Showing papers by "La Trobe University published in 1990"

Introduction to lattices and order

Abstract: 1. Ordered sets 2. Special types of ordered set 3. Lattices as algebraic structures 4. Boolean algebras 5. The structure of finite distributive lattices and finite Boolean algebras 6. Ideals, filters, and congruences 7. The Stone Representation Theorem for Boolean algebras 8. Lattices in algebra Appendix: outline of relevant basic topology.

A gene from the human sex-determining region encodes a protein with homology to a conserved DNA-binding motif

Abstract: A search of a 35-kilobase region of the human Y chromosome necessary for male sex determination has resulted in the identification of a new gene. This gene is conserved and Y-specific among a wide range of mammals, and encodes a testis-specific transcript. It shares homology with the mating-type protein, Mc, from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and a conserved DNA-binding motif present in the nuclear high-mobility-group proteins HMG1 and HMG2. This gene has been termed SRY (for sex-determining region Y) and proposed to be a candidate for the elusive testis-determining gene, TDF.

Factors affecting the distribution of cytoplasmic incompatibility in Drosophila simulans.

Abstract: In Drosophila simulans a Wolbachia-like microorganism is responsible for reduced egg-hatch when infected males mate with uninfected females. Both incompatibility types have previously been found in North America, Europe and Africa. Some California populations have remained polymorphic for over two years, and the infection is apparently spreading in central California. Egg hatch proportions for wild-caught females from polymorphic populations show that the incompatibility system acts in nature, but egg mortality rates are apparently lower than observed in laboratory populations. Although infected females maintained under various laboratory conditions never produce uninfected offspring, some wild-caught infected females produce both infected and uninfected progeny. This helps explain the persistence of a low frequency of uninfected flies in predominantly infected populations and may also explain the other polymorphisms observed. Fitness comparisons of infected and uninfected stocks, including both larval and adult fitness components, indicate that fecundity may be the component most affected. Infected females suffer a fecundity reduction of 10-20% in the laboratory, but the reduction seems to be smaller in nature. A theoretical analysis provides some insight into the population biology of the infection.

Limited heterogeneity of rearranged T-cell receptor Vα transcripts in brains of multiple sclerosis patients

Abstract: The identification of activated T cells in the brain of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) indicates that these cells are critical in the pathogenesis of this disease. In an attempt to elucidate the nature of the lymphocytic infiltration, we used the polymerase chain reaction to amplify T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) V alpha sequences from transcripts derived from MS brain lesions. In each of three MS brains, only two to four rearranged TCR V alpha transcripts were detected. No V alpha transcripts could be found in control brains. Sequence analysis of transcripts encoded by the V alpha 12.1 region showed rearrangements to a limited number of J alpha region segments. These results imply that TCR V alpha gene expression in MS brain lesions is restricted.

The Role of Conditioning and Verbal Expectancy in the Placebo Response

Abstract: Both conditioning and expectancy models have been offered in recent years as explanations for the placebo response. Following our earlier work on conditioning placebo responses in human subjects the current study examined the relative contribution made by conditioning and verbal expectancy. Group 1 received a Combined Expectancy and Conditioning Manipulation; group 2 received Expectancy Alone; group 3, Conditioning Alone; and group 4 was the control group. Subjects' responses were compared with and without a placebo cream, using iontophoretic pain stimulation. The results suggest that conditioning was more powerful than verbal expectancy in creating a placebo response.

Extra-pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism in wild zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, revealed by DNA fingerprinting

Abstract: The frequency of extra-pair parentage in a wild population of zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata was examined by DNA fingerprinting. A total of 25 families, comprising 16 pairs of parents and 92 offspring (in broods of 1 to 6) were examined. Ten cases of extra-pair parentage, presumed to constitute intraspecific brood parasitism, were detected (10.9% of offspring or 36% of broods), including one possible instance of ‘quasi-parasitism’ (parasitism by a female fertilized by the male nest owner). The average number of parasitic eggs per clutch detected by fingerprinting was 1.10±0.32 SD, very similar to the one egg difference in average clutch size between parasitised (6.0±0.82) and unparasitised nests (5.0±0.95). Two cases of extra-pair paternity (EPP) were detected among 82 offspring whose maternity was confirmed: 2.4% of offspring, or 8% of broods. In both cases EPP accounted for only a single offspring within a brood. Behavioural observations show that EPP occurs through extra-pair copulation rather than rapid mate switching. The results are discussed in the light of what is known about the fertile period and sperm precedence patterns in this species.

Autistic Children's Knowledge of Thinking and Feeling States in Other People

Abstract: Autistic children, pair matched on chronological and verbal mental age with control children, were given Hobson's task of recognition of emotions and Baron-Cohen's False Belief tasks to assess the replicability of their findings of deficits in understanding of feeling and mental states in autism. There were no group differences on the emotion tasks and performance was related to chronological and verbal mental age. An autism specific deficit was shown in only one of the false belief conditions and again performance was related to verbal comprehension ability. There was some consistency within the group in responses across the two kinds of tasks. Parent reported social behaviour and experience in the autistic children was only weakly related to the ability to pass the tasks. It is argued that the results reflect developmental factors and that claims for an autism specific problem in these kinds of social/cognitive processing may need further exploration.

Effects of auxin and abscisic acid on cytosolic calcium and pH in plant cells.

Abstract: Dark-grown corn coleoptiles and parsley hypocotyls and their roots were loaded with acetoxymethyl esterified forms of the Ca2+ indicator fluo-3, and the pH indicator 2',7'-bis (2-carboxyethyl)-5(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein. These tissues were treated with the plant growth regulator 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), an auxin analogue, or abscisic acid (ABA), and the cytosolic pH (pHcyt) and cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]cyt) changes were monitored by confocal scanning optical microscopy. Over a period of 4 min pHcyt decreased 0.1-0.2 pH unit and [Ca2+]cyt increased from 280 to 380 nM in response to 2,4-D. ABS, on the other hand, induced cytosolic alkalinization of 0.05-0.1 pH unit with a concomitant increase in [Ca2+]cyt from 240 to 320 nM over a 4-min period. Responses similar to these were observed in all the tissues tested. We suggest that pHcyt profoundly influences signaling by[Ca2+]cyt, possibly by regulating Ca2+-protein binding, and that the divergent effects of auxin and ABA on pHcyt underlie their mutual antagonism.

Visual analysis of single-case time series: Effects of variability, serial dependence, and magnitude of intervention effects.

Abstract: Visual analysis is the dominant method of analysis for single-case time series. The literature assumes that visual analysts will be conservative judges. We show that previous research into visual analysis has not adequately examined false alarm and miss rates or the effect of serial dependence. In order to measure false alarm and miss rates while varying serial dependence, amount of random variability, and effect size, 37 students undertaking a postgraduate course in single-case design and analysis were required to assess the presence of an intervention effect in each of 27 AB charts constructed using a first-order autoregressive model. Three levels of effect size and three levels of variability, representative of values found in published charts, were combined with autocorrelation coefficients of 0, 0.3 and 0.6 in a factorial design. False alarm rates were surprisingly high (16% to 84%). Positive autocorrelation and increased random variation both significantly increased the false alarm rates and interacted in a nonlinear fashion. Miss rates were relatively low (0% to 22%) and were not significantly affected by the design parameters. Thus, visual analysts were not conservative, and serial dependence did influence judgment.

Phototropism and geotropism in maize coleoptiles are spatially correlated with increases in cytosolic free calcium.

Abstract: Phototropism and gravitropism in the shoots and roots of higher plants are the result of asymmetric growth. This is explained by the redistribution of growth regulators following exposure to gravity or unilateral light (the Cholodny-Went hypothesis). The positive phototropism and the negative geotropism of grass seedling coleoptiles are believed to result from lateral movement of auxin from the irradiated to the shaded side and from the upper to the lower side, respectively. Many physiological processes in plants, including auxin-induced cell elongation, are reported to be under the control of calcium. Added auxin triggers oscillations in cytosolic free calcium ([Ca2+]cyt) and cytosolic pH (pHcyt) in epidermal cells of maize coleoptiles. Until recently, it has not been possible to visualize these changes spatially with the commonly used fluorescent cation indicators. Using a scanning laser confocal microscope, a new visible wavelength Ca2+ probe fluo-3 and the fluorescent pH indicator BCECF, we have recorded rapid light-induced increases in [Ca2+]cyt and a lowering of pHcyt of cells on the shaded side of maize coleoptiles. In horizontally orientated coleoptiles, [Ca2+]cyt increases and pHcyt decreases in the more rapidly elongating cells on the lower side. For the first time, rapid changes in [Ca2+]cyt and pHcyt are correlated directly with increases in cell elongation stimulated by light and gravity.

Calcium release in skinned muscle fibres of the toad by transverse tubule depolarization or by direct stimulation.

Abstract: 1. Skeletal muscle fibres from the toad were mechanically skinned under paraffin oil and then bathed in a potassium HDTA solution (HDTA: hexamethylenediamine-tetraacetate) which mimicked the ionic composition of the myoplasm. 2. Rapid transient contractions could be triggered by substitution of K+ with Na+ (with no change of anion), which should have virtually no direct effect on the electrical polarization of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membrane. Up to thirty or more contractions could be evoked by repeated substitutions if there was sufficient 'repriming' time (about 30 s) between them; these rapid contractions were analagous to potassium contractures in intact fibres. 3. When the SR was not heavily loaded, substitution of potassium HDTA with choline chloride also produced a rapid, brief contraction. 4. All treatments designed to 'inactivate' the voltage sensor in the T-system invariably abolished the rapid contractions. Thus, rapid contractions were absent if (i) the T-system was permanently depolarized by pre-soaking the muscle in a high potassium solution with ouabain before skinning, (ii) a fibre was split rather than skinned, (iii) the T-system was temporarily depolarized by Na+ substitution immediately before choline chloride substitution, or vice versa, (iv) a skinned fibre was briefly exposed to saponin (50 micrograms/ml) to selectively disrupt the T-system membrane or (v) the muscle was pre-soaked in a solution with 1 mM-EGTA and no Ca2+ or Mg2+ before skinning. In contrast to (v), if 10 mM-Mg2+ was present in the EGTA solution before skinning, rapid contractions could be elicited, presumably because the presence of Mg2+ prevented the inactivation of the T-system voltage sensor in low [Ca2+]. 5. These results unequivocally demonstrate that (a) the T-system reseals and repolarizes after mechanical skinning under oil and (b) the fast contractions are produced by activation of the voltage sensor in the T-system. 6. When the SR had been heavily loaded, choline chloride substitution (but not Na+ substitution) could also induce an unphysiological, slow contraction ('second component'). In total contrast to the fast contraction, this slow component was unaffected by any of the treatments (i-v) above, indicating that it did not depend on activation of the voltage sensor in the T-system but resulted from a direct action of choline chloride on the SR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Dioxomolybdenum(VI) complexes of the hydrotris(3,5-dimethyl-1-pyrazolyl)borate ligand. Synthesis and oxygen atom transfer reactions

Abstract: The complexes {HB(Me 2 pz) 3 }MoO 2 X (HB(Me 2 pz) 3 − =hydrotris (3,5-dimethyl-1-pyrazolyl) borate; X=F − , Cl − , Br − , NCS − , OPh − , OMe − , SPh − ) have been prepared and characterized, and the crystal structure of the X=NCS − complex has been determined. {HB(Me 2 pz) 3 } MoO 2 (NCS) crystallizes in the space group P1

Accelerator radiocarbon dating of human blood proteins in pigments from Late Pleistocene art sites in Australia

Abstract: Absolute dating of rock paintings has always used an indirect means, generally by dating material in strata sealing or overlying the pictures. AMS dating of very small carbon samples now allows direct determination of the age of an organic portion in the matter of the picture itself.

Lignin in wheat internodes. Part 1: The reactivities of lignin units during alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation

Abstract: The alkaline nitrobenzene procedure for determining lignin building units has been applied to wheat internodes. The effect of reaction time and temperature on the rate of reaction has been measured and the nature of the aldehyde and acid products determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Survival factors for individual phenolic compounds were determined and found to be in the range 0.85–4.99, and were constant for each compound under the reaction conditions (c 6 % nitrobenzene in 2 M NaOH, 170°C, 2 h in a stainless steel pressure vessel), optimised for maximum recovery of products using wood and wheat internode meals. The reaction products fiom 24 monomeric and dimeric lignin model compounds were quantitativety determined to provide information on the susceptibility of various lignin structures to alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation. The results of these and earlier studies by other authors suggest that at the higher temperature a heterolytic reaction mechanism is operating on nitrobenzene oxidation conditions. On nitrobenzene oxidation, ferulic and p-coumaric acids survived in amounts which allowed the procedure to be used, with appropriate correction factors, to determine the nature and amount of these cinnamic acids associated with walls of grasses.

Ways to the sacred: Reconstructing “religion” in sixteenth century Mexico

Abstract: (1990). Ways to the sacred: Reconstructing “religion” in sixteenth century Mexico. History and Anthropology: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 105-141.

Temperament, Stress and Family Factors in Behavioural Adjustment of 3-5-Year-Old Children

Abstract: In a longitudinal study, various aspects of the pre-schooler and his/her environment were assessed to delineate those factors most predictive of behavioural adjustment at 3-4 years of age, and again 12 months later. Factor analysis and a series of backwards stepwise multiple regression analyses facilitated the selection of variables to be included in a causal model that assessed predictors of behavioural adjustment in 3-4 and 4-5-year olds. A "stress resilience" model of temperamental influence on behavioural functioning was used in the construction of the causal model. Path analysis suggested that temperamental characteristics were most strongly causally related to children's overall behavioural adjustment, and could protect children from the effects of maladjustment in the parental subsystem. According to the path model, the direct effect of parental maladjustment on pre-schoolers' behavioural adjustment was outweighed by its indirect effects, particularly at follow-up. The potential contaminating influ...

Female desires: The meaning of World War II

Abstract: (1990) Female desires: The meaning of World War II Australian Historical Studies: Vol 24, No 95, pp 267-284

Physiological properties of skinned fibres from normal and dystrophic (Duchenne) human muscle activated by Ca2+ and Sr2+.

Abstract: 1 Contractile activation properties of various types of normal and dystrophic (Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD) human muscle fibres were investigated using mechanically skinned fibres activated in Ca2(+)- and Sr2(+)-buffered solutions at room temperature (21-25 degrees C) 2 The majority of the normal human muscle fibres (18/22; 82%) could be classified according to the Ca2(+)- and Sr2(+)-activation characteristics in the same three major groups as other mammalian skeletal muscle fibres studied previously: slow-twitch (8/22; 36%), fast-twitch (3/22; 14%) and fast-twitch intermediate (7/22; 32%), which correspond to the three major histological fibre types I, II B and IIA respectively 3 Of these three major groups only the slow-twitch (type I; 14/24; 58%) and the fast-twitch intermediate (type IIA; 3/24; 13%) fibres were found in the DMD muscle, indicating that fast-twitch fibres of type IIB were in very low proportion in DMD muscle 4 The DMD muscle contained a new group of fibres (4/24; 17%) with different Ca2(+)- and Sr2(+)-activation characteristics from the three major histological types This group of fibres is likely to be of embryonic type 5 The maximum tension development ability of DMD fibres was less than 20% of that in normal fibres with the exception of some slow-twitch fibres which could produce near normal tension 6 A significant proportion of normal (4/22; 18%) and DMD (3/24; 13%) fibres were found to have a mixture of Ca2(+)- and Sr2(+)-activation characteristics This can be explained by co-existence of various myofibrillar protein isoforms in different proportions with regulatory functions in the same individual fibre 7 The results demonstrate that DMD leads to marked diminution in the ability of most individual skeletal muscle fibres to develop tension, and causes changes in the overall fibre-type distribution in afflicted muscles

A discussion of the methods for comparing the relative effectiveness of phosphate fertilizers varying in solubility.

Abstract: Because various phosphate (P) fertilizers differ widely in their solubility, it is commonly observed that crop response to P fertilizers varies under the same soil and crop conditions. Furthermore, a major problem encountered in the methods for determining the relative effectiveness (RE) of water-insoluble P fertilizer (e.g., phosphate rock) with respect to water-soluble P fertilizers, e.g., single superphosphate (SSP) and triple superphosphate (TSP), is that their growth response curves are usually nonlinear and often do not share a common maximum yield. In this paper, we review and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the three most commonly used methods for calculating the RE of phosphate rock with respect to TSP (or SSP). The three methods are vertical comparison, horizontal (substitution rate) comparison, and linear-response comparison.

Induction of stable transcriptional blockage sites by adriamycin: GpC specificity of apparent adriamycin-DNA adducts and dependence on iron(III) ions.

Abstract: Initiated transcription complexes were exposed to adriamycin for up to 48 h. Subsequent elongation of the transcription complex revealed the presence of a series of discrete long-lived blockage sites. The mole fraction of blocked transcripts increased linearly with reaction time, adriamycin concentration, and Fe(III) concentration. Optimal conditions for formation of the blocked transcript were 24-h reaction time, 10 microM adriamycin, and 75 microM Fe(III) ions. Nine high-intensity blocked transcripts were observed, and all correspond to transcription proceeding up to G of GpC sequences of the nontemplate strand. The presence of 75 microM Fe(III) ions enhanced the amount of transcriptional blockages by 12-15-fold. Two blocked transcripts decayed with a half-life of 0.32 and 1.9 h, and one of these exhibited 100% effective delayed termination 6 bp downstream of the original blockage site. All other blockages were unchanged after 3 h of elongation. Bidirectional transcription footprinting was used to define the physical size of the drug-induced blocking moiety as a maximum of 2 bp, and this was observed at all three GpC elements probed by RNA polymerase from both directions. The nature of the apparent covalent adducts has not yet been established but is probably a G-specific adduct deriving from a reduced form of the drug (quinone methide). Although the GpC specificity suggests an interstrand G-drug-G cross-link, these were not detected by heat denaturation and subsequent denaturing gel electrophoresis of the end-labeled promoter fragment.

The influence of age and experience with conspecifics on territorial behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.

Abstract: Drosophila melanogastermales initiated aggressive behavior toward other males and defended territories several hours after they were able to court and mate females. Males that were 3 days or more posteclosion were more successful at holding territories than younger males. Three-day-old males established territories more readily and escalated more often against territory residents than males that were 1 day old. Residents did not usually force young males from territories until they were a few hours posteclosion. The development of territorial behavior was not affected by familiarity or prior exposure to females. Males held in isolation established territories more quickly and behaved more aggressively than males held in groups. Males that previously held territories were more likely to reestablish them after a disturbance.

Basalts of the North Fiji Basin: the generation of back arc basin magmas by mixing of depleted and enriched mantle sources

Abstract: Active spreading ridges in the North Fiji Basin range from well-developed stable ridges where largescale mantle upwelling is in progress to proto-ridges where spreading is incipient. South of 17°S, where the central ridge of the North Fiji Basin has a bathymetric profile normally expected of a fast-spreading, steadystate mid-ocean ridge, basalts are evolved N-type MORBs. North of 17°S, where the central ridge is propagating northward into old North Fiji Basin crust and spreading is in the initial stages, two types of basalt have been recovered: N-type MORBs from this northern arm of the central ridge are believed to be samples of older North Fiji Basin crust; basalts with transitional alkalic chemistry (up to 0.5% Ne in the Norm) and characterized by strong relative enrichments in Rb, Ba, K, Nb, La, Ce, Sr, P, Zr, and Ti are believed to be associated with incipient rifting. Among the latter group are compositions that are intermediate between transitional alkalic types and MORBs and these are geochemically similar to the back-arc basin (BABB) magma type defined by Sinton and Fryer (1987) from a study of Mariana back arc basin basalts. Dredges along the South Pandora Ridge, a transform zone characterized by short spreading segments, are dominated by basalts that are enriched in large-ion lithophile and high field strength minor and trace elements and compositions range from types resembling ocean island tholeiites to transitional alkalic varieties. Basalts from Rotuma are regarded as alkalic end-members of the South Pandora Ridge magmatic spectrum. In areas of the North Fiji Basin where relatively fast spreading must be accompanied by largescale asthenospheric upwelling, depleted (N-type) MORBs dominate, whereas in areas of slow mantle upwelling, or where some other tectonic effect (e.g. a transform fault) causes a transient thermal disturbance within the lithosphere or upper asthenosphere, enriched (alkalic) magmas either dominate or make a significant and noticeable contribution to the overall chemical characteristics of basalts being erupted. The MORBs have a depleted asthenospheric source, and the alkalic component is believed to derive from an enriched lithospheric or shallow asthenospheric source. The BABB magma type may simply be part of the spectrum of mixed magmas that can occur in the transitional tectonic settings represented by the early development of most back-arc basins.