Physiological effects of whole cottonseed in the diet of lactating dairy cows

With 32 lactating Holstein cows we evaluated physiological effects of gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids in diets containing 18.5% whole cottonseed (dry matter) based on corn, corn silage, and soybean meal. All cows consumed a control diet for the first 2 wk of lactation and then were assigned to either control or whole cottonseed diet for the remainder of their lactation. Milk production, milk fat and protein percentages, and daily dry matter intake were measured. Dry matter intakes were less for cows consuming the whole cottonseed diet, but net energy intake was similar for all diets. Milk fat from cows consuming whole cottonseed contained detectable concentrations of cyclopropene fatty acids. Total lipid in plasma, total serum cholesterol, serum gossypol, and apparent liver gossypol concentrations were greater in cows fed whole cottonseed. Gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids appeared to be absorbed from the gut of cows fed whole cottonseed. Small amounts of gossypol in serum and liver tissue and small amounts of cyclopropene fatty acids in adipose tissue lipids and milk fat indicate a need to elucidate the significance of these physiologically active compounds in the human diet and their biological effects on lactating dairy cows.     

Scanning electron microscopic examination of the scolex and external tegumental surface of Proteocephalus ambloplitis

This examination represents the first scanning electron microscopic study of a proteocephalid tapeworm, Proteocephalus ambloplitis, and it also serves as the first comparative study between the adult and larval stages of a tapeworm. Proteocephalus ambloplitis has numerous microtrichs whose densities and diameters differ greatly from those of cyclophyllidean and pseudophyllidean tapeworms previously examined. Proteocephalus ambloplitis also has an external apical organ and a subcuticular organ.     

Invariants of the Jacobi-Porstendorfer room model for radon progeny in indoor air

The Jacobi-Porstend?rfer room model, describing the dynamical behaviour of radon and radon progeny in indoor air, has been successfully used for decades. The inversion of the model-the determination of the five parameters from measured results which provide better information on the room environment than mere ratios of unattached and attached radon progeny-is treated as an algebraic task. The linear interdependence of the used equations strongly limits the algebraic invertibility of experimental results. For a unique solution, the fulfilment of two invariants of the room model for the measured results is required. Non-fulfilment of these model invariants by the measured results leads to a set of non-identical solutions and indicates the violation of the conditions required by the room model or the incorrectness or excessive uncertainties of the measured results. The limited and non-unique algebraic invertibility of the room model is analysed numerically using our own data for the radon progeny.     

Dbtop: topomer similarity searching of conventional structure databases

A new topomer-based method for 3D searching of conventional structural databases is described, according to which 3D molecular structures are compared as sets of fragments or topomers, in single rule-generated conformations oriented by superposition of their fragmentation bonds. A topomer is characterized by its CoMFA-like steric shape and now also by its pharmacophoric features, in some novel ways that are detailed and discussed.

To illustrate the behavior of topomer similarity searching, a new dbtop program was used to generate a topomer distance matrix for a diverse set of 26 PDE4 inhibitors and 15 serotonin receptor modulators. With the best of three parameter settings tried, within the 210 shortest topomer distances (of 1460), 94.7% involved pairs of compounds having the same biological activity, and the nearest neighbor to every compound also shared its activity. The standard similarity metric, Tanimoto coefficients of “2D fingerprints”, could achieve a similar selectivity performance only for the 108 shortest distances, and three Tanimoto nearest neighbors had a different biological activity. Topomer similarity also allowed “lead-hopping” among 22 of the 26 PDE4 inhibitors, notably between rolipram and cipamfylline, while “2D fingerprints” Tanimotos recognized similarity only within generally recognized structural classes.

In 370 searches of authentic high-throughput screening (HTS) data sets, the typical topomer similarity search rate was about 200 structures per s.     

Psychosocial study of epilepsy in Africa

As documented by many authors, the social position of epileptics in many small scale societies of Africa is marginal at best, and is often characterized by rejection, discrimination, even ostracism. Such negative and noxious attitudes toward persons suffering from epilepsy are rooted in traditional beliefs about causes and nature of convulsive disorders and these have parallels in European history. This article focuses on the psychosociocultural aspects and indigenous concepts of epilepsy, on popular attitudes towards, and social status of, sufferers from epilepsy in a Tanzanian tribal population. The authors present a comparative analysis of focus group discussions conducted with epileptics and with matched controls in two isolated communities. In one community (Mahenge) a clinic for epilepsy has been operating for over 36 years, with a public education component during the last four years, whereas in the other community (Ruaha) epileptics have only been sporadically treated in a small mission dispensary and people have had little opportunity to learn about the nature and modern treatment of convulsive disorders. The responses obtained in focus group discussions reflect the significant change in notions about the illness, in the attitude toward and in the social status of epileptics in Mahenge, while the people of Ruaha still regard epilepsy as a typical "African" affliction fraught with supernatural danger and not effectively treatable by modern medicine.