The functionality of female reciprocal calls in the Iberian midwife toad (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alytes cisternasii</Emphasis>): female-female acoustic competition?

Female midwife toads (genus Alytes) emit highly variable reciprocal calls of unclear function prior to and during courtship. In some species, female-female competition, expressed as physical fighting, has been reported. Males of Majorcan midwife toads (Alytes muletensis) show phonotactic response to female calls, and females of Iberian midwife toads (Alytes cisternasii) respond differently according to the male call characteristics. In this study, I test the hypothesis of female-female acoustic competition as an additional function of female reciprocal calls. Playback tests indicate that female calls are not clearly involved in female acoustic competition in the Iberian midwife toad, therefore female calls could be directed at males rather than towards competitive females.     

PBNA及其同分异构体PANA在小鼠ICR系中致癌性的比较研究

对幼ICR雄性小鼠多次皮下注射PANA或它的同分异构体PANA的二甲基亚砜溶液,总剂量432mg,实验周期在10个月左右时均能引起显著高于对照组动物的恶性肿瘤.PANA诱发小鼠肿瘤可能存在剂量——反应关系.PBNA和PANA诱发肿瘤率相似,均以肺癌为主,但明显有不同的亲器官性.实验结果提示二者的致癌机理可能不是由于形成相应的萘胺所致.PANA对动物有致癌性,在国内外尚未见有报道.     

Adult-onset GM2 gangliosidosis diagnosed in a fetus

Amniocentesis and subsequent tests are reported on a fetus conceived of a rare mating type: its mother has an intermediate level of β hexosaminidase A (HEX A), characteristic of carriers of Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), while the father suffers from an adult-onset GM₂ ganglio-sidosis (AOG) with severe HEX A deficiency. Activity of HEX A in the cultured fetal cells was very low when measured by the heat-inactivation method, thus showing the typical biochemical phenotype of TSD fetuses. However, upon separation of HEX isozymes by ion exchange chromatography, residual HEX A (17 per cent of total HEX) was demonstrated. Also in contrast to TSD fetuses, this fetus' fibroblasts were able to synthesize the precursor of a chains of HEX, and ultrastructural examination of its brain revealed few atypical lamellar bodies, unlike those found in TSD fetuses of the same gestational age. It is therefore concluded that the fetus was not affected with TSD, but rather with AOG.