed centrally.

Notes: Summary Afferent chemosensory and mechanosensory pathways from peripheral sensory structures (the rhinophore and tentacle) to the cerebropleural ganglion (‘ brain ’) of the molluscPleurobranchaea were investigated using anatomical and electrophysiological methods. In both structures a sensory epithelium is connected by afferent nerves to a peripheral ganglion which sends a nerve (rhinophore or tentacle nerve) to the cerebropleural ganglion. 1. Filling the distal stumps of afferent nerves distal to the rhinophore and tentacle ganglia with cobaltous chloride (centrifugal fills of distal nerves) stained the somata of receptor cells in the sensory epithelium (Fig. 1), suggesting that primary afferent neurons project uninterrupted from the epithelium to the peripheral ganglia. 2. Filling proximal stumps of afferent nerves distal to the rhinophore and tentacle ganglia with cobaltous chloride (centripetal fills of distal nerves) stained mainly fiber tracts that terminated in the peripheral ganglia (Figs. 3, 5) suggesting that primary afferent input is processed mainly in these peripheral ganglia. 3. Filling distal stumps of nerves connecting the peripheral ganglia to the cerebropleural ganglion with cobaltous chloride (centrifugal fills of proximal nerves) stained approximately 100 somata in each peripheral ganglion but stained few axons in distal afferent nerves (Figs. 4, 5), suggesting that the rhinophore and tentacle nerves consist mainly of axons of interneurons arising in peripheral ganglia. Centripetal fills of proximal nerve stumps stained few (10–25) somata in the cerebropleural ganglion. 4. Transganglionic extracellular activity induced by extracellular stimulation of appropriate nerve roots was reversibly reduced in calcium-free sea water, indicating transmission of information across chemical synapses in the peripheral ganglia (Fig. 6). 5. Intracellular recordings were obtained from the somata of 79 interneurons in the tentacle and rhinophore ganglia while delivering sensory stimuli to the corresponding sensory structures. 53 cells showed reliably an action potential response to mechanical and/or chemical stimulation (Figs. 7, 9, 11–13, 15, 16, 18). The majority of cells were bimodal (mechano- and chemosensory), although monomodal (mechanosensory or chemosensory) cells were also encountered. In most cases (47/53) the response was excitatory, but in a few cases (6/53) inhibitory responses were obtained (Fig. 18). 6. Lucifer yellow injections were made for a representative number of such interneurons (Figs. 8, 10, 14, 17). Most of these showed monopolar neurons with a single axon passing from each soma into the rhinophore or tentacle nerve toward the cerebropleural ganglion, although injections of monomodal chemosensory interneurons (n = 2) revealed a bipolar configuration (Fig. 17). 7. The results collectively suggest that chemosensory and mechanosensory inputs from primary epithelial receptor cells of the rhinophore and tentacle are integrated in the peripheral ganglia and relayed to the central nervous system by a population of sensory interneurons.

Notes: Abstract Over the past few years, several groups have used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to study aneuploidy in human sperm. Several important observations have derived from these studies, including the demonstration of chromosome-specific variation in non-disjunction frequencies, and the possible association of aneuploidy with environmental agents and with increasing paternal age. However, an important technical limitation of these studies has been the inability to distinguish between autosomal non-disjunction occurring at meiosis I and meiosis II. In the present report, we describe a simple FISH-based approach designed to overcome this limitation. Using oligonucleotide probes capable of distinguishing subtle differences in the alpha satellite sequences of chromosome 17, we demonstrate that (in appropriate heterozygotes) it is possible to simultaneously identify disomic sperm and to determine the meiotic stage of origin of the additional chromosome. This novel approach has important implications for future FISH sperm studies, since the ability to distinguish between meiosis I and meiosis II non-disjunction will make it possible to determine whether putative etiological agents affect chromosome segregation at both, or only one, of the two meiotic stages.

Notes: Abstract  The U22 host gene (UHG) is very unusual because it encodes a spliced, polyadenylated RNA that has little apparent coding capacity and is rapidly degraded. The stable RNA products from this locus are actually encoded within eight different introns of the UHG pre-RNA. These small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) assemble into ribonucleoproteins, some of which have been shown to function in rRNA processing and modification. In order to more fully characterize the locus, we have mapped UHG to chromosome 11q13 by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Radiation hybrid mapping placed this sequence-tagged site with very high probability (lod 〉19) to chromosome 11, approximately 10.1 cR distal to framework marker WI-8652. We also investigated the possibility that the expression of UHG was subject to genomic imprinting. Several laboratories have shown that non-protein-coding mRNAs are frequently associated with imprinted domains in mammalian cells. We used a novel somatic cell hybrid method to assay parent-of-origin effects in the expression of UHG alleles and found that, unlike XIST, IPW, and H19, this RNA is expressed biparentally. Additional FISH experiments using anti-U22 oligonucleotides revealed that, as with U3, this snoRNA is localized throughout the nucleolus.

Notes: Abstract. Growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) qualify as lymphohaemopoietic growth and differentiation factors, and so does insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, which mediates many of GH activities. Although there is only limited evidence that endocrine, paracrine or autocrine GH or PRL play a role in human leukaemia and lymphoma, the expression of these factors or their receptors may have diagnostic or therapeutic implications. Indeed, the participation of GH, PRL or IGF-I in the development or progression of certain haematological malignancies or to the antitumour immune response has been documented. Examples discussed in this review include a rat lymphoma in which the PRL receptor acts as an oncogene; the rat Nb2 lymphoma, which is dependent on PRL for growth; and experiments showing that PRL stimulates natural killer cell activity and the development of lymphokine-activated killer cells.