Inhibition evoked from primary afferents in the electrosensory lateral line lobe of the weakly electric fish (Apteronotus leptorhynchus)

Distal versus proximal inhibitory shaping of feedback excitation in the electrosensory lateral line lobe: implications for sensory filtering. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 3214-3232, 1998. The inhibition controlling the indirect descending feedback (parallel fibers originating from cerebellar granule cells in the eminentia posterior pars granularis) to electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) pyramidal cells was studied using intracellular recording techniques in vitro. Parallel fibers (PF) contact stellate cells and dendrites of ventral molecular layer (VML) GABAergic interneurons. Stellate cells provide local input to pyramidal cell distal dendrites, whereas VML cells contact their somata and proximal dendrites. Single-pulse stimulation of PF evoked graded excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) that were blocked by alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid and N-methyl--aspartate (NMDA) antagonists. The EPSPs peaked at 6.4 +/- 1.8 ms (mean +/- SE; n = 11) but took >50 ms to decay completely. Tetanic stimulation (100 ms, 100 Hz) produced a depolarizing wave with individual EPSPs superimposed. The absolute amplitude of the individual EPSPs decreased during the train. Spike rates, established by injected current, mostly were increased, but in some cells were decreased, by tetanic stimulation. Global application of a gamma-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) antagonist to the recorded cell's soma and apical dendritic region increased the EPSP peak and decay phase amplitudes. Tetanic stimulation always increased current-evoked spike rates after GABAA blockade during, and for several hundred milliseconds after, the stimulus. Application of a GABAB antagonist did not have any significant effects on the PF-evoked response. This, and the lack of any long hyperpolarizing inhibitory postsynaptic potentials, suggests that VML and stellate cell inhibition does not involve GABAB receptors. Focal GABAA antagonist applications to the dorsal molecular layer (DML) and pyramidal cell layer (PCL) had contrasting effects on PF-evoked EPSPs. DML GABAA blockade significantly increased the EPSP peak amplitude but not the decay phase of the EPSP, whereas PCL GABAA-blockade significantly increased the decay phase, but not the EPSP peak, amplitude. The order of antagonist application did not affect the outcome. On the basis of the known circuitry of the ELL, we conclude that the distal inhibition originated from GABAergic molecular layer stellate cells and the proximal inhibition originated from GABAergic cells of the ventral molecular layer (VML cells). Computer modeling of distal and proximal inhibition suggests that intrinsic differences in IPSP dynamics between the distal and proximal sites may be amplified by voltage-dependent NMDA receptor and persistent sodium currents. We propose that the different time courses of stellate cell and VML cell inhibition allows them to act as low- and high-pass filters respectively on indirect descending feedback to ELL pyramidal cells.     

Sequential transfer of free flap to two defects

This case report describes the use of a single lateral arm flap sequentially transferred to two defects in a bilateral hand injury. We believe this is a novel approach in reconstructing defects in bilateral hands when a staged reconstruction is planned.     

Subunit exchange of lens alpha-crystallin: a fluorescence energy transfer study with the fluorescent labeled alphaA-crystallin mutant W9F as a probe

A chemical study of the common Caribbean sea plume Pseudopterogorgia acerosa from Puerto Rico has produced two previously undescribed secondary metabolites. One of them, 1, is a new representative of the pseudopterane family of diterpenes possessing the uncommon 3,4;5,6 diepoxyfuran moiety. The other metabolite, 2, is a rare norcembranolide diterpene. Their chemical structures, including relative stereochemistry, were established by detailed analysis of the spectral data in addition to NMR spectral comparisons with known pseudopterane and cembrane models.     

A carboxyl-terminal Cys2/His2-type zinc-finger motif in DNA primase influences DNA content in Synechococcus PCC 7942

The DNA primase gene, dnaG, has been isolated from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC 7942. It is not part of a macromolecular synthesis operon but is co-transcribed with pheT and located adjacent to the metallothionein divergon, smt. At the carboxyl terminus of this DnaG is a Cys2/His2 zinc-finger motif. The carboxyl-terminal 91 residues bound 65Zn and 0.95 g atom of Zn2+ mol-1 were detected with 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol. Following exposure to Cd2+, 0.95 g atom of Cd2+ was displaced by 2 equivalents of p-(hydroxymercuri) phenylsulfonate mol-1, while only 0.03 g atom of Cd2+ was displaced mol-1 polypeptide missing the carboxyl-terminal (residue 592 onward) zinc-finger motif. Zn2+ caused an increase in intensity, and a reduction in wavelength, of Trp fluorescence at the tip of the predicted zinc-finger, while EDTA caused the converse. Cells containing a single chromosomal codon substitution (C597S), altering the zinc-finger, were generated by exploiting Zn2+-sensitive smt mutants and the proximity of dnaG to smt. Cells in which smt and dnaG(C597S) had integrated into the chromosome were selected via restored Zn2+ tolerance. Synechococcus PCC 7942 and its dnaG(C597S) mutant grew at equivalent rates, but the latter had a reduced number of chromosomes.     

Mushroom bodies of the cockroach: activity and identities of neurons recorded in freely moving animals

This article describes novel attributes of the mushroom bodies of cockroaches revealed by recording from neurons in freely moving insects. The results suggest several hitherto unrecognized functions of the mushroom bodies: extrinsic neurons that discriminate between imposed and self-generated sensory stimulation, extrinsic neurons that monitor motor actions, and a third class of extrinsic neurons that predict episodes of locomotion and modulate their activity depending on the turning direction. Electrophysiological units have been correlated with neurons that were partially stained by uptake of copper ions and silver intensification. Neurons so revealed correspond to Golgi-impregnated or Lucifer yellow-filled neurons and demonstrate that their processes generally ascend to other areas of the protocerebrum. The present results support the idea of multiple roles for the mushroom bodies. These include sensory discrimination, the integration of sensory perception with motor actions, and, as described in the companion article, a role in place memory.     

用于战术制导与导航应用的一种微机械振梁多敏感器的研制

基尔福特(Kearfott)制导与导航公司已经开发出用于战术惯性制导与导航应用的一种微机械振梁多敏感器(MVBM).这种MVBM是一种固态石英(硅Si)器件,它测量运动共轴的线加速度和角速率.这是通过单个柔性放置的检测质量来实现的,其中检测质量起到一种耦合模式的哥里奥利(Coriolis-哥氏)敏感器和加速度计的作用.位置敏感器是固定的,以使这两种测量在双级输出中有所不同,这样增加了标度因数,且相对于单极器件而言降低了共模而引起的热、振动以及老化误差.     

Enamel hypoplasia in ancestral Puebloan populations from southwestern Colorado: I. Permanent Dentition

Predictions of P. R. Killeen's (1994) mathematical principles of reinforcement were tested for responding on ratio reinforcement schedules. The type of response key, the number of sessions per condition, and first vs. second half of a session had negligible effects on responding. Longer reinforcer durations and larger grain types engendered more responding, affecting primarily the parameter alpha (specific activation). Key pecking was faster than treadle pressing, affecting primarily the parameter delta (response time). Longer intertrial intervals led to higher overall response rates and shorter postreinforcement pauses and higher running rates, and ruled out some competing explanations. The treadle data required a distinction between the energetic requirements and rate-limiting properties of extended responses. The theory was extended to predict pause durations and run rates on ratio schedules.     

Isolation of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis from vegetables collected in markets of an endemic region in Peru

Cryptosporidium parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis are protozoan pathogens that cause prolonged diarrhea in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts. Cryptosporidium parvum can be transmitted via the fecal-oral route, while the exact mechanisms of transmission of Cyclospora cayetanensis have not been fully determined. Humans appear to be the sole host for the latter and a distinct seasonality has been observed in endemic areas around the world. Samples of vegetables were collected at several small markets in a periurban slum in Peru during the seasons of high and low incidence. The vegetables were washed, the supernatants were collected and centrifuged, and the pellets were resuspended in a solution of 2.5% potassium dichromate. Pellets were examined using direct microscopic observation, acid-fast staining, and immunofluorescent assays for C. parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts. Samples were collected during three time periods: the season of low incidence, the beginning of the season of high incidence, and end of the season of high incidence. Of the total vegetables examined, 14.5% contained C. parvum oocysts and 1.8% had Cyclospora oocysts. Thus, market vegetables may provide a route by which Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora can be transmitted. Our study also suggests that washing vegetables does not completely remove Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora oocysts.