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Sex differences in corpus callosum size: relationship to age and intracranial size.

This quantitative MRI study reports measurement of corpus callosum area taken from midsagittal brain images in 51 healthy men and 41 healthy women, spanning the adult age range (22 to 71 years). Men had larger brains and corpora callosa than women, but callosal size did not correlate with age in either sex. Intracranial (i.c.) volume (ICV) and midsagittal i.c. area (ICA) of brain were used in covariate, regression, and ratio analyses to determine whether sex differences in the corpus callosum endured with statistical adjustment for sex differences in maximally attained brain size. With the exception of one ratio measure, the different statistical adjustments for the contribution of sex differences in brain size to corpus callosum size all indicated that men had larger corpora callosa than women for their brain size. A subsample of men and women selected to be matched on i.c. volume and age confirmed this statistical observation. Sexual dimorphism in the corpus callosum is not a simple artifact of sex differences in brain size and may reflect differences in connectivity necessitated by differences in brain size.

Adult↗

A matter of size: developmental control of organ size in plants.

The intrinsic size of plant organs is determined by developmental signals, yet the molecular and genetic mechanisms that control organ size are largely unknown. Ongoing functional analysis of Arabidopsis genes is defining important regulators involved in these mechanisms. Key features of this control are the coordinated activation of growth and cell division by growth regulators and the maintenance of meristematic competence by the ANT gene, which acts as an organ-size checkpoint. Alterations of genome size by polyploidization and endoreduplication can reset this checkpoint by ploidy-dependent, epigenetically regulated differential gene expression. In addition, the regulation of polarized growth and phytohormone signaling also affect final organ size. These findings reveal unique aspects of plant organ-size control that are distinct from animal organ-size control.

Arabidopsis↗

Interlaboratory comparison of autoradiographic DNA profiling measurements. 3. Repeatability and reproducibility of restriction fragment length polymorphism band sizing, particularly bands of molecular size > 10K base pairs.

The observed interlaboratory standard deviation (SD) associated with the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) measurement of DNA fragment size is a predictable function of the observed mean band size (MBS). For DNA fragments of size 1,000 base pairs (bp) to the largest resolved component of commonly used "sizing ladder" calibration materials (about 20,000 bp), the variation in the sizing data from the Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (TWGDAM)-sponsored "Large Fragment Study" is well-described by SD = 7.5 (1 + MBS/19 500)7.1. This sizing variability arises from a 0.1-0.4% SD in the relative positions of sample and calibration bands among electrophoretic gels. Statistically significant sizing differences do exist for bands above 10,000 bp among laboratories that use different calibration materials. The Large Fragment Study was efficiently accomplished through the use of a designed set of DNA samples, requiring but one gel in each of 20 participating laboratories.

Autoradiography↗

Data from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers show indication of size homoplasy and of a relationship between degree of homoplasy and fragment size.

We investigate the distribution of sizes of fragments obtained from the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) marker technique. We find that empirical distributions obtained in two plant species, Phaseolus lunatus and Lolium perenne, are consistent with the expected distributions obtained from analytical theory and from numerical simulations. Our results indicate that the size distribution is strongly asymmetrical, with a much higher proportion of small than large fragments, that it is not influenced by the number of selective nucleotides nor by genome size but that it may vary with genome-wide GC-content, with a higher proportion of small fragments in cases of lower GC-content when considering the standard AFLP protocol with the enzyme MseI. Results from population samples of the two plant species show that there is a negative relationship between AFLP fragment size and fragment population frequency. Monte Carlo simulations reveal that size homoplasy, arising from pulling together nonhomologous fragments of the same size, generates patterns similar to those observed in P. lunatus and L. perenne because of the asymmetry of the size distribution. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of estimating genetic diversity with AFLP markers.

Alleles↗

Conflicting selection pressures on seed size: evolutionary ecology of fruit size in a bird-dispersed tree, Olea europaea.

Recent evidence indicates that fruit size has evolved according to dispersers' size. This is hypothesized to result from a balance between factors favouring large seeds and dispersers setting the maximum fruit size. This hypothesis assumes that (1) the size of fruits that can be consumed by dispersers is limited, (2) fruit and seed size are positively correlated, and (3) the result of multiple selection pressures on seed size is positive. Our studies on the seed dispersal mutualism of Olea europaea have supported the first and second assumptions, but valid tests of the third assumption are still lacking. Here we confirm the third assumption. Using multiplicative fitness components, we show that conflicting selection pressures on seed size during and after dispersal reverse the negative pattern of selection exerted by dispersers.

Biological Evolution↗

Differential subcellular localization of in vivo-phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated middle-sized tumor antigen of polyoma virus and its relationship to middle-sized tumor antigen phosphorylating activity in vitro.

A small fraction of polyoma virus middle-sized tumor (T) antigen is phosphorylated in vivo, resulting in a small amount of phosphotyrosine and phosphothreonine and significantly larger amounts of phosphoserine. When infected cells are separated into nuclear, plasma membrane, and low-speed supernatant fractions, 80-95% of in vivo-phosphorylated middle-sized T antigen is localized to the plasma membrane fraction, while 25-50% of [35S]methionine-labeled middle-sized T antigen is found in the nuclear fraction and the same amount is found in the plasma membrane fraction. Immunoprecipitated T antigens contain a protein kinase activity that phosphorylates middle-sized T antigen at tyrosine residues. Eighty to 90% of this activity is located in the plasma membrane fraction. When immunoprecipitated T antigens are treated with alkaline phosphatase, middle-sized T antigen-phosphorylating activity decreases as 32PO4 is lost from in vivo 32P-labeled middle-sized T antigen. The possibility that in vivo-phosphorylated middle-sized T antigen located in the plasma membrane is an active tyrosine-specific kinase is discussed.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

A cell number-counting factor regulates group size in Dictyostelium by differentially modulating cAMP-induced cAMP and cGMP pulse sizes.

A secreted counting factor (CF), regulates the size of Dictyostelium discoideum fruiting bodies in part by regulating cell-cell adhesion. Aggregation and the expression of adhesion molecules are mediated by relayed pulses of cAMP. Cells also respond to cAMP with a short cGMP pulse. We find that CF slowly down-regulates the cAMP-induced cGMP pulse by inhibiting guanylyl cyclase activity. A 1-min exposure of cells to purified CF increases the cAMP-induced cAMP pulse. CF does not affect the cAMP receptor or its interaction with its associated G proteins or the translocation of the cytosolic regulator of adenylyl cyclase to the membrane in response to cAMP. Pulsing streaming wild-type cells with a high concentration of cAMP results in the formation of small groups, whereas reducing cAMP pulse size with exogenous cAMP phosphodiesterase during stream formation causes cells to form large groups. Altering the extracellular cAMP pulse size does not phenocopy the effects of CF on the cAMP-induced cGMP pulse size or cell-cell adhesion, indicating that CF does not regulate cGMP pulses and adhesion via CF's effects on cAMP pulses. The results suggest that regulating cell-cell adhesion, the cGMP pulse size, or the cAMP pulse size can control group size and that CF regulates all three of these independently.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗

Family planning in a stemborer parasitoid: sex ratio, brood size and size-fitness relationships in Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and implications for biological control.

Various aspects were studied of the brood size and sex allocation strategies, and of size-fitness relationships in Parallorhogas pyralophagus (Marsh), a gregarious ectoparasitoid of Eoreuma loftini Dyar. Brood size was significantly correlated with host size; larger hosts were allocated larger broods. Brood sex ratios were fixed precisely at 1 male per 4 females, and eggs were likely to be deposited in that order; differential mortality did not contribute to this precise sex ratio. The sex allocation strategy of P. pyralophagus is likely to conform to strict, i.e. single foundress, local mate competition. Adoption of this strategy is probably influenced by a limited insemination capacity of males; a smaller proportion of females (0.09 vs. 0.21) remained virgin in broods with precise or higher sex ratios (> or = 0.20 males) relative to broods with lower than precise sex ratios (< 0.20 males). Moreover, all females were inseminated in most broods (60%) with precise or higher sex ratios, whereas this did not occur in broods with lower than precise sex ratios. The hypothesized occurrence of strict local mate competition in P. pyralophagus was supported also by observations that: (i) offspring brood sex ratios were independent of maternal brood sex ratios and number of parental females concurrently allocating offspring to a group of hosts, and; (ii) the rate of superparasitism under no-choice conditions was low (approximately 20%), suggesting that rates of outbreeding in the field are low. Other results suggested that fitness in P. pyralophagus was correlated with adult size; longevity and reproductive capacity both increased with adult size in males and females. However, adult size may be more important for females than for males because the differences in reproductive capacity between the largest and smallest individuals was up to 7.3 times greater in females versus < 2 times in males.

Animals↗

The evolution of body size in extant groups of North American freshwater fishes: speciation, size distributions, and Cope's rule.

Change in body size within an evolutionary lineage over time has been under investigation since the synthesis of Cope's rule, which suggested that there is a tendency for mammals to evolve larger body size. Data from the fossil record have subsequently been examined for several other taxonomic groups to determine whether they also displayed an evolutionary increase in body size. However, we are not aware of any species-level study that has investigated the evolution of body size within an extant continental group. Data acquired from the fossil record and data derived from the evolutionary relationships of extant species are not similar, with each set exhibiting both strengths and weaknesses related to inferring evolutionary patterns. Consequently, expectation that general trends exhibited in the fossil record will correspond to patterns in extant groups is not necessarily warranted. Using phylogenetic relationships of extant species, we show that five of nine families of North American freshwater fishes exhibit an evolutionary trend of decreasing body size. These trends result from the basal position of large species and the more derived position of small species within families. Such trends may be caused by the invasion of small streams and subsequent isolation and speciation. This pattern, potentially influenced by size-biased dispersal rates and the high percentage of small streams in North America, suggests a scenario that could result in the generation of the size-frequency distribution of North American freshwater fishes.

Animals↗

Body size and shape: derivation of the "HAT" frame size model.

A bivariate mathematical model termed the "HAT" model for defining body frame size is presented for young males and females (mean age 22 yr). The HAT model is based on the relationship between stature and the sum of the biacromial and bitrochanteric diameter measurements. Small, medium, and large frame sizes were calculated for individuals and percentile rankings for the corresponding body weights, percentage fats, and lean body weights were given. For males, it was observed that differences in body weight between frame size groups was primarily due to differences in lean body weight. That is, lean body weight increased per frame size, while fat weight per frame size remained constant. For females in contrast, there was a small but statistically significant increase in fat weight per frame size and no increase in lean body weight per frame size.

Adult↗

Infarct sizing with technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate scintigraphy in dogs and man; relationship between scintigraphic and praecordial mapping estimates of infarct size in patients.

The present study was performed in order to evaluate the ability of technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP) myocardial scintigrams to size infarcts in experimental animals and man. In 10 dogs with proximal left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion and acute anterior myocardial infarcts, there was a significant correlation between scintigraphic infarct size and histological infarct weight (P less than 0.01). In 25 patients with acute anterior or anterolateral myocardial infarcts, there was a significant correlation between relatively large infarct size determined scintigraphically and the acute development of left ventricular failure. There was some overlap, however, in 99mTc-PYP scintigraphic infarct size between patients who did and did not develop left ventricular failure with infarction. Presumably this is explained by some patients having had earlier myocardial damage and thus developing left ventricular failure with relatively small new infarcts. There was also a statistically significant, but weak, correlation in patients between scintigraphic infarct size and precordial ST segment mapping including peak ST segment elevation (P less than 0.05) and the number of praecordial sites with ST segment elevation equal to or greater than 2 mm (P less than 0.01). The data suggest that 99mTc-PYP scintigrams and praecordial mapping measure some similar but some dissimilar aspects of infarct size in patients, and that 99mTc-PYP scintigraphy does size acute anterior and anterolateral infarcts in experimental animals and patients.

Animals↗

Determination of size distribution of elliptical microvessels from size distribution measurement of their section profiles.

In transmission electron microscopy, microvessels (MVs) are studied as profiles on ultrathin sections. To determine MV sizes from measurements made on MV profiles, an assumption must be made about MV shape, a circular cylinder being used to approximate the latter on limited lengths. However, this model is irrelevant in case MVs have some flatness. The elliptical cylinder model is preferable, although relationships between the cylinder profile (two-dimensional; 2D) and its true (three-dimensional; 3D) sizes are not yet known. We have obtained the 2D/3D functions that express the relationships between such profile sizes as the minor radius (Y), major radius (X), axial ratio (X/Y), area (S), and perimeter (P) on the one hand, and the corresponding MV sizes (Y(0), X(0), X(0)/Y(0), S(0), and P(0)) on the other. The 2D/3D functions make it possible to derive elliptical MV sizes from section profile size distributions, probability density functions (PDFs) for the latter being determined. We have applied the 2D/3D functions in studying axial ratios of thyroid hemocapillaries. A factual X/Y frequency histogram has been constructed and fitted by theoretical X/Y PDFs plotted for different sets of capillary sizes. The thyroid capillaries have been revealed to be clustered, 72.7% of them having X(0)/Y(0) approximately 1.6, 17.6%, X(0)/Y(0) approximately 1.0, and 9.7%, X(0)/Y(0) approximately 3.2. The proposed technique is instrumental in precise modeling of microcirculatory network geometry.

Blood Vessels↗

Effects of selection for body size on feed efficiency and size of Holsteins.

First lactation records from a herd of Holstein cows bred for either high production and large size or for high production and small size were examined to estimate effects of selection for size and feed efficiency. Selection was among progeny-tested bulls available from the artificial insemination industry. Three rations were fed that differed for ratios of concentrate to milk. After three generations, groups of cows bred for large or small size differed by 50.2 kg in weight, 5.6 cm in wither height, 6.4 cm in length, 2.1 cm in depth, and 5.9 cm in chest circumference; most differences were due to a decrease in the size of the small cows. On the basis of total lactations, cows bred for small size were 2.8% more feed efficient than cows bred for large size. During the first 90 d of lactation cows fed the low concentrate ration were more efficient than those fed the high concentrate ration. Season of calving had an effect on feed efficiency between d 30 and 120 of lactation. During this period cows calving between December and May were more efficient.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗

[Functional dependence of the size of the left kidney to the size of the right kidney and the opposite].

In this study anatomical variations of shape, size and relation of the kidneys have been analyzed. It has been carried out on 33 pairs of the human adult kidneys of both sex, randomly chosen. It has determined size, width and thickness of the kidney. The kidneys are very variable organs in the size and in the shape. Reduced largeness of the kidney and enlarged kidney are forms of variations of size. Reduced largeness of the left kidney has been found in 18.18%, and enlarged one in 24.24%. Reduced largeness of the right kidney has been found in 24.24% and enlarged one in 21.21%. Two types of the shape were presented: fetal lobularness and lobarnes of the kidney. The shape of left kidney was variable in 39.39%, fetal lobularness was present in 33.33%, and lobarness in 6.06%. The shape of right kidney was variable in 30.30%, foetal lobularness was present in 27.27%, and lobarness in 3.03%. All parameters that determine the size of kidneys show statistically high positive correlation. It means that mutual functional dependence is present, what made it possible from the size of right kidney calculating the size of left kidney and opposite.

Adult↗

[Clinical methods for evaluating infarct size and its anatomic correlations. Study carried out in 193 cases. III. Comparison of data on the evaluation of the infarct size using the QRS score and a method of maximal creatine kinase determination in the serum].

AIMS: To compare two methods concerning the clinical evaluation of infarct size--one using a QRS score, the other based on peak Ck values--applied to the same population. CONCEPT AND PLACE OF THE STUDY: to determine--based on previously established correlations between a QRS score and the anatomic total infarct size on one hand, and between the peak CK values and the anatomic recent infarct size on the other hand--which myocardial infarction subgroup constitutes the best indication for each method. The study took place in a Coronary Care Unit of a Central Hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 193 patients who died successively of acute myocardial infarction through out 4 years were studied. After establishing the exclusion critéria, the QRS score was calculated according to the method of Selvester modified by Wagner, and peak CK values were evaluated. Infarct size, either recent or old, was determined by means of an anatomical method developed by the authors and based on Hackel's and Alonso's previous works. Correlations were established between data from each clinical method and those from the anatomical method. Several myocardial infarction subgroups were considered for comparison of the correlations found in each subset. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: As long as QRS score was regarded, significant correlations were found between the evaluation by QRS score and anatomical infarct size in the subgroups of patients with severe pump failure, prior myocardial infarction, or total loss of ventricular muscle mass of at least 20 percent; however, a significant correlation was missing when the whole myocardial infarction group was taken into consideration. When peak CK value were considered, a weak significant correlation was found between the evaluation by enzyme determination and anatomical infarct size in the whole group of patients, but a stronger correlation was present in the subgroups of patients with survival longer than 24 hours, anterior wall myocardial infarction, free wall cardiac rupture, or first acute myocardial infarction. In conclusion the choice of the method to be used in the clinical evaluation of infarct size should take into account the type of population beeing studied, and follow the results obtained in different myocardial infarction subgroups as mentioned above.

Creatine Kinase↗

Transition of the blastomere cell cycle from cell size-independent to size-dependent control at the midblastula stage in Xenopus laevis.

Dissociated animal cap blastomeres of Xenopus laevis blastulae were cultured at a low Ca level (1 microM) from 9th to 18th cell cycle at 22 +/- 1 degrees C and observed by a time-lapse video recorder. Blastomeres cleaved unequally to increase variability in cell size as cell cycles progressed, but synchronously at a constant cell cycle time of about 30 min up to the 12th cleavage in diploid cells, and up to the 13th cleavage in haploid cells, regardless of their cell sizes. Thereafter, blastomeres cleaved asynchronously at varying cell cycle times in proportion to the inverse square of their radii. The transition from the cell size-independent to -dependent cell cycles occurred at the critical cell radius, 37.5 microm for the diploid and 27.9 microm for the haploid. While the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (CHX) lengthened cell cycle times two- to six-fold, epidermal growth factor (EGF) had no significant effect on the cell cycle. CHX-treated blastomeres synchronously cleaved at a constant cell cycle time of 60 min up to the 12th cleavage. Thereafter, cell cycle times became variable in proportion to the inverse square of radii in the presence of CHX at 0.10-0.14 microg/ml, but to the inverse cube of radii at 0.18 microg/ml. The critical cell size of CHX-treated blastomeres for the transition from cell size-independent to -dependent cell cycles remained the same as that of untreated blastomeres. Frequency distributions of cell cycle times of synchronous cell cycles were monomodal with the peak at 30 min, except for CHX-treated blastomeres with the peak at 60 min. In contrast, frequency distributions of asynchronous cell cycles were polymodal with peaks at multiples of a unit time of 30-35 min. To explain these results, we propose that blastomere cytoplasm has 30-min cycles that repeatedly produce mitosis promoting factor (MPF) in a quantity proportional to the cell surface area. MPF is neutralized when it titrates a nuclear inhibitor present in a quantity proportional to the genome size, and sequestered in the nucleus. When the total amount of MPF produced exceeds the threshold required to titrate all of the inhibitor, mitosis is initiated.

Animals↗

The bigger the C-value, the larger the cell: genome size and red blood cell size in vertebrates.

Vertebrate genome sizes vary roughly 350-fold and correlate with a variety of cellular and organismal parameters. Most notable among these is the relationship between genome size ("C-value") and red blood cell (RBC) size, which can be identified within and among each of the five vertebrate classes. This relationship, in turn, leads to important associations between genome size and features such as metabolic rate (at least in homeotherms). The present article describes the correlation between genome size and RBC size in vertebrates and discusses some of the cytological, physiological, and evolutionary implications of this relationship.

Animals↗

Effects on hunger and satiety, perceived portion size and pleasantness of taste of varying the portion size of foods: a brief review of selected studies.

The portion size of foods has been identified as an important environmental factor known to affect short-term energy intake. Experiments that were conducted both in the free-living environment and in laboratory-based settings to investigate the effects of portion size on energy intake unanimously showed that as the portion size of food increased, so did subjects' energy intake. Despite the fact that the profound effects of portion size on energy intake are well documented, the mechanisms by which portion size affects energy intake are poorly understood. There is some evidence that sensory influences (e.g. visual and olfactory cues), cognitive factors (e.g. learning, social norms, monetary considerations), and post-ingestive consequences (e.g. sensations of hunger and fullness) related to the portion size of foods may interact to affect the amount of food that is consumed during a meal.

Energy Intake↗