Description of three new species of biting midge of the genus Atrichopogon Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Brazilian Amazon

Three new species of Atrichopogon with spotted wings of the family Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Culicomorpha) from the Amazonas State of Brazil are described and illustrated. Male and female specimens of Atrichopogon janseni sp. nov., A. riopardensis sp. nov., and A. sergioluzi sp. nov. were associated by wing pigmentation patterns: with two darker spots, one over r-m and the other one in cell r3, posterior to the apex of R3. Male A. janseni sp. nov. have tergite 9 that is 2.5 × as broad as long, not extending to the apex of gonocoxite, and sternite 9 stout, sub-trapezoidal, with distal margin with a row of stout spines; gonostylus of A. janseni sp. nov. is spatulate, with distinct middle notch. Atrichopogon riopardensis sp. nov. is separated from other species with similar wing patterns and forked gonostylus, with gonostylus forked near midlength, with longitudinal furrow, inner portion short and fingernail-like, outer portion elongate and apically curved directed mesally; outer portion is 4 × longer than inner, with one long seta in basal 1/3. Contrastingly, A. sergioluzi sp. nov. has a small fork at the apex of gonostylus, and cercus broad basally with rounded tip. Females of the three new species are very similar (as are other females in this group), and it is probably not possible to distinguish them using the morphological features described. With the addition of the three new species described here, there are now known 15 Neotropical species of Atrichopogon with pigmented wings.

The Ultrastructure of Secretory Cells of the Islets of Langerhans in South American Catfish Rhamdia quelen

The present work shows that a detailed description of the ultrastructure of the secretory cells of the South American catfish Rhamdia quelen pancreatic islets is presented. Evidence is offered to support the contention that the α-granules consist of a central and an outer portion of different electron densities and solubilities, that the δ-cells are most probably morphologically altered but viable α-cells, and that the β-granules possibly possess a repeating substructure and may therefore represent an intracellular crystalline storage form of insulin.

Improved Shroud Design for Rotary Wing MAV Applications Based on Computational Analysis

A compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solver is used to improve the design of a microscale shroud applicable for micro air vehicle (MAV) applications. The new shroud is primarily designed to improve the hover performance; however, it is also shaped to better suit nonhovering flight conditions. The proposed shroud design has an elliptic shape on the inner portion of the shroud inlet and a circular shape on the outer portion. A collective angle sweep study of the shrouded rotor configuration using the proposed shroud design shows significant performance benefits in hover.

Individual Muscles Attachments, Action, & Structure

The muscles of the head consist of the chewing muscles (temporalis, masseter, and digastric) and the facial muscles (zygomaticus, orbicularis oris, etc.). The chewing muscles are thick and volumetric, and they originate and insert on bone. They open and close the lower jaw, with the action taking place at the jaw joint (temporomandibular joint). The facial muscles are thin. They originate either from the skull or from the surface of other muscles, and they generally insert into other facial muscles or into the skin. When they contract, they move the features of the face (eyes, nose, mouth, ears). As they pull the facial features, they often gather the skin into folds and wrinkles that lie perpendicular to the direction of their muscular fibers (perpendicular to the direction of pull). The mouth region receives the most muscles; therefore, it is the most mobile part of the face. Some facial muscles are so thin that they do not create any direct form on the surface (caninus, malaris, orbicularis oculi), whereas other facial muscles or their tendons may create surface form directly (buccinator, levator labii maxillaris, zygomaticus, and depressor labii mandibularis). Facial muscles are generally more visible on the surface in the horse and the ox than in the dog and feline. The facial muscles, as they move the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, generate whatever facial expressions animals are capable of producing. . . . • Attachment: A short ligament at the inner corner of the eye, whose inner end attaches to the skull. . . . . . . • Action: Eyelid portion: closes eyelids (blinking), primarily by depressing the upper eyelid. Outer portion: tightens and compresses the skin surrounding the eye, protecting the eyeball. . . . . . . • Structure: The orbicularis oculi is a flat, elliptical muscle consisting of two portions. The eyelid portion lies in the upper and lower eyelids, and the outer portion surrounds the eye and lies on the skull. . . .

Medium pH-dependent redistribution of the urease of Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori is an aetiological agent of gastric disease. Although the role of urease in gastric colonization of H. pylori has been shown, it remains unclear as to where urease is located in this bacterial cell. The purpose of this study was to define the urease-associated apparatus in the H. pylori cytoplasm. H. pylori was incubated at both a neutral and an acidic pH in the presence or absence of urea and examined by double indirect immunoelectron microscopy. The density of gold particles for UreA was greatest in the inner portion of the wild-type H. pylori cytoplasm at neutral pH but was greatest in the outer portion at acidic pH. This difference was independent of the presence of urea and was not observed in the ureI-deletion mutant. Also, the eccentric shift of urease in acidic pH was not observed in UreI. After a 2 day incubation period at acidic pH, it was observed that the urease gold particles in H. pylori assembled and were associated with UreI gold particles. Urease immunoreactivity shifted from the inner to the outer portion of H. pylori as a result of an extracellular decrease in pH. This shift was urea-independent and UreI-dependent, suggesting an additional role of UreI in urease-dependent acid resistance. This is the first report of the intracellular transport of molecules in bacteria in response to changes in the extracellular environment.