A review of the Apocreadiidae Skrjabin, 1942 (Trematoda : Digenea) and description of Australian species

The Apocreadiidae is reviewed and is considered to include genera recognised previously within the families Apocreadiidae, Homalometridae, Schistorchiidae, Sphincterostomatidae and Trematobrienidae. Key features of the family are extensive vitelline follicles, eye-spot pigment dispersed in forebody, I-shaped excretory vesicle, no cirrus-sac and genital pore opening immediately anterior to the ventral sucker (usually) or immediately posterior to it (Postporus Manter, 1949). Three subfamilies and 18 genera are recognised within the Apocreadiidae. The Apocreadiinae comprises Homalometron Stafford, 1904 (new syn. Barbulostomum Ramsey, 1965), Callohelmis n. g., Choanodera Manter, 1940, Crassicutis Manter, 1936, Dactylotrema Bravo-Hollis & Manter, 1957, Marsupioacetabulum Yamaguti, 1952, Microcreadium Simer, 1929, Myzotus Manter, 1940, Neoapocreadium Siddiqi & Cable, 1960, Neomegasolena Siddiqi & Cable, 1960, Pancreadium Manter, 1954, Procaudotestis Szidat, 1954 and Trematobrien Dollfus, 1950. The Schistorchiinae comprises Schistorchis Luhe, 1906, Sphincterostoma Yamaguti, 1937, Sphincteristomum Oshmarin, Mamaev & Parukhin, 1961 and Megacreadium Nagaty, 1956. The Postporinae comprises only Postporus. A key to subfamilies and genera of the Apocreadiidae is provided. It is argued that there is no convincing basis for the recognition of the genus Apocreadium Manter, 1937 and all its constituent species are combined with Homalometron. The following new combinations are proposed for species previously recognised within Apocreadium: Homalometron balistis (Manter, 1947), H. caballeroi (Bravo-Hollis, 1953), H. cryptum (Overstreet, 1969), H. longisinosum (Manter, 1937), H. manteri (Overstreet, 1970), H. mexicanum (Manter, 1937) and H. vinodae (Ahmad, 1985). Apocreadium uroproctoferum Sogandares-Bernal, 1959 is found to lack a uroproct and is made a synonym of H. mexicanum. Homalometron verrunculi nom. nov. is proposed to replace the secondarily pre-occupied H. caballeroi Lamothe-Argumedo, 1965. Barbulostomum is made a synonym of Homalometron and H. cupuloris (Ramsey, 1965) n. comb. is proposed. Neochoanodera is made a synonym of Choanodera and Choanodera ghanensis (Fischthal & Thomas, 1970) n. comb. is proposed. Species within the Apocreadiinae and Postporinae are reviewed and the following are recorded or described from Australian fishes: Homalometron wrightae n. sp. from Achlyopa nigra (Macleay), H. synagris (Yamaguti, 1953) n. comb. from Scolopsis monogramma (Cuvier), H. stradbrokensis n. sp. from Gerres subfasciatus Cuvier, Marsupioacetabulum opallioderma n. sp. from G. subfasciatus, Neoapocreadium karwarensis (Hafeezullah, 1970) n. comb. from G. subfasciatus, N. splendens n. sp. from S. monogramma and Callohelmis pichelinae n. g., n. sp. from Hemigymnus melapterus (Bloch), H. fasciatus (Bloch), Stethojulis bandanensis (Bleeker) andChoerodon venustus (De Vis). Callohelmis is recognised by the combination of absence of tegumental spines, caeca terminating midway between the testes and posterior end of body, ventral sucker enclosed in a tegumental pouch, prominent muscles radiating through the body from the ventral sucker, vitelline follicles not extending into the forebody, and a very short excretory vesicle that opens ventrally. New combinations for species previously recognised within Crassicutis are proposed as follows: Neoapocreadium caranxi (Bilqees, 1976) n. comb., N. gerridis (Nahhas & Cable, 1964) n. comb., N. imtiazi (Ahmad, 1984) n. comb. and N. marina (Manter, 1947) n. comb. The host-specificity and zoogeography of the Apocreadiinae are considered.

A review of the family Enenteridae Yamaguti, 1958 (Digenea), with descriptions of species from Australian waters, including Koseiria huxleyi n. sp.

The family Enenteridae is reviewed, with keys to the genera and species and diagnoses of the family and genera, based on a cladistic analysis utilising 44 characters. Subfamilies are not recognised. Descriptions of the following taxa from Australian marine teleosts are given: Enenterum mannarense from Kyphosus sydneyanus, SW Australia, E. elongatum from Kyphosus sydneyanus, SW Australia (these two species are distinguished by the number of oral lobes and the ovary to anterior testis distance), Koseiria huxleyi n. sp. from Chaetodontoplus meredithi, Great Barrier Reef (this new species is distinguished by the vitellarium reaching into the forebody, the infundibuliform terminal oral sucker, the unlobed ovary and the distinct post-oral ring), Koseiria xishaense from Kyphosus cinerascens and K. vaigiensis, Great Barrier Reef, Cadenatella isuzumi from Kyphosus cinerascens and K. vaigiensis, Great Barrier Reef, and C. pacifica (Yamaguti, 1970) n. comb. [was Jeancadenatia] from Kyphosus cinerascens and K. vaigiensis, Great Barrier Reef. The genus Jeancadenatia is considered a synonym of Cadenatella, and the new combination C. dollfusi (Hafeezullah, 1980) is formed. Members of the family are parasitic mainly in herbivorous fishes with a few genera and species from non-herbivorous fishes.

Functional maturation of isolated neural progenitor cells from the adult rat hippocampus

Although neural progenitor cells (NPCs) may provide a source of new neurons to alleviate neural trauma, little is known about their electrical properties as they differentiate. We have previously shown that single NPCs from the adult rat hippocampus can be cloned in the presence of heparan sulphate chains purified from the hippocampus, and that these cells can be pushed into a proliferative phenotype with the mitogen FGF2 [Chipperfield, H., Bedi, K.S., Cool, S.M. & Nurcombe, V. (2002) Int. J. Dev. Biol., 46, 661-670]. In this study, the active and passive electrical properties of both undifferentiated and differentiated adult hippocampal NPCs, from 0 to 12 days in vitro as single-cell preparations, were investigated. Sparsely plated, undifferentiated NPCs had a resting membrane potential of approximate to -90 mV and were electrically inexcitable. In > 70%, ATP and benzoylbenzoyl-ATP evoked an inward current and membrane depolarization, whereas acetylcholine, noradrenaline, glutamate and GABA had no detectable effect. In Fura-2-loaded undifferentiated NPCs, ATP and benzoylbenzoyl-ATP evoked a transient increase in the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration, which was dependent on extracellular Ca2+ and was inhibited reversibly by pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2'-4'-disulphonic acid (PPADS), a P2 receptor antagonist. After differentiation, NPC-derived neurons became electrically excitable, expressing voltage-dependent TTX-sensitive Na+ channels, low- and high-voltage-activated Ca2+ channels and delayed-rectifier K+ channels. Differentiated cells also possessed functional glutamate, GABA, glycine and purinergic (P2X) receptors. Appearance of voltage-dependent and ligand-gated ion channels appears to be an important early step in the differentiation of NPCs.

Assessing computational tools for the discovery of transcription factor binding sites

The prediction of regulatory elements is a problem where computational methods offer great hope. Over the past few years, numerous tools have become available for this task. The purpose of the current assessment is twofold: to provide some guidance to users regarding the accuracy of currently available tools in various settings, and to provide a benchmark of data sets for assessing future tools.

The self-reported impact of legal and non-legal sanctions on a group of recidivist drink drivers

Concern remains regarding the efficacy of legal sanctions to reduce drink driving behaviours among repeat offenders. The present study examined the impact of traditional legal sanctions (e.g., fines and licence disqualification periods), nonlegal sanctions, alcohol consumption and the frequency of recent offending behaviour(s) on intentions to re-offend for a group of recidivist drink drivers (N=166). The analysis indicated that participants perceived legal sanctions to be severe, but not entirely certain nor swift. In addition, self-reported recent drink driving behaviours and alcohol consumption levels were identified as predictors of future intentions to drink and drive. The findings of the study confirm the popular assumption that some repeat offenders are impervious to the threat and application of legal sanctions and suggests that additional interventions such as alcohol treatment programs are required if the drinking and driving sequence is to be broken for this population. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.