Histological Features of the Accessory Sex Gland of Indigenous Tom cat (Felis catus)

The study was aimed to investigate the histological characteristics of the Tomcats accessory sex glands. A total of six indigenous Tom cats were used in this study. The samples of the ampulla of ductus deferens, prostate and bulbourethral glands were collected and fixed in 10% buffered formalin saline, and processed with routine paraffin technique. The tissue sections were stained by Hematoxyline & Eosin, Masson's trichrom and PAS stains. Results showed that the mucosa of ampulla has composed of tunica mucosa, muscularis, and adventitia. The tunica mucosa lined by mucous secreting cells which showed negative reaction for PAS stain and non-secreting cells which have intense reaction for PAS stain. The tunica muscularis composed of circular oriented smooth muscle fibers. The tunica adventia composed of dense irregular collagenous connective tissue. Prostate was large tubuloalveolar gland, surrounded the pelvic urethra; the gland consisted of very thick peri urethral tunica mucosa which lined with transitional epithelium. The prostatic lamina propria composed of collagen bundles, tubuloalveolar glands and manifested by many of like cavernous tissue wide veins. The prostate glandular epithelium was pseudo stratified columnar to low cuboidal which showed intense reaction for PAS stain. The muscularis of prostate composed of thick layer of skeletal muscle cells. The bulbourethral glands surrounded by a thick fibro-muscular capsule whose septa subdivided the gland into lobules. Each lobule composed of tubuloalveolar secretory units. The secretory units were lined by pseudo stratified to simple columnar epithelium supported by a thin layer of myoepithelial cells surrounds each alveolus. The cytoplasm of epithelial secretory units contained acidic secretory granules with Alcian blue (2.5pH) stains (fig.11, 12 & 13). It was concluded that tom cat's accessory glands has devoid of seminal vesicles and has well developed and functional prostate and bulbourethral glands.

UKIP, Brexit and the Disruptive Political Potential of English National Identity

The defining feature of English national identity for many decades was its absence in politics. This has changed with the mobilisation of a particular strain of English national identity. It was not the only factor influencing choices in the 2016 EU referendum, but it was an important one. All of the concerns that are most intensely expressed by English identifiers—opposition to immigration, social and cultural conservatism, political disaffection and support for separate English political institutions—were associated with higher support for Brexit. Brexit, however, is not the end of the story. The referendum provoked intense political mobilisation by the English identifiers, but the election of June 2017 has sparked a similarly intense reaction from the British identifiers, denying the pro-Brexit Government their majority. The two votes just a year apart have highlighted how deep the identity divides in England have become.

A receptionist robot for Brazilian people: study on interaction involving illiterates

The receptionist job, consisting in providing useful indications to visitors in a public office, is one possible employment of social robots. The design and the behaviour of robots expected to be integrated in human societies are crucial issues, and they are dependent on the culture and society in which the robot should be deployed. We study the factors that could be used in the design of a receptionist robot in Brazil, a country with a mix of races and considerable gaps in economic and educational level. This inequality results in the presence of functional illiterate people, unable to use reading, writing and numeracy skills. We invited Brazilian people, including a group of functionally illiterate subjects, to interact with two types of receptionists differing in physical appearance (agent v mechanical robot) and in the sound of the voice (human like v mechanical). Results gathered during the interactions point out a preference for the agent, for the human-like voice and a more intense reaction to stimuli by illiterates. These results provide useful indications that should be considered when designing a receptionist robot, as well as insights on the effect of illiteracy in the interaction.

6. Narrative

The mangled second-century papyrus which preserves this passage from Sophocles’ Eurypylus is powerful testimony to an extraordinarily passionate scene. Before the passage above comes the opening of a messenger speech, little of which is preserved. It seems to describe the death of Eurypylus, who brought his soldiers to Troy to support Priam, but was slain by Achilles’ son Neoptolemus. Eurypylus’ father was Telephus (mentioned, by a virtually certain restoration, at line 26), king of the Mysians, who was wounded by Achilles’ spear when the Greeks mistakenly landed in his country on the way to Troy, and was later cured by the same weapon; his mother was Astyoche, Priam's sister. After the account of Eurypylus’ death follows an emotional exchange in song between two speakers; their names are not preserved, but paragraphoi indicate speaker change. One speaker suffers a particularly intense reaction to Eurypylus’ death, such as would suit only his mother, Astyoche. The other speaker comments on the character's grief, fulfilling the chorus's role. After this lyric exchange or kommos, Astyoche, now speaking, asks the Messenger about the treatment of her son's body and (another likely restoration) of a companion of his, perhaps Antenor's son Helicaon. The ‘impassioned rhetoric’ of the Messenger's reply is clear; in particular, his account of the lamentation over Eurypylus’ corpse, especially Priam's, rises to the fraught occasion.

Expression of bioluminescence in Amphipholis squamata (Ophiuroidea: Echinodermata) in presence of various organisms: a laboratory study

Luminescence in Amphipholis squamata has only been observed from chemically stimulated individuals, and the present laboratory study assessed the natural expression of luminescence following interaction with co-occurring organisms. The luminescence occurred only in response to (mechanical) stimulus and ranged from weak to intense reaction depending on the contact organism. Only crustaceans triggered an intense luminescence. Brachial autotomy also occurred after prolonged interaction and the luminescence continued only from the autotomized arm, which could lure the crustacean. The study showed that A. squamata luminescence could be naturally stimulated by co-occurring organisms, and the light produced sufficiently intense to be detected.

Cytochemical localization of Ca2+-Mg2+ adenosine triphosphatase in rat incisor ameloblasts during enamel secretion and maturation.

A modified Wachstein-Meisel medium containing lead or cerium as capturing ions was used to localize Ca2+-Mg2+ adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase; EC 3.6.1.3) in rat incisor ameloblasts during enamel formation. Sections representing different developmental stages were processed for electron microscopic cytochemistry. Distribution and intensity of the observed reaction product, which was almost exclusively associated with cell membranes, varied according to the stage of enamel formation. During the secretory stage, intense reaction product was evident along the entire plasma membrane of ameloblasts and papillary cells. The early transitional ameloblasts showed reaction product on their proximal and lateral cell membranes, but not distally. In late transitional (pre-absorptive) ameloblasts, distal cell membranes exhibited intense reaction product. During enamel maturation, smooth-ended ameloblasts showed reaction product proximally and laterally, but not distally. Ruffle-ended maturative ameloblasts exhibited intense reaction product along their lateral and distal membranes. The intensity of the latter was decreased but not eliminated by levamisole. In the transition from smooth-ended to ruffle-ended cells, the reaction product became evident distally, concomitant with the appearance of cell membrane invaginations. These data are consistent with a possible role for Ca2+-Mg2+ ATPase in controlling calcium availability at the enamel mineralization front.

Oscillations, glow and ignition in carbon monoxide oxidation - I. Glow and ignition in a closed reaction vessel and the effect of added hydrogen

Location of reproducible conditions for ignition, chemiluminescence (glow) and oscillatory behaviour in carbon monoxide oxidation is a classic unsolved problem. The present paper is primarily concerned with locating and distinguishing between the non-oscillatory instabilities (ignition and glow); subsequent parts will deal with oscillatory behaviour in closed and open systems and with the unifying mechanism. We use a clean, acid-washed, quartz vessel in the region of the second limit. Emphasis is placed on: (i) the behaviour of a range of compositions little studied hitherto and containing from 2000 to 200 x 10 -6 of added H 2 , intermediate between ‘wet’ mixtures (which are easy to study) and ‘dry’ mixtures (which are notoriously difficult to study); and (ii) continuous monitoring of reactions by mass spectrometry and continuous, instrumental records of light intensity, temperature and pressure. Ignitions are sudden and intense; reaction is complete and temperature rises are large. Chemiluminescence is more variable: it can be bright enough to be mistaken visually for ignition, but quantitative measurements show it to be less sudden and less intense; reaction is always incomplete and accompanying temperature rises are smaller, and may be imperceptible. Behaviour depends crucially upon the amount of added hydrogen. In ‘wet’ mixtures containing more than 2000 x 10 -6 H 2 , only slow reaction and ignition occur. Intermediate mixtures (2000 x 10 -6 to 200 x 10 -6 H 2 ) display chemiluminescence also, but as the ‘dryness’ increases, the temperatures required for ignition rise so sharply that this mode becomes difficult to attain. In dry mixtures (200 x 10 -6 to 50 x 10 -6 or less), ignition is quite inaccessible. The boundaries established in classic work by Linnett and by Gordon relate to luminescence, not ignition. A novel, pulsed glow (distinguished from oscillatory chemiluminescence), induced by continued heating of the reaction vessel, is also reported here. Classical simple treatments of instabilities begin from chain-branching or thermal standpoints: they are often thought to be mathematically similar but physically different. Attention is drawn here to the sharp differences implicit in the treatments. Both are needed in the subsequent development.

Ultrastructural localization of basic proteins in cytoplasmic granules of rat eosinophils and mast cells.

The postformalin ammoniacal silver (AS) and the ethanolic phosphotungstic acid (EPTA) methods were used to localize basic protein at the ultrastructural level in cytoplasmic granules of rat eosinophils and mast cells isolated using a Metrizamide gradient. Intense reaction was seen in the granules of EPTA-treated eosinophils. Following incubation of the cells for 2 hr in EPTA alone, the matrix was stained. After longer incubation (10 hr), however, both the matrix and core were stained. Cytoplasmic granules of the mast cell show a slight or negative reaction with EPTA. With the AS technique, a large number of silver particles were seen in the nucleus of both eosinophils and mast cells. The mast cell cytoplasmic granules showed intense reaction, while those from eosinophils showed no clear reaction. Acetylation of the cells under conditions sufficient to block most free amino groups prio to EPTA or AS treatment greatly reduced (EPTA) or abolished (AS) the reaction. The results indicate 1) that eosinophil granules contain basic proteins both in the matrix and the core, 2) that the mast cell granules contain a basic protein (probably the alpha-chymotrypsin-like enzyme), which reacts strongly with AS, and 3) that the AS and EPTA methods have different specificities.

Ultrastructural localization of basic proteins in Trypanosoma cruzi.

The postformalin ammoniacal silver (AS) and the ethanolic phosphotungstic acid (EPTA) techniques were applied in epimastigote and trypomastigote forms of the pathogenic protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi to detect basic proteins at the ultrastructural level. With both techniques, reaction was observed in the nucleus and in some cytoplasmic vacuoles. In the kinetoplast of epimastigotes, reaction was observed only at its periphery. In trypomastigotes, however, an intense reaction was observed in the spherical kinetoplast. With the ethanolic phosphotungstic acid technique, reaction was also observed in ribosomes and at the peripheral doublet microtubules of the flagellum. The filaments which form the paraflagellar structure did not react.