Bundles Of Needles Research Articles

The ultrastructure of the skeleton and skeletogenic tissues of the temperate coral Caryophyllia smithii

The skeleton and calicoblastic ectoderm of the scleractinian non-zooxanthellate coral Caryophyllia smithii were investigated by light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Except for some costal spines, the skeleton was fasciculate. Fasciculi were made up of bundles of crystalline needles, each crystalline needle consisting of a number of linear series of small (<1 μm) rounded crystals. Fractured skeletons showed the fasciculi to be arranged into layers and that within some septa, theca and costal spines there were spaces that contained neither mineral nor organic matter. These spaces could also be found at the growing edges of septa and theca. Demineralization of the skeleton revealed an organic matrix whose configuration mirrored the architecture of the skeleton. In areas of the skeleton where deposition was occurring the overlying calicoblastic ectoderm was relatively thin with prominent intercellular spaces and secretory vesicles. In contrast, over non-depositing areas the calicoblastic ectoderm was thick and contained residual bodies, nematocysts and membrane-bound granules. The results are compared and contrasted with those from scleractinian corals that have endosymbiotic zooxanthellae.

Structural changes in spruce and fir needles

Needles from spruce and fir trees were analyzed for histological changes induced by long-term exposure in open-top chambers to SO 2 and/or O 3 combined with acid rain. Light and electron microscopical evaluation revealed initial structural changes in the vascular bundle of fir needles, with an increased number of crushed sieve cells in the phloem. In addition the walls of young, adaxial sieve cells lacked the typical thickening usually observed in naturally aged needles. These findings may indicate restricted assimilate translocation. The presence of SO 2 in any treatment led to thylakoidal swellings and membrane reductions in the chloroplasts of mesophyll cells near the vascular bundle. This damage pattern resembled alterations caused by nutrient deficiency rather than by the direct action of gaseous pollutants. In general, fir appears to be more sensitive to environmental stress than spruce; this substantiates the findings of previous studies.

Formation of colloidal dispersions from supersaturated iron(III) nitrate solutions. III. Development of goethite at room temperature

The development of colloidal goethite from partially neutralized iron(III) nitrate solutions has been investigated by high resolution electronmicroscopy and ultracentrifuge analysis. Monocrystalline rod-like particles characterized by (001) faces and very flat (010) and (120) faces are observed to form. Within these crystals, a substructure of oriented bundles of needles packed in the [001] direction are also identified. The needles have a typical diameter of 3 nm similar to that of the aged amorphous particle which first forms from the supersaturated solution. It's shown that the needles can form both by oriented coagulation followed by recrystallization and by growth of an amorphous particle in the [001] direction through uptake of low molecular species from the solution. The mechanism by which the rod-like particles form from the needles is not clear, but probably does not involve oriented coagulation of the acicular cyrstals. The final size of the goethite particles is determined by the initial supersaturation of the solution with respect to the amorphous phase. Ionic strength has a large influence on the sol stability.

Effects of Deicing Salt on Eastern White Pine: Foliar Injury, Growth Suppression and Seasonal Changes in Foliar Concentrations of Sodium and Chloride

Effects of deicing salt on eastern white pine (Pinusstrobus L.) were studied in the field and in the laboratory. Studies in controlled temperature chambers showed that solutions of deicing salt sprayed onto 4-year-old trees induced symptoms of foliar browning similar to those observed on trees growing near highways. Symptoms developed at 15 °C but not at 1.5 °C. The amount of injury that developed after 3 weeks at 15 °C appeared to be directly related to the concentration of sodium and chloride in the leaf tissue. Repeated sampling of foliage from trees adjacent to highway 401 between May 1970 and May 1971 revealed that foliar concentrations of sodium and chloride declined from abnormally high values (up to 1%) in May to 'normal' levels (0.02–0.1%) by August. The rate of loss was proportional to the foliar concentration of these ions. Growth of these trees, measured as bud weight, needle length, needle dry weight, needle bundles per leader, and leaf length, was suppressed on the side of trees exposed to the highway, but this suppression diminished as distance from the highway increased. Annual radial increments to the trunk were appreciably smaller in trees close to the highway than in trees further away. These results support the concept that deicing salt spray injures leaves and reduces growth of eastern white pine growing adjacent to highways that receive deicing salt in the winter.

Inclusion bodies in plants infected with sharka (plum pox) virus

Sharka virus was found to give rise to the formation of inclusion bodies in nucleus and cytoplasm of host cells, as is known for several other viruses of the potato virus Y group. In inoculatedNicotiana clevelandii needle-shaped inclusion bodies were found loosely distributed in the nucleus 10 days after the first external symptoms appeared. In the cytoplasm, bundles of needles and granular inclusions arose 14 and 18 days, respectively, after external symptoms became visible. The intranuclear needles disappeared shortly before or after the first appearance of granular cytoplasmic inclusions.

Effects of Cronartium ribicola infection on rooting potential of detached Pinus monticola needle bundles

Infection of needles by Cronartium ribicola J. C. Fisch. ex Rabenh. depressed the level of root initiation by needle bundles obtained from Pinus monticola Dougl. seedlings. The depression was influenced by genetic background of the seedlings, an indication that resistance to the pathogen and rooting ability were not independent traits in certain half-sib families.

Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase from Human Erythrocytes: IV. CRYSTALLIZATION AND SOME PROPERTIES

Abstract Purine nucleoside phosphorylase has been purified about 7,300-fold and crystallized from human erythrocytes (mol wt 81,000). The recrystallized enzyme exists in the form of needles and sometimes bundles of needles and has a specific activity of 96 µm units per mg of protein. A number of phenomena reported earlier for a less pure preparation of this enzyme are still seen with the crystalline enzyme. These include (a) substrate activation by inosine and (b) a constant ratio of reactivity with inosine and deoxyinosine. However, the ribosyl transfer reaction seems markedly decreased with the crystalline preparation. The effect of pH on maximal velocity suggests the occurrence of essential imidazole and sulfhydryl groups, whereas the effect of pH on the Michaelis constant suggests the existence of an essential ionizing group at about pH 7.2 in the free enzyme. Binding studies with hypoxanthine-8-14C indicate that there are at least three binding sites per molecule of enzyme. When the commercially available bovine spleen purine nucleoside phosphorylase was compared with human erythrocytic enzyme, the two enzymes were found to be similar in molecular weight. However, they have different crystal structures and different specific activities, and in contrast to the behavior of the human enzyme, the spleen enzyme did not display the phenomena of substrate activation at high concentrations of inosine.

Electrical Properties of the Hot-pressed SbSI Polycrystals

SbSI is a ferroelectric material with the c-axis as ferroelectric axis and the most strongly piezoelectric material known. The permittivity of SbSI single crystal of the c-direction is about 25000 whereas that of the a-direction is 25. Till now, due to the difficulties in obtaining large crystal, it is very hard to use this material for practical applications. Specimens used in piezoelectric measurement reported by RCA group consisted of thin discs cut from bundles of SbSI needles embedded in Araldite.SbSI single crystal tends to grow in form of thin needles along the c-axis. In this report, the hot-pressing technique was applied to the powder of SbSI crystals in order to obtain the hard polycrystalline ingot having the oriented c-axis and systematic experiments were carried out on the effects of the hot-pressing temperature (Tm), the pressure (Ph) and the time (tp) influencing upon the orientation of the c-axis in the hot-pressed specimens.The results obtained are summarized as follows.(1) When Ph was applied to the z-direction of the press mould, the c-axis of SbSI microcrystals were oriented in the x-y plane of the press mould. In this case, the permittivity of the x-direction (ex) is 1400 at the Curie point whereas that of the z-direction (ez) is 160.(2) When the pre-forming pressure to the y-direction and the hot-pressing pressure to the z-direction were applied, the c-axis were oriented to the x-direction of the pressed specimens. In this case, the permittivity of x, y, and z-directions at the Curie point are 3000, 1000, and 240 respectively.(3) The orientation of the c-axis in the hot-pressed specimens was also ascertained by the observation of the etched surface by mean of a microscope.(4) The piezoelectric constants such as k33, s33E, s33D, d33, fR⋅t were measured for the hot-pressed specimens prepared under a condition of Tm=370°C, Ph=250kg/cm2, and tp=1hr. This specimens showed an electromechanical coupling coefficient k33 of 35%.(5) The Curie temperature of the hot-pressed SbSI of 30°C is higher by 10°C than that of the SbSI single crystal If the phase transition of SbSI is order-disorder type, it may be considered that the rise of the Curie point by the hot-pressing is the effect of the residual strain generated while hot-pressing.

The Ponderosa Pine Tip Moth, Rhyacionia zozana, in California (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae)1

The ponderosa pine tip moth occurs in California, Oregon, and Washington. In California it is commonly found along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada up to around 4500 ft elevation. Its preferred hosts are ponderosa pines under 4 ft tall, but it also attacks other pines growing within its range. The species has a 1-year life cycle, overwintering as pupae in cocoons that are most commonly clustered together on the bark at the ground line. It lays eggs mostly on the new shoots in early spring. Larvae are found from April through July. They feed on the elongating shoots, destroying the affected portions. Depending on the amount of feeding damage, lateral shoots assume dominance or new shoots develop from latent buds within needle bundles. The tip moth is a host to at least 1 species of egg parasite and to several other parasites that kill the larvae and pupae.

Calcium deposits and new bone formation in muscle in rabbits

<h2>Summary</h2> <ul><li>1.A total of 365 muscles in rabbits were injected with solutions of various volumes and concentrations of inorganic and organic chemical substances. Extracts of skeletal and various non-skeletal tissues made with the same solutions were similarly injected in 106 muscles. Contrary to expectation, nonspecific injury and inflammation did not produce ectopic bone formation.</li><li>2.Alcohol produced a homogeneous spherical area of destruction in the center of the belly while calcium chloride produced patches and streaks of hemorrhagic tissue throughout the entire length of the muscle.</li><li>3.Between 4 and 12 weeks after the injection, 40 per cent alcohol and acid-alcohol produced cartilage or bone in 9 and 31 per cent respectively; however, in all except one instance the new bone was found in the walls of calcified blood vessels on the periphery of the area of damaged muscle. Cartilage without bone was found in small masses between the muscle fibers. Only one muscle showed a discrete ossicle produced by endochondral new bone formation. More commonly, there were scattered deposits of calcium salt in the cytoplasm of hyalinized muscle cells and necrotic debris.</li><li>4.Injections of calcium chloride characteristically produced calcified plaques of amorphous material in: (a) elastic fibers in the walls of small arteries and veins; (b) an organic coagulum, possibly mucoprotein, between atrophied muscle cells; and (c) bundles of calcified collagen fibers or needles of hyalinized connective tissue. There was no new bone or cartilage.</li><li>5.Although areas of osteogenesis were frequently seen in close relationship to areas of pathologic calcification, the two were also found to develop independent of each other.</li><li>6.Intramuscular injections of various extracts of cartilage and bone were less effective than the extracting solution alone for induction of ectopic osteogenesis.</li><li>7.Factors other than mechanical injury and necrosis of tissue are required to produce an induction system for new bone formation in muscle. Although the nature of the inductor is unknown, the experimental evidence is against the idea that it is a diffusible substance and in favor of the view that it may be transmissible and related to the interaction of dividing young connective tissue cells and surfaces of various calcified and noncalcified living, degenerating or dead tissues.</li></ul>

Marking Fish with the Electric Tattooing Needle

Most fishery biologists have heard from time to time of experiments on marking fish by tattooing identification marks on them. The present usual methods of marking fish by attaching marks externally to the gill-cover, caudal peduncle, or other part of the body, have the disadvantage that a certain number of the marks are lost, and this uncertainty bedevils all those marking experiments designed to show rates of mortality or rates of capture.Yet the only reference in the literature known to me is a very short paper by Gandolfi-Hornyold (1929). His most successful experiment consisted in marking six silver eels on the light ventral side withIndian ink (encre de Chine) introduced in the oriental fashion by a bundle of needles. Five of the six fish were alive some 6 weeks later with the marks as clearly legible as when first made. But I know of no further developments of this techniqueIn August 1939, I made some experiments at the Plymouth Laboratory, by the courtesy of the late Director, Dr Kemp, F.R.S., and with the help of the staff, to all of whom I would express my thanks. Some thirty-two plaice, two soles, and twenty-five rays were placed in one of the big outdoor tanks for the experiments, and were all in good condition, though they had not been fed and were certainly overcrowdedThe electric tattooing needle used was bought from a professional tattooist, who also gave me a brief lesson on his art. In principle the needle is a small vibrator run from an ordinary torch battery.

Societies and Academies

LONDON Mineralogical Society, June 7.—C. PALACHE: The form relations of the lead oxychlorides, laurionite, paralaurionite, and fiedlerite. The separate identity of each of the first two minerals is confirmed and their homoeomorphism is exhibited by a re-orientation of laurionite. The form series of fiedlerite has been simplified by the choice of a new unit form. New forms are described on paralaurionite and fiedlerite. The crystallography of all three species is summarised in new angle-tables, and their habits are illustrated by a series of drawings. F. A. BANNISTER: The crystal structure and optical properties of matlockite (PbFCl): W. Nieuwenkamp's recent work proving the identity of matlockite with artificial lead fluochloride, PbFCl, has been confirmed. New chemical analyses, X-ray work and optical measurements have been carried out on single crystals of matlockite from Cromford, Derbyshire. Single crystal photographs of the mineral have also confirmed the crystal structure proposed for artificial PbFCl. Artificial BiOCl, BiOBr and BiOI have crystal structures of the same type, and the relationship between matlockite and these and other compounds is discussed: Artificial Pb2OCl2 has a crystal structure quite different from that of matlockite. Mendipite, Pb3O2C12, contains no fluorine, and it is improbable that fluorine has been overlooked in the oxychloride minerals from Laurium, Greece. V. ZSIVNY and L. ZOMBORY: Berthierite from Kisbanya, Carpathians. This rare mineral, previously known from two localities in old Hungary, is now described from a third, namely Kisbanya in comitat Szatmar (now Chiuzbaia in Satu Mare, Roumania) where it occurs as bundles of needles with stibnite and rhombohedral carbonates. Analysis agrees closely with the formula FeS.Sb2S8, but the specific gravity 4-65 is much higher than values previously recorded. L. J. SPENCER: Beryllium minerals (euclase and phenakite) from Africa. Apart from beryl, there are very few recorded occurrences of beryllium minerals in the whole of Africa. Euclase is described from pegmatite on the Lukangasi mica claim, Morogoro district, Tanganyika Territory. The main crystal on the single specimen collected measures 7-2 cm. by 3-5 cm., being much larger than any euclase crystal hitherto known. Seventeen crystal forms were determined. Small crystals of phenakite from pegmatite at the Klein Spitzkopje, Soutfr-West Africa, are of two distinct habits, prismatic and lenticular. A. C. SKERL and F. A. BANNISTER: Lusakite, a cobalt-bearing silicate from Northern Rhodesia. The mineral occurs embedded in quartz-magnetite-kyanite-rock of gneissoid appearance from 80 miles east of Lusaka. Crystals, generally tabular to (010) varying up to 5 mm. in length, are black in hand-specimens, but show a deep cobalt-blue colour, and strong pleochroism in thin section. The mean refractive index is approximately 1-74 and 2V is near 90°. Oscillation, Laue, and rotation photographs show that lusakite has an orthorhombic unit cell with edges a 7-86, b 16-62, c 5-63 A., and space-group F 17. The unit cell contains 8 [RO.Al2SiO5] where R represents Fe, Co, Ni, Mg, Al, and H. The cobalt content is unique for a silicate and reaches 8£ per cent CoO, or nearly two atoms of cobalt per unit cell. It is almost identical in physical properties with staurolite, and X-ray photographs show that it possesses the same type of crystal structure. A. W. GROVES: The determination of small amounts of copper in rocks. The paper describes the application to silicate analysis of the sodium diethyl-dithio-carbamate colorimetric method for copper. Data on the retention of copper by the ammonia precipitate are given. The method has a range of 0-001-0-25 per cent CuO when a sample of 2 grams is used. L. J. SPENCEB: Thirteenth list of new mineral names. A dictionary list of 112 names collected from the literature of the past three years. Since the first list in 1897, a total of 1,918 names has been collected. L. J. SPENCEB: A new meteoric stone from Silverton, New South Wales. A beautifully oriented stone weighing 351 grams was found by Mr. R. Bedford amongst debris in the old museum at Port Adelaide, which has recently been reorganised as a Nautical Museum. It probably dates from the time (1883) of the discovery of the rich mineral deposits at Broken Hill in the Silverton district. The stone is a white hypersthene-olivine-chondrite of the Baroti type with only little nickel-iron. M. H. HEY: Studies on the zeolites (8). A theory of the vapour-pressure of zeolites. An equation for the water vapour pressure of a zeolite (or other compound showing similar dissociation phenomena) is derived on simple kinetic grounds, and is shown to agree reasonably well with the available experimental data. The equation, which can only be a first approximation to the truth, is compared with other equations previously proposed. Kinetic treatment also leads to a reasonable equation for the rate of diffusion of water within a zeolite crystal. The condition of the water in the zeolites is discussed.