Characterization of the larval olfactory response in Drosophila and its genetic basis

Drosophila larvae are attracted to a wide variety of chemical stimuli. The olfactory response to ethyl acetate, a powerful attractant, was found to be surprisingly well conserved across a variety of different wild-type strains. Strain differences are documented, however, both in attraction to ethyl acetate and in another chemosensory behavior: avoidance of an aversive stimulus. As a means of analyzing the extent of genetic heterogeneity within strains, one wild-type population, Canton-S, was screened for variant X chromosomes. An enrichment procedure was characterized and used to make the screening more efficient. Lines homozygous for individual X chromosomes were established, and all were found to exhibit a strong olfactory response, although evidence was found for variation among them. The olfactory response was found to be conserved through an extended period of larval development, including the final period during which larvae leave the culture medium in preparation for metamorphosis. The results are discussed in terms of the genetic basis of the response and the use of single-gene mutations as a means of dissecting olfactory system function.

Radiographic image sequence coding using two-stage adaptive vector quantization

A two-stage adaptive vector quantization scheme for radiographic image sequence coding is introduced. Each frame in the sequence is first decomposed into a set of vectors, corresponding to nonoverlapping spatially contiguous block of pixels. A codebook is generated using a training set of vectors drawn from the sequence. Each vector is then encoded by the label representing the closest codeword of the codebook, and the label values in a frame label map memory at both ends of the communication channel. The changes occurring in the radiographic image sequences can be categorized into two types: those due to body motion and those due to the injected contrast dye material. In the second scheme proposed, encoding is performed in two stages. In the first stage, the labels of corresponding vectors from consecutive frames are compared and the frame label map memory is replenished (updated). This stage is sufficient to tack the changes caused by patient motions but not due to the injected contrast dye material. The resulting residual error vectors after the first stage coding are calculated for the latter changes and are further encoded by a second codebook, which is updated on a frame-to-frame basis.

New Pseudoguaianolides from Ambrosia maritima

The investigation of the aerial parts of two collections of AMBROSIA MARITIMA afforded in addition to known pseudoguaianolides nine new ones including two nor-sesquiterpene lactones and two dimeric lactones. The structures were elucidated by highfield (1)H-NMR spectroscopy.

Further Sesquiterpene Lactones from Eupatorium altissimum

A reinvestigation of the aerial parts of EUPATORIUM ALTISSIMUM afforded, in addition to several, previously isolated sesquiterpene lactones, five new ones. The structures of these were elucidated by highfield (1)H-NMR spectroscopy.

Organization and evolution of D region class I genes in the mouse major histocompatibility complex

Chromosome walking has been used to study the organization of the class I genes in the D and Qa regions of the MHC of the BALB/c mouse and in the D region of the AKR mouse. Five and eight class I genes are found in the D and Qa regions of the BALB/c mouse, respectively, while the AKR mouse contains only a single class I D region gene that has been identified by transfection as the Dk gene. Restriction map homologies and crosshybridization experiments suggest that the multiple class I genes in the D region of the BALB/c mouse have been generated by unequal crossing-over involving class I genes from the Qa region. The expanded D region of BALB/c and other H-2d haplotype mouse strains appears to be metastable, since evidence for gene contraction in the Dd region has been found in two mutant strains. Thus the D region and also the Qa region class I genes are in a dynamic state, evolving by gene expansion and contraction.