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Notes: Summary Juvenile hormone esterase (JHE) activity from the hemolymph of larvalTrichoplusia ni was analyzed by two different isoelectric focusing (IEF) methodologies. Use of techniques capable of progressively higher resolution split ultimately what appeared at lower resolution to be a single peak into two discrete peaks of JHE activity (pI 5.5 and 5.3). Neither peak was a degradation artifact of the other caused by conditions of IEF.

Notes: Summary A series of experiments have been conducted to assess the specificity of recovery from motor asymmetries that is provided by dopamine-rich grafts in the neostriatum of rats with unilateral dopamine-depleting lesions produced by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the ascending nigrostriatal pathway. Grafts of embryonic tissue taken from the substantia nigra (rich in dopamine neurons) could provide a complete recovery of methamphetamine-induced rotation and a partial recovery of apomorphine-induced rotation, whereas no recovery was seen in rats with grafts of tissue rich in another monoamine (serotonin, dissected from the mesencephalic raphe) or of tissue appropriate to the target (dissected from the striatal eminence). 6-Hydroxydopamine lesions of dopamine cells in the grafts of recovered animals reinstated the initial lesion-induced asymmetry. Dopamine-rich grafts implanted into the intact neostriatum did not induce any “supernormal” asymmetry in the rats, but did provide a “prophylactic” protection against subsequent lesions of the intrinsic ipsilateral dopamine nigrostriatal system. Post-mortem biochemical assays indicated that the extent of dopamine depletion in the neostriatum of lesioned rats correlated highly with both methamphetamine and apomorphine turning rates. Similarly, both drug rotation tests correlated significantly with the extent of dopamine restoration in the dorsal striatum of rats with dopamine-rich grafts, the correlation being significantly higher for the methamphetamine than for the apomorphine test.

Notes: Summary 1) This study investigates the early development of adaptive changes in oculomotor function associated with coordinated eye-head tracking of the optically reversed image of an earth-fixed target seen through horizontally reversing dove prism goggles attached to the skull. 2) Two tasks comprised a) fixation of a single target during head rotation which causes the seen target's image to move in the direction of head motion by an amount exactly equal to the head movement itself (the 1-Target task), and b) change of gaze onto a displaced target with head free to move (2-Target task). 3) The 1-Target task requires the eyes to move in a direction opposite to that of the normal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The 2-Target task is identical, except that reorientation onto the new target calls for an initial saccadic eye movement in a direction opposite to that of the ensuing head movement, which is contrary to the normal pattern of eye-head coordination during gaze shifts. 4) Eye (EOG) and head (potentiometer) movements were continuously recorded (0–250 Hz) in an apparatus which permitted sudden, unexpected, electromagnetic braking of the head movement, either just before or during the intended manœuvre. 5) Early adaptive strategies employed reduction of VOR gain, rearrangement of timing, amplitude and shape of “catch-up” saccades and the introduction of centrally programmed eye movements uncovered by the braking manœuvres. 6) All of these phenomena were detectable in an initial series of 60 trials, in which the total exposure to visual-vestibular conflict was less than 30 s. They became more systematized and more marked after 6 h of active reversed vision experience. 7) Specifically, mean VOR gain, measured within the first 80 ms of head movement (deemed free of visuomotor influence), became markedly attenuated (25% in the first test series; 66% after 6 h of active visionreversed exercise). In addition (not included in the above percentages) there were numerous occasions of complete absence of measurable VOR during head rotation, in both the first and final test series. 8) In the 1-Target task, the latency of the first “catch-up” saccade (re onset of head movement) tended to offset residual VOR by becoming shortened to the point of synchrony with head movement onset. This saccade (not present in control tests) continued to occur on those occasions when the head was unpredictably prevented from moving, and when head movements were made in the dark. 9) Sometimes these initial “saccades” began normally, but “glissaded” in a graded manner into a “smooth pursuit”like trajectory, resembling the classical glissade associated with pulse-step mismatch in the saccade generating system. 10) All these events represent embryo facsimilies of more advanced adaptive manœuvres seen in an earlier study extending over 19 days of reversed vision experience. 11) It is concluded that the adaptive process is a multifactorial one, exhibiting idiosyncracy in individuals and from time to time. Some phenomena appear in embryo form within seconds of exposure to the new condition. Others, such as progressive VOR gain attenuation, introduction of central programming and advanced strategies of the “glissade” type, developed more slowly over the 6 h period of these experiments.

Notes: Diffusion of gases through legume nodules is important for nitrogen fixation. A mathematical model is presented for diffusion and enzymatic reaction for legume nodules with a reactive core and an inert shell. The transient model is solved numerically for spherical geometry for acetylene reduction by nitrogenase enzyme. The results are used to estimate the diffusivities of acetylene and ethylene in the nodules by comparing predicted and experimental lag times. The experimental results are also analyzed using an effectiveness factor plot for spherical nodules with inert shells and reactive cores. The results show that the diffusivities are slightly higher than those for acetylene and ethylene in water because of some contribution of gas phase diffusion. Applications to oxygen diffusion through nodule tissue are suggested.

Notes: The metabolism of dihydrotachysterol3 (DHT3), a vitamin D analogue, has been investigated in vivo in the rat after intraperitoneal injection, and the metabolism of the 25-hydroxylated metabolite of DHT3 was studied in vitro in the isolated perfused rat kidney. A large number of metabolites have been obtained and some have been identified. The rat plasma or kidney perfusate were extracted and the metabolites separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in straight- and reverse-phase systems and using cyano columns. Metabolites were identified, using a photodiode array assembly which monitored the HPLC eluate, by the characteristic ultraviolet spectrum of DHT compounds. Tentative structures were assigned to some of the metabolites obtained on the basis of their mobility in the various HPLC systems used in comparison to that of known metabolites of vitamin D. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and direct probe mass spectrometry have been used to confirm the identity of seven metabolites formed in vitro, of which only two have been definitely shown also to be formed in vivo. GC/MS was carried out after derivatization forming trimethylsilyl ethers, n-butyl boronate cyclic esters, and N-O-methyl oximes before and after oxidation with sodium periodate and/or reduction with sodium borohydride. Molecular ions of these compounds are usually of low abundance and characteristic mass fragments at m/z 273, 255 and 121 are always seen with metabolites of DHT.