C. DAMBORENEA*, F. BRUSA*, A. PAOLA**

BIOCELL, Vol.30, No.3, pp. 457-468, 2006, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2006.30.457

Abstract Pomacea canaliculata is a common gastropod in freshwater habitats from Central and Northern Argentina, extending northwards into the Amazon basin. Several Platyhelminthes have been reported associated to P. canaliculata, sharing an intimate relationship with this gastropod host. The objectives of this study were to describe the symbiotic species assemblages associated to P. canaliculata in the study area, and to disclose differences among them. Samples were taken in three typical small streams and one artificial lentic lagoon, all connected with the Río de la Plata estuary. The 81.53% were infested with different symbiotic (sensu lato) species. Among the Platyhelminthes, the… More >

LILIANA SOUSA¹, ANA MARÍA PETRIELLA^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.30, No.2, pp. 287-294, 2006, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2006.30.287

Abstract This work describes the morphology and histology of the P. argentinus digestive tract. The foregut comprises the mouth, oesophagus, and stomach and is lined by a simple cylindrical epithelium overlain by cuticle. There are tegumental glands in the oral region and in the first portion of the oesophagus and of the hindgut. The cardiac stomach is an oval dorsal sac in the cephalothorax and has no calcified structures. The pyloric stomach comprises an upper chamber and a lower gland filter. The filter consists of an outer row of elongated setae and an inner row of dorsally… More >

R. B. SCIURANO, M.S. MERANI, JIMENA BUSTOS, A.J. SOLARI

BIOCELL, Vol.30, No.1, pp. 57-66, 2006, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2006.30.057

Abstract Spermatocytes from the two armadillo species, C. villosus and D. hybridus were studied in microspreads for synaptonemal complexes (SCs) and in thin sections for electron microscopy (EM). The complete SC karyotype generally agrees with previous reports on mitotic chromosomes, except for the sex chromosomes. The X chromosome is submetacentric in both species and the Y is the shortest one in C. villosus and the second shortest in D. hybridus, and an extremely acrocentric one. A SC is formed along the total length of the Y chromosome, and this SC persists along all the pachytene substages. A single recombination nodule… More >

R. SEHGAL, S. ROY, V.L. KUMAR*

BIOCELL, Vol.30, No.1, pp. 9-13, 2006, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2006.30.009

Abstract In the present study we have utilized the Allium cepa root tip meristem model to evaluate the cytotoxic and anti-mitotic activities of latex of Calotropis procera (DL) and podophyllotoxin. Standard cytotoxic drug cyclophosphamide and non-cytotoxic drugs cyproheptadine and aspirin served as controls. Like cyclophosphamide, both DL and podophyllotoxin significantly inhibited the growth of roots and mitotic activity in a dose-dependent manner. However, podophyllotoxin was more potent in this regard and produced root decay. Cyproheptadine and aspirin, on the other hand, showed a marginal effect on the root growth and mitotic activity at much higher concentrations. More >

Jae Bong Lee¹, Jai Hak Park¹, Sung Ho Lee², Hong-Deok Kim², Han-Sub Chung²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.11, No.1, pp. 9-16, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2006.011.009

Abstract The growth of stress corrosion cracks in steam generator tubes is predicted using the Monte Carlo simulation and statistical approaches. The statistical parameters that represent the characteristics of crack growth and crack initiation are derived from in-service inspection (ISI) non-destructive evaluation (NDE) data. Based on the statistical approaches, crack growth models are proposed and applied to predict crack distribution at the end of cycle (EOC). Because in-service inspection (ISI) crack data is different from physical crack data, a simple method for predicting the physical number of cracks from periodic in-service inspection data is proposed in More >

LILIANA G. SOUSA¹, ELENA I. CUARTAS², ANA MARÍA PETRIELLA^{1, 3}

BIOCELL, Vol.29, No.1, pp. 25-31, 2005, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2005.29.025

Abstract The aim of this study is to describe the ultrastructure of the hepatopancreas of P. argentinus in intermoult. P. argentinus hepatopancreas was studied using standard TEM techniques. Each tubule consists of four cellular types: E (embryonic), F (fibrillar), R (resorptive) and B (blister like). E-cells have embryonic features and some of them were found in mitosis. F, R and B cells possess an apical brush border. F-cells have a central or basal nucleus, a conspicuous RER, and dilated Golgi cisternae. R cells show a polar organization of organelles in three areas: apical, with numerous mitochondria and sER… More >

A.L. Brock, D.E. Ingber¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 135-144, 2005, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2005.002.135

Abstract The direction in which cells extend new motile processes, such as lamellipodia and filopodia, can be controlled by altering the geometry of extracellular matrix adhesive islands on which individual cells are cultured, thereby altering mechanical interactions between cells and the adhesive substrate [Parker (2002)]. Here we specifically investigate the intracellular molecular signals that mediate the mechanism by which cells selectively extend these processes from the corners of polygonal-shaped adhesive islands. Constitutive activation of the small GTPase Rac within cells cultured on square-shaped islands of fibronectin resulted in the elimination of preferential extension from corners. This… More >

MARÍA ESTHER DIUPOTEX-CHONG¹, NÉSTOR J. CAZZANIGA², ALEJANDRA HERNÁNDEZ-SANTOYO³, JOSÉ MIGUEL BETANCOURT-RULE⁴

BIOCELL, Vol.28, No.3, pp. 279-285, 2004, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2004.28.279

Abstract Mitotic chromosomes of the freshwater snail Pomacea patula catemacensis (Baker 1922) were analyzed on gill tissue of specimens from the type locality (Lake Catemaco, Mexico). The diploid number of chromosomes is 2n = 26, including nine metacentric and four submetacentric pairs; therefore, the fundamental number is FN = 52. No sex chromosomes could be identified. The same chromosome number and morphology were already reported for P. flagellata, i.e., the other species of the genus living in Mexico. The basic haploid number for family Ampullariidae was reported to be n° =°14 in the literature; so, its reduction to More >

C. D. GAMARRA-LUQUES, I. A. VEGA, E. KOCH, A. CASTRO-VAZQUEZ

BIOCELL, Vol.28, No.2, pp. 155-164, 2004, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2004.28.155

Abstract A new species of cyclopoid copepod, Ozmana huarpium, is described as a symbiont to Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck 1822) (Caenogastropoda, Ampullariidae). Rather large numbers (about one hundred copepods per snail) were found, although there was no evidence of harm to the host. To our knowledge, O. haemophila (symbiont to P. maculata), and the currently described species, O. huarpium, are the only copepod species ever recorded as endosymbionts to freshwater invertebrates. While O. haemophila is restricted to the haemocoel of its host, O. huarpium predominate in the penis sheath, the ctenidium and the mantle cavity, figuring in these pallial organs 63-65 % of total More >

ESSI KESKINEN¹ , YASUHARU TAKAKU² , V. BENNO MEYER-ROCHOW³, TAKAHIKO HARIYAMA⁴

BIOCELL, Vol.26, No.3, pp. 357-367, 2002, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2002.26.357

Abstract The aims of this paper have been (a) to characterize marginal ommatidia from different eye regions through a detailed description of their distinct ultrastructural features in three different size-classes of L. exotica, and (b) to compare microanatomical characteristics of the marginal ommatidia with those of ommatidia of the same eye, but located further centrally. On the basis of transverse as well as longitudinal sections we conclude that new ommatidia are added from a crescentic dorso-anterio-ventral edge of the eye and that maturing ommatidia go through a sequence in which originally the nuclei of cone -,… More >