Tetracyclines: double blind clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness in periodontal surgery. Twenty consecutive hospital patients who were to have periodontal surgery were assigned to one of two groups in a double blind clinical study. Ten were placed on tetracycline 250 mg, 6 times per day for 5 days. The other ten were given an identical appearing placebo 6 times per day for 5 days. The capsules were placed in a brown envelope so that neither the patient nor the periodontist knew which medication was being administered. The patients were randomly assigned to one of the two groups and were evaluated subjectively and objectively on the 3rd day and the 7th day. Statistically there were no differences between the two groups. In both groups there was some inflammation on the 3rd day but on the 7th day, it had subsided. Tetracycline is not recommended for routine prophylactic use in periodontal surgery.


Present status of osseous grafting procedures. Osseous grafting techniques represent one mode of therapy to manage combination pocket-osseous defects. They have their greatest applicability in the intrabony defect although encouraging results have been noted in furcation and suprabony sites. Like all treatment modalities, their usage is dictated by the therapeutic objectives for specific problems and whether their respective advantages and limitations outweigh other management techniques. They are neither a panacea nor an unproven experimental venture. When properly employed, they are a valuable component of currently accepted therapy. When compared with other treatment approaches, the following relative advantages and limitations have been noted with osseous grafts: Advantages 1. Reconstruct lost periodontium. 2. Idealistic therapeutic objective. 3. Reversal of disease process. 4. Increase tooth support. 5. Enhance esthetics. 6. Improve function. Limitations 1. Additional treatment time. 2. Autograft disadvantages. 3. Availability of graft material. 4. Additional postoperative care. 5. Unique postoperative problems. 6. Variations in repair. 7. Longer post-treatment evaluation interval. 8. Predictability. 9. Greater expense. 10. Multistep therapy common. 11. Vulnerability to recurrence.


Intraindividual relationships between serum protein binding of drugs in normal human subjects, patients with impaired renal function, and rats. The serum protein binding of phenytoin, salicylic acid, sulfisoxazole, and warfarin was determined in normal human adults, in patients with impaired renal function (kidney donor and recipient), and in adult male Sprague--Dawley rats. The free fraction values for salicylate and sulfisoxazole were significantly correlated in all three groups. The other correlations were statistically significant in only one or two of these groups. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between albumin concentration and the free fraction values of salicylic acid and sulfisoxazole (but not of phenytoin and only under special circumstances with warfarin) in normal subjects and of phenytoin, salicylic acid, and sulfisoxazole (but not warfarin) in rats. No such correlation was observed for any of the drugs in patients with impaired renal function. These observations show that no single weakly acidic drug can serve as an index for quantitatively determining the effect of disease or species differences on the serum protein binding of other weakly acidic drugs.


Opiate tolerance: independence from immunological mechanisms. The possibility that immunological mechanisms are involved in the development of tolerance to the analgesic effect of morphine was investigated, focusing on several immunological parameters. The data indicate that transfer of spleen cells and bone marrow cells obtained from morphine-tolerant donors into nontolerant syngeneic recipient mice did not result in the transfer of tolerance to the analgesic activity of morphine. Furthermore, the data indicate that the thymus, which is essential for the immunological response to many antigens, was not involved in the induction of tolerance to the opiate since tolerance was induced in thymectomized mice as well as in genetically athymic mice. The results suggest that immunological factors do not seem to play a crucial role in the phenomenon of tolerance to the analgesic activity of morphine.


Evidence for a centrally mediated hypotensive effect of Escherichia coli endotoxin in the anesthetized dog. The centrally mediated cardiovascular effects of Escherichia coli endotoxin were studied utilizing a neurally intact vascularly isolated head-trunk preparation in the anesthetized dog. The vascularly isolated head was perfused at constant flow with arterial blood supplied by a donor animal. Spectrophotometric examination of the donor and recipient trunk blood after administration of Evan's blue dye indicated that there was no blood exchanged between the head and trunk of the recipient dog. The responses to various physiological maneuvers and denervations indicated that the central nervous system and all afferents and efferents involved in the control of the cardiovascular system were functioning normally. The infusion of purified E. coli endotoxin into the arterial perfusion circuit to the head, either before or after bilateral denervation of the carotid sinus-body complexes, resulted in marked hypotension within 30 minutes in the trunk of the recipient dog. These findings indicate that purified E. coli endotoxin is capable of eliciting marked centrally mediated hypotensive responses. The time course of these responses suggests that the centrally mediated hypotensive effects of endotoxin do not participate in the initial precipitous fall in blood pressure seen after systemic administration of endotoxin, but rather that they may contribute significantly to the maintenance of the hypotension.


Calcium and stimulus-secretion coupling in the mast cell: stimulant and inhibitory effects of calcium-rich media on exocytosis. 1. Isolated rat peritoneal mast cells incubated in Ca-free media for 2 h, with or without EDTA, and observed by phase-contact microscopy, became ;bubbled' in appearance when subsequently exposed to media rich in calcium (16-110 mM).2. Electron microscopy showed the response to be ;compound' exocytosis of the sort elicited by conventional mast cell secretagogues such as antigen (in sensitized cells) and 48/80.3. The response to Ca was inhibited by withdrawing glucose and adding dinitrophenol and was thus energy-dependent.4. Mg in similarly high concentration had no such stimulant effect on Ca-deprived cells, and excess Ca stimulated only after Ca deprivation.5. It is suggested that Ca deprivation may increase the permeability of the plasma membrane of the mast cell thereby allowing some Ca, when subsequently introduced in high concentration, to penetrate and activate exocytosis; and the results are considered further support for the postulated mediator function of Ca in stimulus-secretion coupling.6. Two inhibitory effects of calcium in high concentration were detected: (a) suppression of migration or expulsion of granules from the exocytotic pits within the cellular domain; and (b) diminished sensitivity to 48/80.


Factors mediating against excellence in dental esthetics. Factors mediating against excellence in dental esthetics have been classified and enumerated in this article. A formula for producing unesthetic prostheses can be hypothesized as follows: Educational de-emphasis + Lack of research + Technical orientation + Technical tradition + Delegation (abdication) + Poor economics + Fatique + Poor office design + Convention + Conditioning + Schemata leads to POOR DENTAL ESTHETICS. It is postulated that a formula for excellent dental esthetics can be produced by reversing these factors: Altered schemata + Deconditioning + Altered convention + Adequate office design + Elimination of fatique + Favorable economics + Personal participation + Research + Educational emphasis leads to ESTHETIC EXCELLENCE.


Evaluation of photoelastic stress patterns produced by various designs of bilateral distal-extension removable partial dentures. The results of this study showed that: 1. The design of a retainer with a mesial rest in conjunction with a buccal I-bar or a wrought-wire and cast lingual arm exhibited the most favorable distribution of vertically applied forces. 2. Retainer designs with a distal rest tend to move the clinical crown distally and the root mesially at the apex, resulting in horizontal forces in the bone. 3. Placing rests of distal-extension removable partial dentures more anteriorly provides an axis of rotation that directs applied forces in a more vertical direction. 4. The distal rest in conjunction with circumferential retainers developed greater horizontal forces within the supporting structures.


A method for using reversible hydrocolloid at high altitudes. This study has shown that high-altitude boiling of reversible hydrocolloid in water alone is inadequate. It must be liquefied at a temperature of at least 100 degrees C. (212 degrees F). The use of propylene glycol alone in the liquefying bath or as an additive to water is effective in attaining this temperature. A microwave oven did not liquefy the reversible hydrocolloid adequately.


Research on remounting procedures.

Research on remounting procedures. This study has indicated that numerous benefits accrue from remounting dentures to correct occlusion and recontouring the tissue side of the bases at the time of insertion. This appears to be due to the changes in contour of the denture bases after the stone casts have been removed from them and indicates that a significant change in the occlusal relationship occurs during the deflasking procedure. Since adjustments and postinsertion complaints were materially decreased by early remounting and alteration, patients should benefit from such procedures by receiving restorations that may decrease the rate of bone resorption, be more comfortable, and tend to be effective for a longer period of time. The dentist should consequently be more satisfied knowing that he has done everything possible to provide quality dentistry to his patients.


Stabilizing a removable partial denture framework on the master cast. This technique aids the dentist in obtaining stable removable partial dentures. Failure to fill the space between the tissue stops of the retention mesh and the dental cast with cold-cure acrylic resin may result in the distortion and displacement of the removable partial denture framework during processing.


Autogenous bone graft procedures for atrophic edentulous mandibles. Using a joint oral surgery-prosthodontic team approach, five patients with extreme atrophy of the edentulous mandible were selected for augmentation of the mandible with autogenous bone grafts from the crest of the ilium. All were wearing restorations considered adequate, but they had difficulty tolerating the lower dentures. An extraoral submandibular surgical approach was employed with few postoperative complications. Sulcus extension procedures were unnecessary after surgery, and four of the five patients received lower prostheses in approximately 3 months. The oral surgeon, the prosthodontist, and the five patients considered the results successful.


The role of the prosthodontist in secondary management of facial trauma. Major head and neck trauma affects the midface and intraoral structures in most accident victims. The prosthodontist can provide a much-needed treatment service during the rehabilitation of these persons. Secondary management is a complicated and protracted experience. An interdisciplinary approach with consultations, careful planning, and integrated surgical/prosthodontic management of all phases of treatment can provide the patient with a most satisfactory result.


Polynucleotide analogues. Copolymers of vinyl bases with acrylic acid, methylacrylic acid, acrylamide, and 1-vinylpyrrolidone. Preliminary studies are reported on the synthesis and testing of substituted vinyl polymers that are designed to have sequence specific affinity for polyribonucleic acids. Copolymers of 1-vinyluracil with acrylic acid, 2-methylacrylic acid, or 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone were prepared by gamma-irradiation to give the respective polymers 1,3, and 4. Similarly, 9-vinyladenine yielded copolymeric products 5 and 6 with acrylic acid or 2-methylacrylic acid. Radical initiated polymerization of 9-vinyladenine with acrylamide yielded copolymer 7. The products were characterized by elemental analysis and ultraviolet, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. No hypochromicity could be detected on mixing polymers 1-4 with poly(adenylic acid). The acrylic acid copolymer 2 containing a high ratio of vinyluracil was a potent inhibitor of poly(adenylic acid) coded polylysine synthesis in an in vitro system. Polymers 6 and 7, containing a high proportion of vinyladenine, inhibited poly(uridylic acid) coded poly(phenylalanine) synthesis.


Synthesis and antibacterial activity of some derivatives of tolypomycinone. Relationship between structure and activity in ansamycins. 3-Aminotolypomycinoes and 3,16-diamino-16,17-dihydrotolypomycinones are formed by the addition of primary and secondary amines to tolypomycinone, obtained by mild hydrolysis of the antibiotic tolypomycin Y.3-Amino-16,17-dihydrotolypomycinones are formed by the addition of primary and secondary amines to 16,17-dihydrotolypomycinone. In vitro microbiological tests showed high antibacterial activity in compounds obtained by the addition of primary amines, which must be unbranched in the alpha position to the nitrogen atom to position 3 of the naphthoquinone ring. The relationship between structure and activity is described, and evidence is presented that hydrogen bonding between the amino NH bonded to C3 and the amide CO of tolypomycinone is very important for biological activity.


Synthesis of 5,6-dihydro-8(7H)-quinolinone thiosemicarbazones as potential antitumor agents. 5,6-Dihydro-8(7H)-quinolinone was synthesized and converted into thiosemicarbazones which could be considered to be semirigid analogues of the 2-formylpyridine thiosemicarbazone class of antitumor agents. The Z and E isomers were separated and identified by 1H NMR and UV. Although the compounds showed essentially no inhibitory activity against the enzyme alkaline phosphatase, several of these agents had demonstrable anticancer activity in mice bearing the P388 leukemia. The E-configuration analogues in general were slightly more active than their corresponding Z isomers.


Epidemiology of endometrial cancer.

Epidemiology of endometrial cancer. For a population-based, case-control study of cancer of the endometrium in Greater Boston from 1965 through mid-1969, 440 cases were drawn from nearly all hospitals in the area; controls were drawn at random from the general population. The age-adjusted incidence rate was 18.1/100,000 woman-years, with a peak at ages 55-59 and a gradual decline thereafter. Information was provided from 212 cases and 1,198 controls by mall questionnaire. A trend of reduced risk of endometrial cancer with increased parity was noted, the relative incidence (RI) for multiparous women being 0.3 compared to a RI of unity for married nulliparous women. The association of risk with age at first birth was irregular. Early menarche (RI=1.6) and late menopause (RI=1.7) were associated with increased risk of disease. Endometrial cancer risk was also found to be directly related to socioeconomic status, relative weight, diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. The findings supported the idea that hormone activity during, and perhaps after, reproductive life is an important cause of this disease.


Factors related to the incidence of stomach cancer in the Pittsburgh Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. This report presents an analysis of several demographic discriminants of stomach cancer incidence for residents of the Pittsburgh Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) with the use of data collected as part of the Third National Cancer Survey, 1969-71. The Pittsburgh SMSA, one of nine areas included in the Third National Cancer Survey, was of particular interest in the study of stomach cancer, since area residents showed the highest age-adjusted incidence rate for cancer of this site while showing the fifth highest rate for all sites. To examine the data in greater detail, we used the variables of sex, race, nativity, and median income level to classify the cancer patients into homogeneous subgroups of census tracts of residence to allow comparisons of the average annual age-adjusted incidence rates among the groups. The data indicated that Pittsburgh SMSA residents showed stomach cancer incidence patterns that were generally consistent with earlier published reports; particularly when contrasted with appropriate population subgroups, higher rates appeared for males, for blacks, for lower income areas, and for areas with "large" proportions of foreign-born and foreign-stock residents. Furthermore, when one considered interactions among the factors, the relationship between ethnic composition and incidence appeared to supercede that of income among white males.


Demonstration of immunoglobulin in tumor and marginal tissues of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Immunofluorescence (IF) techniques on cryostatcut sections of tumor tissues demonstrated that immunoglobulin was associated with cells of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. The immunoglobulin was found consistently to be of the IgG class; IgM and IgA were detected also but in only one tumor sample each. The C3 component of complement was also in most tumor tissues. The immunoglobulin could be removed from the tissues by being washed with low pH glycine buffer but not with pH 7 buffer, indicating that the immunoglobulin may be in antibody-antigen complexes. All the tissues obtained from the histologically normal margins of the surgical specimens were also positive for the presence of bound immunoglobulin, whereas head and neck epithelial tissues from tumor-free control patients were negative in the IF assays. Preliminary experiments showed that IgG from patients' diluted serum and the IgG fraction isolated from patients' serum would bind to glycine buffer-eluted tumor tissue.


A 14q+ marker and a late replicating chromosome No. 22 in a brain tumor: brief communication. Chromosome studies of a malignant lymphoma of the brain were made by G-, Q-, and C-banding techniques and by autoradiography. The tumor had a modal chromosome number of 47 and contained 4 markers: 1q-, 6p+, 11q+, and 14q+. A 14q+ marker chromosome frequently seen in malignant lymphomas was identified as a translocation between chromosomes No. 1 and 14 in this case. Although the banding pattern did not reveal abnormalities in chromosomes No. 22, the late replication of one chromosome No. 22 was detected by autoradiography. The abnormality of chromosomes No. 14 and 22 was discussed in relation to its occurrence in brain tumors, and the application of autoradiography in addition to banding techniques was stressed as necessary in cytogenetic studies of tumor chromosomes.


The story of the Howard University Transplant Center: (a project of the people). It took almost two years for Howard University Hospital to receive certification as a kidney transplant hospital under the federal government's end-stage renal disease program, although Howard had a transplant program that was comparable to many in the country.By the time the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approved Howard's program, many successful transplants had already been carried out there, largely on indigent patients who probably could not have received transplants elsewhere or on patients whose chances of survival, because of other complications, were so risky that other hospitals had turned them down. At first the high cost of these operations had to be absorbed by the University since the government reimbursed only those hospitals which had an approved transplant program.Howard has now received reimbursement (payments of more than $500,000) for its transplants because its certification was granted retroactive to July 1, 1973, when the federal program was started. So the Transplant Center is now enabled, and committed, to provide the best possible transplant care to the Washington, D.C. community which, incidentally, has one of the highest incidences of kidney failure in the country.


Obliteration of alopecia by hair-lifting: a new concept and technique. A new concept and technique of treatment of male-pattern alopecia are described. The concept is to remove, in serial stages, segments of skin that measure about 3 cm by 7 to 10 cm from the bald area of an alopecic scalp, and to raise the remaining hairy portion into the previously bald area.The technique consists of undermining the skin in the normal plane of cleavage between the galea and the sub-aponeurotic loose connective tissue after each removal of bald skin and "lifting" of hairy skin into the operative defects as they are obliterated by primary closure. By this method, which we call hair-lifting, the patient benefits also from an associated partial face-lift. Whatever remains of baldness after as much hair-lifting as feasible has been performed, is filled with "punch" grafts or free or pedicled strips. Each stage of the procedure is done under local anesthesia. The entire procedure is particularly suitable for tonsure baldness in men and even in the skull-cap type of androgenic alopecia in women.


Inactivation of receptors for bacteriophage T5 during infection of Escherichia coli B. During infection of Escherichia coli by bacteriophage T5, the cell surface receptors for the phage were inactivated so that they could not be isolated from the infected cells. A mutant of T5 that could only inject 8% of the T5 DNA did not cause the inactivation.


Renal autotransplantation: current perspectives. Autotransplantation, with or without an extracorporeal renal operation, has been done 39 times in 37 patients. Indications for the procedure included several ureteral injury in 4 patients, failed supravesical diversion in 2, renal carcinoma in a solitary kidney in 1, renovascular hypertension in 1 and donor arterial reconstruction before renal transplantation in 29. Success was obtained in all but 2 procedures, both of which involved previously operated kidneys with severe inflammation and adhesions involving the renal pelvis and pedicle. Based on our experience and a review of currently available literature we believe that renal autotransplantation and extracorporeal reconstruction can provide the best solution for patients with severe renovascular and ureteral disease not correctable by conventional operative techniques. The technique can be of particular value in removing centrally located tumors in solitary kidneys and in preparing donor kidneys with abnormal arteries for renal transplantation. The role of autotransplantation in the management of advanced renal trauma and calculus disease is less clear. A long-term comparison of patients treated by extracorporeal nephrolithotomy versus conventional lithotomy techniques will be necessary before a conclusion is reached in these disease categories.


Terminal loop cutaneous ureterostomy: a method of urinary drainage in kidney transplantation. A non-functional and permanently damaged lower urinary tract is no longer a contraindication to kidney transplantation. In patients with this disorder the ureter commonly is drained by an intestinal conduit. We have used terminal loop cutaneous ureterostomy as a method of urinary drainage in 3 patients with cadaver kidney transplants who have been followed for up to 8 years. The technique of terminal loop cutaneous ureterostomy and a report of these cases are presented.


Coproexamination for botulinal toxin and clostridium botulinum. A new procedure for laboratory diagnosis of botulism. Stool or serum specimens or both from 318 persons pertaining to 165 botulism investigations over a three-year period were examined. Botulinal toxin was detected in stools of 19 of 56 patients and in sera of 20 of 60 patients with clinical botulism; it was not detected in specimens from 246 persons with an illness other than botulism or well contacts of patients. Clostridium botulinum was identified in stools of 36 of 60 clinical botulism patients and in four of 27 asymptomatic contacts of patients with botulism victims, but not in stools of 65 persons not associated with confirmed botulism. When stool and serum samples were examined, confirmatory evidence was obtained for 72.9% of the botulism cases. Detection of botulinal toxin or C botulinum in the stool of a persons should be considered evidence supporting the clinical diagnosis of botulism.


Pulmonary edema as a complication of acute airway obstruction. Acute fulminating pulmonary edema developed in three patients after acute airway obstruction secondary to tumor, strangulation, and interrupted hanging (one case each). The common etiologic factor was vigorous inspiratory effort against a totally obstructed upper airway. Acute pulmonary edema followed the event in minutes to hours and required ventilatory assistance to maintain oxygenation. All patients eventually responded to fluid restriction, diuretics, and steroids. One case was complicated by aspiration of gastric contents following respiratory failure. To our knowledge, this condition is previously unreported in English literature. We presume that the pathogenesis is related to alveolar and capillary damage, induced by the severe negative pressure generated by attempting to inspire against the closed upper airway.


Recurrent vaginal candidiasis. Importance of an intestinal reservoir. To test the hypothesis that all cases of vaginal candidiasis are associated with a "reservoir" of this organism in the bowel, paired specimens of feces and vaginal material were cultured for Candida albicans simultaneously. Ninety-eight young women who complained of recurrent vaginitis were selected in sequence. The results showed that if C albicans was cultured from the vagina, it was always found in the stool. Conversely, if it was not isolated from the stool, it was never found in the vagina. These data are presented as an explanation for the recurrent nature of Candida vaginitis, and thus a cure of vaginitis would not be possible without prior eradication of C albicans from the gut. The gut-reservoir concept may well apply to other forms of candidiasis.


Urinary tract infections in patients with diabetes mellitus. Studies on antibody coating of bacteria. The prevalence of urinary tract infection was determined in 333 patients attending a diabetes mellitus outpatient clinic during a one-year period. A total of 19% of the women and 2% of the men were found to have urinary tract infections. Antibody-coated bacteria, indicating parenchymal infection, were initially present in 43% of patients and rose to 79% within a mean pretreatment period of seven weeks. In those with recurrent infection following treatment, there were more reinfections than relapses, both in those with kidney infections (67%) and those with bladder infections (57%). The high prevalence of urinary tract infection among diabetic women and the evidence of rapid parenchymal involvement emphasizes the need for clinical awareness of the problem and clarification of its consequences.


Clinical evaluation on 5 years' experience of automated phonocardiographic analysis. A mini-computer system for PCG interpretation has been functioning since 1971. The system can analyze as many as 100 PCG's in 3 hours. Based on our 5 years' experience, computer interpretation of PCG's has proved itself valuable for the rapid mass-screening of cardiovascular disease. It also provides more objective and quantitative information than human auscultation, though it is still at a developmental stage because of the present technical limitations. The solution of these shortcomings should achieve an automated PCG analysis of high accuracy.


Infantile botulism.

Infantile botulism. Botulism has not traditionally been considered as occurring in infants under one year of age because they generally do not ingest foods potentially containing preformed Clostridium botulinum toxin. We report a case of infantile botulism in a 3 1/2 month old infant who presented as a "floppy baby," and discuss the probable pathobiology involved.


[Spinalioma in the eyelid region (author's transl)]. The authors describe the characteristic features of spinaliomas in the lid region, which were observed in a study of 44 patients with this clinical picture. From this we could conclude that the presence of a spinalioma is revealed by: atypical localisation in the eyelids (upper lid, lateral or medial lid angle), accelerating rate of growth or involvement of youngerer patients. And, certainly not in the last position of importance, there is a very definite inclination to recurrences, which necessitates a sufficiently radical surgical removal into the healthy tissue.


Diabetes mellitus in the 13-lined ground squirrel (Citellus tridecemlineatus). Spontaneous diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in six of 126, 13-lined ground squirrels, Citellus tridecemlineatus. Serum glucose values were significantly higher in the diabetic ground squirrels than in the non-diabetic ground squirrels, while serum insulin values of fasted diabetic squirrels were significantly lower than fasted nondiabetic ground squirrels. In addition, the classic diabetic signs of poly-dipsia, polyuria, glycosuria, ketonuria, polyphasia, and weight loss were present. The proportion of islet tissue to total pancreatic area in diabetic ground squirrels was less than 25% of that in the nondiabetic ground squirrels. Both the number and size of the islets of Langerhans in diabetic ground squirrels were less than those in nondiabetic ground squirrels.


[Chief methods of modeling the biological effects of weightlessness]. The paper describes basic principles related to weightlessness simulation. In ground-based experiments zero-g is simulated with respect to the conceptual mechanisms of weightlessness effects on the body. The main components of the effects are considered to be elimination of deformations and fluid redistribution. The paper surveys and summarizes different methods of weightlessness simulation. It discusses advantages and disadvantages of water immersion, prolonged bed rest, hypokinesia, suspension in special devices with many degrees of freedom, walking on a treadmill at different angles, etc. The paper describes simulation of accentuated individual effects of zero-g during an exposure to longitudinal acceleration. It presents experimental physiological methods of simulation and symptoms of zero-g effects under normal laboratory conditions. The paper emphasizes inadequate use of some simulation techniques.


[Use of the tetrapolar rheography method for assessment of the circulatory system]. Experiments were carried out to explore the possible use of tetrapolar rheography in the assessment of pulse blood supply to a certain area and quantitative characteristics of cardiac output and blood flow in the limbs. Sixty five subjects were examined: fifty subjects had congenital diseases of the heart and the major vessels and 15 subjects were healthy. The volume-pulse blood supply was measured by means of a tetrapolar rheograph. Calculations were based on the Kedrov formula. Control measurements of cardiac output were made by the dye-dilution method (Evans blue). The correlation coefficient was 0.96. This gives evidence that the above instrument can be used to determine cardiac output. Studies of the pulse blood supply to the limbs show that the measurements may reflect not only marked pathology but also changes due to functional vascular shifts.


Transfer of leprosy bacilli from patients to mouse footpads by Aedes aegypti. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which were first allowed to feed on untreated lepromatous leprosy patients, and then to refeed on mouse footpads were found to transfer Mycobacterium leprae to the footpads as seen by the subsequent multiplication of the bacilli in the footpads. Results presently available are insufficient to come to any conclusion about the actual role of mosquitoes in the transmission of leprosy in the field.


Prophylactic antibiotics in the treatment of penetrating chest wounds. A prospective double-blind study. Considerable controversy exists as to whether or not antibiotics should be administered "prophylactically" to patients with penetrating chest trauma. No prospective study of this problem has been reported. Therefore, 75 patients with isolated, penetrating chest injury were randomized prospectively in a double-blind study. Group A patients (38 patients) were given 300 mg. of clindamycin phosphate every 6 hours, beginning with admission and lasting until 1 day following chest tube removal or for 5 days, whichever was shorter. Group B patients (37 patients) were given a placebo on the same schedule. The patients' hospital course, fever, white blood count, culture data, and roentgenograms were recorded serially. Clindamycin-treated patients had a significantly lower incidence of radiographic pneumonia, less fever, and a lower incidence of positive pleural and wound cultures. They acquired empyema less frequently, required fewer operations, and had a shorter period of hospitalization. Antibiotics may be useful, therefore, as adjunctive therapy in the management of penetrating chest trauma.


Continuous positive airway pressure versus positive end-expiratory pressure in respiratory distress syndrome. The hemodynamic and respiratory effects of spontaneous ventilation with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) were compared in nine patients who had adult respiratory distress syndrome. These patients were capable of maintaining spontaneous ventilation (tidal volume above 300 ml. and PaCO2 below 45 torr). Arterial and mixed venous blood gases, cardiac output, oxygen delivery and consumption, pulmonary artery pressure, and pulmonary wedge pressure were measured in 11 instances, with each patient on 5 or 10 cm. H2O CPAP or PEEP, and in nine instances, with each patient on the ventilator but without PEEP (O PEEP). During CPAP, when compared to PEEP at the same level of end-expiratory pressure, mean PaO2 increased significantly (p less than 0.05) and mean physiological shunt decreased (p less than 0.05). In nine of 11 instances, cardiac output was higher on CPAP than on a corresponding level of PEEP. Thus CPAP was more effective than the same amount of PEEP in improving arterial oxygenation by the lung without adversely affecting cardiac output.


Preservation of canine hearts after warm ischemia (zero to thirty minutes) and one to two days of hypothermic storage. A comparative analysis of crystalloid and colloid solutions with different osmolarity and ion composition. The effect of extracellular crystalloid (Ringer's) and colloid (silica gel fraction [SGF]) solutions, and intracellular crystalloid (Sacks) and colloid (modified silica gel fraction [MSGF]) solutions for canine heart preservation in a 24 to 48 hour model of hypothermic storage and zero to 30 minutes of warm ischemia was compared. Canine hearts flushed with an intracellular colloid solution (MSGF) had better survival rates after transplantation than did the hearts flushed with intracellular crystalloid solutions (Sacks). Better survival results also were observed in the group of hearts flushed with extracellular colloid (SGF) solutions than extracellular crystalloid (Ringer's) solutions. The most important theoretical factor in heart preservation appears to be hyperosmolarity and elevated concentration of potassium, proteins, and glucose.


Median sternotomy closure with running wire: a simplified method. A method of median sternotomy closure which utilizes running wire is described here. We believe this method shortens the surgical time involved in closing the chest and also that it is a safe method which provides significant saving of wire material so that it can be accomplished generally with one No. 20 stainless steel wire.


Laboratory tests used to guide antimicrobial therapy. Laboratory tests that can be helpful in guiding antimicrobial therapy include antimicrobial susceptibility testing, determination of bacterial beta-lactamase production, assay of serum inhibitory and bactericidal activity, and assay of specific antibiotic levels in serum. Susceptibility studies should be performed on any microorganism that is isolated from normally sterile body fluid (blood, cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, synovial fluid) in the presence of clinical evidence of infection. The standardized disk test provides results that should be comparable from laboratory to laboratory. Dilution methods, however, allow determination of the minimum concentration of an agent which inhibits growth (MIC), and this value can be correlated with blood, urine, and other body fluid levels of the antimicrobial agent. Determination of serum bactericidal activity is, in effect, an assay of the activity of antimicrobial-containing serum; it indirectly measures the combined effects of susceptibility of the test organism and serum concentration of the antimicrobial agent. Accurate measurement of serum concentrations of antimicrobials may be important when treatment includes agents that have a narrow margin between their therapeutic and their toxic levels such as the aminoglycosides (especially gentamicin) or in patients with renal failure, who may accumulate unusually high levels of antimicrobials normally excreted by the kidneys.


The operation and death of Henry Schliemann. Henry Schliemann's reputation as an archeologist, a linquist, a financial genius and a scholar is seldom recognized by Americans. His discovery of the ruins of Troy changed Homeric myths and legends into history and made him the founder of Aegean archeology. Recent popular books on Schliemann sketchily describe him otologic problems which eventually led to his death of an otogenic brain abscess. From a number of bibliographic sources, the details of Schliemann's ear history and the final months of his illness are recounted. The important information of Schliemann's ear operation by the famous Professor Swartze is presented.


The effct of cerulenin on sterol biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cerulenin specifically inhibited fatty acid biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae without having an effect on sterol formation. Ergosterol was not required for cell growth in the presence of cerulenin (1 microgram/ml). The addition of fatty acids to the growth medium reduced the amount of ergosterol formed by 45%; further addition of cerulenin to the media had no effect on the amount of ergosterol synthesized by the cells. The incorporation of 3H from 3H2O into ergosterol was not affected by cerulenin whereas incorporation into fatty acids was inhibited by 90%.


Endogenous insulin fluctuations during glucose-induced paralysis in patients with familial periodic hypokalemia. Endogenous insulin production in patients with familial periodic hypokalemia has not previously been studied during induced attacks. The serum insulin, serum potassium, and blood glucose concentrations were measured in six patients with familial periodic hypokalemia during six attacks of paralysis induced by long-lasting glucose stimulation. The same parameters were measured in four normal subjects under the same conditions. There was no difference in insulin response or in blood glucose between the two groups. Basal insulin levels showed no difference. There was no correlation between the occurrence of the attack and the serum insulin level in the patients. All the patients responded by severe paralysis and hypokalemia.


Antiviral effects of double-stranded RNA from rice dwarf virus on infection of mice with western equine encephalitis virus. A single administration (1 to 10 mg/kg) of rice dwarf virus RNA (RDV-RNA) prior to virus challenge reduced the mortality of mice infected with western equine encephalitis (WEE) virus. The protective effect of RDV-RNA was significantly higher than that of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid. However, when these RNAs were given after virus infection, the protective effect was negligible. The titer of circulating interferon in mice reached a peak about 5 hr after injection of these RNAs and remained at this level for about 24 hr. Viremia in mice infected with a lethal dose of WEE virus was markedly suppressed by the treatment of mice with these RNAs. A pathological examination of mice treated with a lethal dose of RDV-RNA revealed marked changes including degeneration and karyorrhexis in the lymphoid tissues of the spleen.


[Correlation between the synthesis of extracellular proteases and the synthesis of the red pigment prodigiosin in Serratia marcescens]. A correlation has been established between synthesis of exocellular protease and synthesis of a red pigment prodigiosine by Serratia marcescens. Chloramphenicol, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, inhibits also synthesis of the pigment. Leucine, an inductor of synthesis of the exocellular protease by Serratia marcescens VI, induces also synthesis of the pigment. A mixture of 18 natural amino acids, asparagine and ammonium ions represses both synthesis of the enzyme and the pigment.


[Use of infrared spectroscopy for studying the chemical composition of yeast cell walls]. Infrared spectra of intact cells and cell walls of several yeast cultures were recorded by means of immersion of a freeze-dried sample in KBr. The relative intensity and position of absorption bands were analysed, and the bands were related to the respective components of cell walls. The data of IR spectra of various yeast cells were compared to draw conclusions about the chemical composition of their cell walls (the content of protein-peptide and lipid components). The chemical composition of the cell walls changed if one and the same culture was grown on different media.


[Effect of nitrosoguanidine and ultraviolet light on Endomycopsis fibuligera-- producer of glucoamylase]. The effect of nitrosoguanidine (NG) and ultra-violet light (UV) on the survival and the activity of glucoamylase (GIA) was studied with Endomycopsis fibuligera. Variants which strongly differed from the control cultures in their activity of Gia were sported only by the action of NG, particularly at a concentration of 500 mcg/ml, during 90 min. In this case, about 5 per cent of variants with the activity of GIA being 160-200 per cent of the control value appeared in the population.


[Lipolytic activity of Mycobacterium rubrum cells, immobilized in polyacrylamide gel]. The cells of Mycobacterium rubrum 403 possessing lipolytic activity can be immobilized in polyacrylamide gel. The lipolytic activity of immobilized cells is 20-30 per cent of the activity of free cells. The lipolytic activity of immobilized cells does not changee after they have been used once and then stored at +4 degrees C during 5 months. If immobilized cells have been used several times, their lipolytic activity does not change during 1.5 months. In the case of immobilized cells, the temperature optimum is broader, pH is more alkaline, and the inhibiting action of Mg and Cu ions decreases.


Hyperlipoproteinaemia and dietary fat modification in haemodialysis and renal transplant patients. A group of patients in a haemodialysis and renal transplant programme have been assessed for the frequency of lipid abnormalities. Hypercholesterolaemia was not a significant problem amongst haemodialysis patients, but mild hypercholesterolaemia was common amonst transplant patients. Mild hypertriglyceridaemia was a feature of both haemodialysis and transplant patients. Irrespective of initial lipid values, each patient was advised to undertake dietary fat modification for a period of eight months. There was a small significant lowering of plasma triglyceride values in the haemodialysis group. It is concluded that major lipid abnormalities are not a feature of this group and that the return for dietary fat modification is small, although occasional individual patients may warran hypolipidaemic therapy.


[Effect of temperature on the dynamics of interaction of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus with host bacteria]. The dynamics of the interaction between Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and the host bacterium was found to depend on temperature. The maximum rate of infection was found at 37 degrees C. The maximum yield of Bdellovibrio and the maximum lysis of the host cells occurred at 22.5 degrees C. The cardinal points, at which no interaction was observed, have been determined. It is concluded that B. bacteriovorus belongs to mesophilis microorganisms.


A hypothesis concerning the aetiology of venous thrombosis. The historical background against which a new hypothesis must be discussed is presented, and the main threads of thinking about thrombosis are isolated so far as they can be. The interplay between such ideas as pus, white thrombus, white blood corpuscles, platelets, fibrin, and red blood cells, is traced: the origins of our concepts of blood circulation, stasis and slow blood flow, and vessel wall damage, are likewise dug up. The new hypothesis rearranges concepts which are not themselves actually or entirely new: instead of postulating that reduced blood flow results in 'silting' of presumably lifeless blood cells, it proposes that slow flow is more likely to injure venous endothelium by metabolic deprivation: and, in place of 'passive' silting, it postulates attachment of white blood cells and platelets to the damaged endothelium by virtue of their phagocytic or reparative function/s. This implies that thrombi are likely to form wherever living blood cells pass through veins whose endothelium is dying or dead from impaired nutrition (or other cause). The death of endothelium may be widespread, as in the agonal state, or, very limited, as in venous valve pockets when stasis is prolonged. The hypothesis is novel in that it seeks to explain thrombogenesis in functional or physiological terms, rather than in terms of purely biochemical pathogenesis.


[The influence of doxepin on the efficiancy of the human heart (author's transl)]. This work was aimed at clarifying whether the anti-depressant doxepin had a cardiodepressant action, or favoured or initiated arrhythmias and/or ventricular conduction disorders, when administered orally for 14 days at a daily dosage of 75 mg. Under doxepin therapy there was a slight increase in mean heart rate on effort in comparison to the placebo. This increase, which amounted to 2 to 6 beats per minute, was most marked among the younger patients, but had neither clinical nor statistical significance (cocaine-like effect of tricyclic psychotropic drugs). No significant changes of ECG, blood-pressure, x-ray determination of heart volume (by the method of Klepzig and Frisch), and maximum performance on the cycle ergometer were stated under doxepin therapy in comparison to the placebo. On the basis of these results it appears justified to state that administering oral doses of about 75 mg doxepin per day for moderately long periods produces no cardiotoxic side-effects.


The generation of the proton electrochemical potential and its role in energy transduction. The evidence that all energy transducing membranes can generate a proton electrochemical potential difference, delta micronH, across the membrane and that this potential can be used to transfer energy among energy transducing units and to generate ATP, has increased the interest for the view that delta micronH plays an obligatory role in energy transduction and ATP synthesis. In the present article we shall concentrate on two experimental questions related with the generation and role of delta micronH: (a) the charge/site ratio; (b) the relation between the proton electrochemical potential on one side and the cation electrochemical potential, the phosphate potential and the redox potential on the other. We shall then discuss the view that energy transduction corresponds to a molecular energy machine rather than to a fuel cell.


[The periurethral flora in female patients with recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) (author's transl)]. In 52 girls and 38 women with recurrent nonobstructive UTI 529 bacterial samples were obtained from the periurethral area under the following conditions: no bacteriuria and no chemotherapy for at least 3 weeks before the examination. In 225 samples we found E. coli and enterococci as the most frequent potentially uropathogenic bacteria. In the periurethral region these were found approximately twice as frequently as in urologically normal persons. 36 (40%) of the patients had no further recurrences during the follow-up, though 107 (44%) of the swabs showed an abnormal bacterial colonization. 54 (60%) of the patients, many of them with very frequent recurrences, in only 118 (41%) of the obtained samples showed an abnormal periurethral flora. The findings suggest that the periurethral flora is not the most important factor in the pathogenesis of UTI.


[Juvenile diabetics and sport. Aims, possibilities and limits (author's transl)]. The advantageous effects of muscular exercise for the Juvenile diabetic in physiologic and psychologic terms are accentuated. Participation in school sport, club sport, and high performance sport is favoured. To avoid hypoglycemias, protocols are recommended to establish the reduction of insulin dosage and/or carbohydrate addition individually required for a given amount of muscular exercise. Limits of sport activities of the diabetic are mentionend.


The influence of prophage lambda on the mutagenic response of Escherichia coli to ultraviolet irradiation. E. coli K-12 and its lambda-lysogenic derivative were used to study the influence of lysogenic induction on the induction of mutants (streptomycin sensitivity to streptomycin resistance) by UV irradiation. The lambda-lysogenic strain responded to UV irradiation with increased sensitivity and with a strong reduction of the absolute mutant quantity, recovered per UV dose, as compared with the non-lysogenic parental strain. However, similar mutant freqqencies per surviving bacterium exclude the possibility that the diminished mutant recovery results from a selective killing of mutant cells by simultaneous induction of the processes of mutation and lysis.


Frameshift mutagenesis in bacteria by 8-methoxypsoralen (methoxalen) in the dark. We confirm that 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) in the dark induces frameshift mutations in both Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium when present in adequate concentration under growth conditions. The dose response is sigmoidal with a threshold or quasi-threshold at concentrations below about 10 microgram/ml. Frameshift mutagenesis by 8-MOP in the dark is unaffected by mutations at the uvrA or uvrB genes, in contrast to base pair substitution mutagenesis by 8-MOP plus near UV light. RecA (but not recB) bacteria are hypersensitive to the growth-inhibiting action of 8-MOP in the dark and are not detectably mutagenized. The characteristics of 8-MOP dark mutagenesis are consistent with the chemical interacting in a non-covalent manner with DNA and affecting the rate of occurrence of base deletions or insertions during DNA replication. The question of extrapolation of the genetic effect of 8-MOP to man is discussed.


Mutagenicity of isomeric diol-epoxides of benzo[a]pyrene and benz[a]anthracene in S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100 and in V79 Chinese hamster cells. Pairs of isomeric vicinal diol-epoxides derived from benzo[a]pyrene 7,8- and 9,10-dihydrodiols and from benz[a]anthracene 8,9-dihydrodiol were tested for their abilities to revert salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 to histidine prototrophy and to induce the formation of 8-azaguanine- or of ouabain-resistant V79 Chinese hamster cells. All six diol-epoxides were active in both bacterial strains, but 7beta,8alpha-dihydroxy-9beta,10beta-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (the syn isomer) was considerably more mutagenic than the other diol-epoxides. Within the three pairs of stereo-isomeric diol-epoxides, the ratio of the mutagenic potencies of the syn over the related anti isomers varied bothwith the chemical structure and the bacterial strain. The half lives of hydration of these diol-epoxides at pH 7.4 were inversely related to their mutagenic potencies in bacteria. In V79 cells, the two benzo[a]pyrene 7,8-diol 9,10-oxides were mutagenic and the anti isomer was more active than the syn isomer; a reversed order of mutagenic potency with these stereo isomers was observed in S. typhimurium. The other four diol-epoxides were non-mutagenic in V79 cells at the concentrations tested.


Testing the mutagenic potency of chemical substances in a linear host-mediated assay (LIHMA). Instead of comparing "mutation frequencies" as used in the conventional host-mediated assay (HMA), a modified concept of measuring mutagenic potency is introduced by using a number of time intervals for taking samples. Regression analysis methods can then be applied to the numbers of mutant bacteria (reversions). Not only the mutagenic but also an additional antibacterial potency of a compound can be detected and estimated in the sam assay. It is demonstrated that interference of (undetected) antibacterial activity with the mutagenic activity may lead to misclassification of a substance concening its mutagenicity in the conventional HMA. This kind of erroneous assessment will be avoided by the LIHMA. Another advantage of the LIHMA over the conventiona HMA is that regression analysis also allows estimation of the sensitivity and reliability of the assay. The calculative procedure may be programmed on desk computers and is then most suitable for laboratories where large numbers of substances have to be examined routinely. A numerical is given using results obtained with nitrosoguanidine.


Mutagenicity of fungal metabolites related to aflatoxin biosynthesis. Fungal metabolites identified as the intermediates in aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway were screened for their mutagenic activity to Salmonella typhimurium TA98. Norsolorinic acid, averufin, and versiconal acetate were found to possess questionable mutagenic activity, but versicolorin A, and sterigmatocystin were significant mutagens relative to aflatoxin B1. The mutagenic activity appears to be related to the bisfuran and not the anthraquinone moiety of the molecule, even though the latter is a key structure of such potent carcinogenic mycotoxin as luteoskyrin.


Explusion of SALIBI-clamp from the internal carotied artery in the neck by infection. A left infraclinoid carotid aneurysm (3 x 2-5 x 2 cm) in a 60-year old woman presented with total ophthalmoplegia and trigeminal symptoms. A staged internal carotied occlusion in the neck was performed using a SALIBI-clamp. A chronic infectious fistula developed (Klebsiella aerogenes). When superficial debridement failed, operative removal of the SALIBI-clamp was planned seven months after its insertion. The clamp was found subcutaneously without any relation to the internal carotid artery and was easily removed. Subsequent catheter angiography proved the left internal carotied to be completely occluded in the neck. No cross filling of the aneurysm could be demonstrated from the right carotied nor the vertebro-basilar arteries. The neurological deficit remained unchanged. The wound closed promptly without further signs of infection.


Catecholamine and octopamine concentrations in brains of patients with Reye syndrome. Dopamine, norepinephrine, and octopamine levels were estimated in regions of brains obtained postmortem from children who died with Reye syndrome and from age-matched controls. Hypothalamic norepinephrine levels were greatly decreased (to 30 percent of control, p less than 0.02) and octopamine levels were increased (to 700 percent of control, p less than 0.01). Levodopa had little effect on the physiologic condition of the patients. However, CNS dopamine and homovanillic concentrations were not elevated by levodopa, indicating that in the present cases levodopa was not metabolized to its catecholamine products. The findings indicate that the encephalopathy of Reye syndrome (as in other types of hepatic coma) may be linked to the presence of false transmitters in the brain and that levodopa is a rational therapy if administered before irreversible CNS changes occur.


[Hyperparathyroidism in endocrinology and nephrology]. The literature on primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism is surveyed in the presentation of an account of the present positon. Reference is also made to personal clinical experience, particularly in secondary cases. The physiopathology of parathormone, calcitonin and vitamin D is described; the last, in fact, has proved useful in the treatment of secondary forms. The usual symptomatological tests of performance are explained, together with their diagnostic value. The clinical symptoms and their physiopathological significance are also illustrated. Stress is laid on the importance of conservative management in secondary forms. Good results now enable parathyroidectomy to be avoided or delayed in many cases.


[Ergometric tests in cardiology. Indications and appraisal parameters]. An assessment was made of the ability of an ergometric test to detect coronary patients in evaluating the reliability of the effort test, which is mainly important when it gives the percentage of coronary patients that can be discovered at an early stage during screening. The concept of sensitivity and specificity is analysed with respect to the diagnostic criteria employed. Blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen consumption are discussed in their rôle of leading parameters and the appraisal made of the diagnostic significance of a below-normal ST level in the literature is examined. Junctional falls in level and depression of the J point are also discussed. Cases in which a below-normal ST segment level is not associated with coronary disease are examined.


Low morbidity in the surgical patient with group B streptococci. Non-Group A or D beta hemolytic streptococci were identified in the vaginas of 5-11% of prenatal patients. More than 97% of organisms so identified have been found to be specifically Group B beta hemolytic streptococci (GB-BHS). The differences may have been related to seasonal changes. These organisms were found in 5% of preabortion patients--none of whom developed any infectious morbidity even though no therapy was used prior to the abortion. Of 100 gynecologic patients undergoing major gynecologic surgery, 17% had preoperative cultures positive for GB-BHS. However, the morbidity (18%) was the same for the culture-positive and culture-negative patients.


[In vitro cell culture of the Ararat cochineal insect, Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt]. The possibility of cultivating the Ararat cochineal cells in the nutrient media developed for cell cultures of the other insect species was investigated. The initial cochineal cell culture was obtained in suspension. The cell culture on the substrate (glass) dies within 7 days. 2 peaks of proliferative activity was observed in the suspension culture. The increase of cell ploidy and their death were found between these two peaks. The small cells survived and kept their capacity for proliferation. The hemolymph did not stimulate cell proliferation but enabled their better attachment to the substrate. The use of different media did not reveal marked differences in cell behaviour. The pigment granules disappeared during the first week of cultivation.


[Immunofluorescent study of the hemopoietic organs of xenogeneic mouse radiation chimeras]. An immunofluorescent study of hemopoietic organs in xenogenic (mouse-rat) radiation chimaeras has been carried out by means of specific antiserum against hemopoietic cells of the rat bone marrow. The presence of donor cells was tested at different times after the transplantation in the bone marrow, spleen, lymph nodes, thymus and liver of radiochimaeras. The transplanted cells were shown to populate all hemopoietic organs of the recipient, first of all tissues of the bone marrow type and, then, lymphoid organs. The donor (bone marrow) origin of the extramedullar foci of hemopoiesis in the liver was established.


Correction of induced astigmatism after cataract surgery with introduction of an intraocular lens. 1. The induced astigmatism is most frequently due to corneal scleral suturing and not tilting of the pseudophakos. 2. A simple method of reducing postoperatively induced corneal astigmatism after implantation of intraocular lens has been presented.


Intraocular lens implantation combined with penetrating keratoplasty. A restrospective analysis was conducted of 27 cases of penetrating keratoplasty associated with intraocular lens implantation. Although not statistically significant, the results indicated an 80% success rate when penetrating keratoplasty, cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation were combined in a single operation. Secondary implantation of intraocular lenses in cases of previous keratoplasty were unsuccessful in all three cases.


Results after intracapsular extraction: the atonic pupil. Satisfactory visual results are reported in a series of 80 consecutive patients who underwent intracapsular cataract extraction with a four- or three-loop Binkhorst lens replacement. Nearly 50% of patients could see 20/30 or better unaided. However, results in the under 70 age group tend to be marred by macular edema, and in the over 80 age group by corneal edema, the latter occasionally  being the result of lens instability because of an atonic pupil.


Experience with the large circular loop medallion lens and a critical comparison with the suture medallion lens: a report of 300 cases. An iris-supported intraocular lens must have stable fixation to minimize postoperative complications. A series of 46 large circular loop Medallion lenses were implanted after intracapsular cataract extraction and compared with a series of 254 suture Medallion lenses. An unexpectedly high incidence of lens dislocation and iris damage occurred with the large circular loop Medallion lens implants. Based on our results, we believe that the large circular loop Medallion lens should not be used for implantation after intracapsular cataract extraction at this time. The suture Medallion lens provides a standard to which other pseudophakai may be compared.


Effects of an immunofluorescent transport solution on the ultrastructure of human biopsies. Although immunofluorescent tests have been demonstrated to be of value in the diagnosis of many oral and skin lesions, the use of this technique has until recently been cumbersome because of the requirement for frozen tissue specimens. This has been circumvented by the development of a solution in which tissue can be transported to the testing laboratory at ambient temperatures. To verify that the immunofluorescent findings in gingiva and skin kept in this solution are not artifactual, ultrastructural studies were performed on such tissue. These revealed that over-all tissue architecture, individual cells, and the epidermal-connective tissue interface remain intact. Since the majority of oral lesions submitted for immunofluorescent testing are suspected of being pemiphigus or pemphigoid, the finding that these tissue features remain intact indicates that the distribution of immunofluorescence is related to definite morphologic structures and provides additional evidence for the validity of using the transport solution.


Correction of the long face syndrome by Le Fort I osteotomy. A report on some new technical modifications and treatment results. The combined efforts of multiple specialists are needed for the successful treatment of patients with the long face syndrome. The plan of therapy is designed to correct the individual's dentofacial deformity and achieve the best possible occlusion and facial esthetics. Reduction of facial height by surgical means and proper alignment of the teeth by orthodontic and restorative procedures are the common denominators of successful treatment. By properly planned and executed Le Fort I maxillary osteotomies, the vertical dimension of the face can be shortened to improve the esthetic balance between the nose, upper lip, teeth, and chin and to achieve lip competency. Moreover, the transverse and anteroposterior discrepancies can be simultaneously corrected. Various open-bite and non-open-bite maxillary deformities in forty-one adults with the long face syndrome were corrected by Le Fort I osteotomy, orthodontic treatment, and restorative procedures. The technical problems in planning and executing treatment are discussed and illustrated by selected case reports.


The role of plasma cells in scleroma. Electron-microscopic study. Three cases of rhinoscleroma in the granulomatous stage were examined under the electrom microscope. The rough endoplasmic reticulum of plasma cells in scleroma displayed cisternal dilatations forming Russell bodies and cytoplasmic vacuolations containing viable and degenerated bacilli forming Mikulicz cells. Thus, they play a double role, producing antibodies and providing protection for the intracellular bacilli. New ultrastructural findings of Klebsiella rhinoscleromatic bacilli were described.


Secretory otitis media. Aspects on treatment and control. In a double-blind study, 228 secretory otitis media patients were evaluated according to mucolytic and decongestive treatment. No definite difference comparing with the placebo group was registered. About 50% of all patients were cured within 4 weeks after the diagnosis was established. Those patients who earlier had been treated with antibiotics because of a preceding acute otitis media had a better cure rate than the untreated group. Suggestions on treatment and control of secretory otitis media are given.


[The local treatment of malignant pleural exudations with Iscador (a drug obtained from Misteltoe). Preliminary report (author's transl)]. 12 cases of malignant pleural exudations were treated with suction and instillation of 1 cm3 5% Iscador into the pleural cavity. In all of them only a few ingressions were necessary to dry out the area.


Immunestimulation by 4-imino-1,3-diazabicyclo(3.1.0.)-hexan-2-on (BM 06.002). The new cancerostatic substance 4-imino-1,3-diazabicycle- (3.1.0.)-hexan-2-on was investigated in DBF1 mice in respect to its effects on antibody producing B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes. It was shown that BM 06.002 has no definitive influence on immunocompetence when used at a low concentration (1 mg/kg). At higher concentrations of 5 up to 20 mg/kg a stimulation of T-lymphocytes was found which was constant at a concentration of 20 mg/kg for more than three weeks after the single injection of 20 mg/kg. Using the haemolytic plaque test, a stimulation of the antibody producing B-cells was observed on day 3 and 12 after treatment. On day 5 a transitory suppression of the lymphocyte functions was observed in both test systems.


[Necrotizing enterocolitis (pediatric review)]. Necrotizing enterocolitis--a highly letal disease in the newborn period--is diagnosed in about 1--2% of the admissions to a nursery. The marcroscopic lesions are basically necroses predominantly found in the ileum, colon and jejunum. Untreated they lead to perforation, peritonitis and sepsis. The predisposing factors include such as perinatal complications, immaturity and umbilical vein catheterization; the main symptoms are bile stained vomiting and blood-streaked diarrhea, followed by signs of fulminant sepsis and peritonitis. The most typical roentgenographic findings are intramural air (pneumatosis intestinalis) and in more advanced cases pneumoperitoneum (free peritoneal air) and portal vein gas. The current plan of management--consisting of immediate withdrawal of oral feeds, gastric suction, intravenous fluid therapy, treatment of shock and administration of antibiotics--and the indication for operation are discussed. Perinatal stress and secondary bacterial invasion of the intestinal lesions seem to play an important role in the etiology of the disease. An early nutrition of the healthy immature with human breast milk seems to reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis or at least has a mitigating influence on the later course of the disease. The mortality in our own series--as reported--was high (6 patients: 1 survivor, mortality: 83%) as 4 of the patients were admitted with gross symptoms of intestinal perforation and severely shocked.


Fat.

Fat. Fat has been a menace to longevity since biblical times, but detailed studies of its deposition and function in the perinatal period only began comparatively recently. The function of brown fat in thermogenesis as distinct from that of white fat as a reserve of energy is now clear, but not why the guinea pig and the human baby should be two of the very few land mammals to lay down white fat in their bodies before birth. How much of this fat crosses the placenta and how much is synthesized by the fetus? There is evidence that the amounts and timing of the two events may not be the same in the two species but the reasons behind the differences are not at all clear. Genetic obesity in many forms is well known in rodents. None of them have contributed much to paediatrics as yet, but the Egyptian sand rat has promising similarities to persons who develop obesity and diabetes in adult life and a comparison of their metabolism in early life might be a profitable exercise.


Colonization with group B streptococci in girls under 16 years of age. Cultures from the vagina, pharynx, and anal canal of 100 healthy girls, 2 months through 15 years of age, were examined for the presence of group B streptococci. Of the 100 participants, 20% were colonized at one or more of these three sites. Pharyngeal colonization was detected in 15% of the girls under 11 years of age and in 5% of those over 11 years of age. Colonization at anogenital sites were observed in 19% of participants under 3 years of age, in 25% of those 11 years of age and older, and in only 4% of those between the ages of 3 and 10 years (P less than .025). The concentration of serum antibody directed against the polysaccharide capsular antigen isolated from type III, group B Streptococcus appeared, in part, to be related to increasing age.


Field independence and laterality in the perception of faces. For a sample of 28 college males the degree of left visual-field bias in the perception of faces correlated .45 (p less than .01) with extent of field-independent performance, as assessed by a composite score based on the Embedded-Figures Test, the Rod-and-Frame Test, and ratings on the Articulation-of-Body-Concept Scale. In a second study with 16 female and 10 male college subjects using the Group Embedded-Figures Test, field-independent subjects again showed greater left visual-field lateralization of face perception (r = .43, p less than .05). Based on Witkin's view of field independence as a manifestation of psychological differentiation, possible links between extent of differentiation at the psychological and neurophysiological levels are suggested.


Touch: a computerized bibliography.

Touch: a computerized bibliography. A computerized bibliography of references relating to "touch" has been prepared. It currently contains approximately 4000 references which belong under the following general categories--physiology and neurophysiology; sensation; perception; cognition; social, cultural, and developmental issues; clinical pathology; the deaf and blind; tactile communication and tactile aesthetics. References have been obtained primarily from the Psychological Abstracts, with classification codes added on the basis of the abstract's content. Master copies and keyword searches may be obtained on the most up-to-date version of the bibliography.


Reliability of the Matching Familiar Figures Test scores of learning disabled children. The reliability of the Matching Familiar Figures Test with impulsive learning disabled boys was investigated. 20 children were tested in two sessions separated by a 2-mo. period. Significant correlations for response time and errors scores indicated a high level of stability over time. Educational implications were discussed.


The occurrence of Clostridium botulinum type E in Finnish trout farms and the prevention of toxin formation in fresh-salted vacuum-packed trout fillets. The occurrence of C. botulinum on two Finnish rainbow trout farms were studied. C. botulinum type E toxin was detected from samples of fish intestines in 10% and 4% of the samples and in 0% and 100% of dam bottom sediments, respectively. The toxin formation of inoculated C. botulinum type E in three different brands of commercial fresh-salted vacuum-packed trout fillets was also investigated. In the brand with a salt concentration of 2.7% (a w = 0.96) and no nitrate, the toxin was formed in two weeks at 10 and 20 degrees C. If the pH of the product was lowed to 4.90 and NaCl concentration increased to 5.67% (a w = 0.94%) no toxin was formed even without the use of nitrate. By adding 0.1% of sodium nitrate to the curing solution (0.046% nitrate in the product) the toxin formation was brought to an end. According to the results of the study C. botulinum type E presents a potential health risk for man as well as for fish also in Finland. Trout products must be manufactured and stored in such a way that the possibility of toxin formation is eliminated.


[Is unilateral total lobectomy adequate treatment for a single malignant thyroid nodule? 67 patients operated upon between 5 and 18 years age (author's transl)]. In the treatment of thyroid carcinoma, there is still some discussion about the best operation for a solitary and well encapsulated nodule. 18 years ago, it was decided to treat every case of "cold" thyroid nodule by total lobectomy and isthmectomy. 56 patients were reevaluated 5 to 18 years after such limited operation for malignant nodules. 8 of them died between the 19 th month and the 14 th year after surgery, the death being possibly related to the thyroid cancer in only 4 patients, but without any clinical evidence of local recurrence. Among 50 surviving patients, only one controlateral recurrence was observed, two years after lobectomy; it was treated by surgical totalisation of thyroidectomy, without any new recurrence after 10 more years. These results (although the small number of cases, and too short follow-up exclude definitive conclusions) are comparable to those obtained by a more aggresive surgical approach, but have the great advantage of total absence of any functional sequellae. So are we encouraged to go further in the experience of a rather conservative surgery in the treatment of uninodular thyroid carcinoma.


Covalent attachment of fluorescent probes to the X-base of Escherichia coli phenylalanine transfer ribonucleic acid. tRNA PheE, coli was labeled with the N-hydroxysuccinimide esters of 1-dimethylaminonaphthalene-5-sulfonyl glycine and N-methylanthranilic acid through reaction with the amino acid moiety of its X-base, whereby yields of 66% and 24%, respectively, were obtained. The purified dimethylaminonaphthalene-sulfonate derivative could not be aminoacylated and was found to be a strong competitive inhibitor of phenylalanine-tRNA synthetase [Ki=8X10(-7) M]. The N-methylanthraniloyl derivative could be charged to an extent of 5% as compared to native tRNA Phe. The fluorescence emission spectra of the derivatives are indicative of a slightly hydrophobic environment for both fluorophores. The results suggest that the integrity of the polar amino acid group of the X-base is required for the maintenance of the biologically active conformation.


Prevalence of bovine subclinical mastitis in Malawi. A survey comprising 934 cows of a total of 1180 from 22 dairy herds and the examination of bulk milk samples from 273 small-holders was carried out. At the time of sampling all known dairy herds and small-holders in Malawi were examined. Since relative few infections other than Staph. aureus and Str. agalactiae were revealed in the first 12 herds where quartermilk samples were taken composite milk samples (all four quarters into one sample) were taken in the remainder of the herds. The results of the survey are shown in Tables I a, b, c and II a and b. The major problems were infections caused by Str. agalactiae and Staph. aureus. The amount of pathological secretion was low compared to countries with a developed dairy industry such as Denmark.


Chromatographic behavior of several mammalian tRNAs on acylated dihydroxyl-borate cellulose and Aminex A-28. Studies of the chromatographic behavior of mammalian tRNAs, from several sources, on acylated DBAE-cellulose indicate that species of tRNA Asn , tRNA Asp and tRNA His can be retained on this matrix, while species of tRNA Tyr, tRNA Asn and tRNA Asp are not retained. Treatment of total rat liver tRNA with cyanogen bromide and subsequent chromatography on Aminex A-28 columns demonstrated that these tRNA species might contain Q (or Q*) nucleoside. However, comparable studies of the tRNA isolated from Walker 256 rat mammary tumor tissue demonstrated that this tumor tRNA almost totally lacks the hypermodified nucleosides Q and Q*. In addition, we have found that at least the major species of rat liver tRNA Asn contains the Q nucleoside. These studies indicate that chromatography on the acylated DBAE-cellulose matrix, couple with the analytical ion-exchange chromatography of cyanogen bromide treated and untreated amino-acyl-tRNA can be a valuable technique for the determination of alterations in the Q (or Q*) nucleoside content of the tRNAs isolated from normal and tumor tissues.


Restriction cleavage map of mitochonrial DNA from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was cleaved by restriction endonucleases Eco RI, Hpa I, Bam HI, Hind III, Pst I, and Sal I, yielding 10, 7, 5, 6, 1, and 1 fragments, respectively. A physical ordering of the restriction sites on yeast mtDNA has been derived. Yeast mtDNA cannot be isolated as intact molecules, and it contains nicks and gaps which complicate the use of conventional fragment mapping procedures. Nevertheless, the position of each of the restriction sites was obtained primarily by reciprocal redigestion of isolated restriction fragments. This procedure was supplemented by co-digestion of mtDNA with a multisite enzyme and a single-site enzyme (i.e., Sal I or Pst I) which provided a unique orientation for overlapping fragments cleaved by Sal I or Pst I. The data obtained from these approaches were confirmed by analysis of double and triple enzyme digests. Analysis of partial digest fragments was used for positioning of the smallest Eco RI fragment. A comparison of mtDNA from four grande strains (MH41-7B, 19d, TR3-15A, and MH32-12D) revealed similar, but slightly varying restriction patterns, with an identical genome size for each of approximately 5 X 10(-7) d or 75 kb. A fifth grande strain, D273-10B from S. cerevisiae, revealed restriction patterns different from those of the above strains, with a smaller genome size of 70 kb.


Molecular cloning of extensive sequences of the in vitro synthesized chicken ovalbumin structural gene. Double-stranded DNA molecules complementary to ovalbumin chicken messenger RNA were synthesized in vitro and integrated into the E. coli plasmid pCR1 using an oligodG-dc tailing procedure. The resultant hybrid plasmids, amplified by transfection of E. coli, were shown by hybridization and gel electrophoresis to contain extensive DNA sequences of the ovalbumin structural gene.


A neutron investigation of yeast valyl-tRNA synthetase interaction with tRNAs. A new way of studying RNA-protein complexes, using neutron small angle scattering in solution, is described and was applied in the case of the system, yeast valyl-tRNA synthetase, interacting with its cognate and non cognate yeast tRNAs. It was shown that, when limited amounts of tRNA (either cognate or non cognate) are added to valyl-tRNA synthetase, a complex consisting of two enzyme molecules and one tRNA molecule is first formed. It is subsequently dissociated to a one to one complex when more tRNA is present in the solution. The association curve shows a maximum for a molecular ratio, enzyme over tRNA, equal to 2.


Hyperpolymer formation during renaturation of DNA from genomes with different sequence organisation. Hyperpolymer formation during the renaturation of DNAs from wheat, calf and E. coli was studied using hydroxyapatite chromatography, electron microscopy and S1 nuclease. Large hyperpolymers could not be eluted from hydroxyapatite with 0.5 M phosphate buffer at 60 degrees C. Large proportions of wheat and E. coli DNAs were incorporated into hyperpolymers when fragments 650 nucleotides long were renatured. A much smaller proportion of calf DNA was incorporated under equivalent conditions. Greater proportions of calf DNA accumulated in hyperpolymers only when longer fragments were incubated. Electron microscopy indicated no obvious differences in the basic structures of hyperpolymers formed by the three DNAs and confirmed the quantitative differences in hyperpolymer formation found by hydroxyapatite chromatography. It is concluded that the proportions and arrangement of the repeated sequences in the chromosomes of higher organisms determine the extent of rapid hyperpolymer formation during DNA renaturation in vitro.


Alteration of 5S RNA conformation by ribosomal proteins L18 and L25. The effects of ribosomal proteins L18, L25 and L5 on the conformation of 5S RNA have been studied by circular dichroism and temperature dependent ultraviolet absorbance. The circular dichroism spectrum of native 5S RNA is characterized in the near ultraviolet by a large positive band at 267 nm and a small negative band at 298 nm. The greatest perturbation in the spectrum was produced by protein L18 which induced a 20% increase in the 267 nm band and no change in the 298 nm band. By contrast, protein L25 caused a small decrease in both bands. No effect was observed with protein L5. Simultaneous binding of proteins L18 and L25 resulted in CD changes equivalent to the sum of their independent effects. The UV absorbance thermal denaturation profile of the 5S RNA L18 complex lacked the pre-melting behavior characteristic of 5S RNA. Protein L25 had no effect on the 5S RNA melting profile. We concluded that protein L18 increases the secondary, and possible the tertiary structure of 5S RNA, and exerts a minor stabilizing effect on its conformation while protein L25 causes a small decrease in 5S RNA secondary structure. The implications of these findings for ribosome assembly and function are discussed.


Histone-like proteins in the purified Escherichia coli deoxyribonucleoprotein. Analysis of E.coli chromosomes isolated under conditions similar to those used for isolation of eukaryotic chromatin has shown that: 1) The proteins of highly purified E.coli deoxyribonucleoprotein are mainly in addition to RNA polymerase two specific histone-like proteins of apparent molecular weight of 17,000 and 9,000 (proteins 1 and 2, respectively). 2) Proteins 1 and 2 occur in approximately equal molar amounts in the isolated E.coli chromosome, and their relative content corresponds to one molecule of protein 1 plus one molecule of protein 2 per 150-200 base pairs of DNA. 3) There are no long stretches of naked DNA in the purified E.coli deoxyribonucleoprotein suggesting a fairly uniform distribution of the proteins 1 and 2 along DNA. 4) The protein 2 is apparently identical to the DNA-binding protein HU which was isolated previously /1/ from extracts of E.coli cells. 5) Digestion of the isolated E.coli chromosomes with staphylococcal nuclease proceeds through discrete deoxyribonucleoprotein intermediates (in particular, at approximately 120 base pairs) which contain both proteins 1 and 2. However, since no repeating multimer structure was observed so far in nuclease digests of the E.coli chromosome, it seems premature to draw definite conclusions about possible similarities between the nucleosomal organization of the eukaryotic chromatin and the E.coli chromatin structure.Images


Modified polynucleotides. I. Investigation of the enzymatic polymerization of 5-alkyl-dUTP-s. The chemical synthesis of 5-alkyl-dUTP-s and their participation as substrates in poly[d(A-6)] primed polymerization reactions with dATP by E. coli DNA polymerase I enzyme has been described. In comparison with dTTP, at saturating substrate concentrations, the rate of hypochromic effect was found to be 17.3% higher for dUTP and was lower by 27.4% for 5-ethyl-dUTP, 29.5% for 5-n-propyl-dUTP, 31.4% for 5-n-butyl-dUTP and by 85.0% for 5-n-pentyl-dUTP. No hypochromic effect could be observed, however, with 5-iso-propyl-, 5-tert.butyl- and 5-n-hexyl-dUTP-s. Polydeoxynucleotides have also been isolated from the reaction mixture and some of their structural properties determined.


RNA-ligant interactions. (I) Magnesium binding sites in yeast tRNAPhe. X-ray crystallagraphic studies studies indicate that there are at least four site-specifically bound hydrated Mg2+ ions, [Mg(H2O)n]2+, in yeast tRNAPhe. The size and the octahedral coordination geometry, rather than the charge, of [Mg(H2O)N]2+ appear to be the primary reasons for the specificity of magnesium ions in site-binding and in the stabilization of the tertiary structure of tRNA.


A comparison of transcriptional linkage of tRNA cistrons in yeast and E. coli by the ultraviolet light technique. The ultraviolet light mapping technique was employed to determine the lengths of tRNA cistrons in yeast. The applicability of the method was first tested in the E. coli system, in which the mapping positions for some tRNA cistrons and the ribosomal 5S RNA genes as well as the existence of multimeric transcription units for tRNAs are known. Rates of the synthesis of the tRNAs and small rRNAs after irradiation with various doses of UV light were determined by pulse labeling and quantitation of the RNA species after twodimensional gel electrophoreses. The small ribosomal RNAs served for internal calibration in the estimtion of the target sizes. Our results suggest that--in contrast to the prokaryotic system--in yeast the majority of the tRNA genes are not linked into transcriptional units.


Relation between Escherichia coli endonucleases specific for apurinic sites in DNA and exonuclease III. Contradictory data have recently been published from two different laboratories on the presence vs absence of an intrinsic endonucliolytic activity of E. coli exonuclease III at apurinic sites in double-stranded DNA. It is shown here that an endonuclease activity of this specificity co-chromatographs exactly with exonuclease III on phosphocellulose and Sephadex G-75 columns, indicating that the endonuclease and exonuclease activities are due to the same enzyme. In addition, another E. coli endonuclease specific for apurinic sites exists, which can be separated from exonuclease III by the same chromatographic procedures.


On the Phe-tRNA induced binding of fluorescent oligonucleotides to the ribosomal decoding site. Fluorescent oligonucleotides were prepared by dansylation of 5'-amino uridylates of varying chainlength. Except for the trinucleoside diphosphate, they stimulated the binding of PhetRNA TO 70S E. coli ribosomes as efficiently as underivatised oligouridylic acids of comparable chainlength. The ternary ribosomal complex [70S X Phe-tRNA X dansyl-n5'U(pU)4] was separated from excess oligonucleotide and its fluorescence spectra were measured. The quantum yield of the dansylated pentauridylate was enhanced 2.5 fold when bound to the ribosomal decoding site, but no shift of the emission spectrum was observed. The ribosomal complex is considered useful for topographic investigations by singlet energy transfer, using the functionally defined decoding site as reference point.


Studies on gene control regions. VI. The 5- methyl of thymine, a lac repressor recognition site. Three site specific deoxyuridine analogs of lac operator were tested for binding with wild type (SQ) and tight binding (QX86) lac repressors. Insertion of uracil for thymine at site 13 (our nomenclature) significantly reduced the dissociation half-life of QX86 repressor for lac operator DNA (21 vs 1.2 min). Two other sites (6 and 7) are affected to a much lesser extent.


Bacteriophage T4 RNA ligase: preparation of a physically homogeneous, nuclease-free enzyme from hyperproducing infected cells. Infection of Escherichia coli by a bacteriophage T4 regA, gene 44 double mutant leads to about a 7-fold increase in the amount of RNA ligase obtained after infection by wild-type phage. Using cells infected by the double mutant, RNA ligase was purified to homogeneity with a 20% yield. Unlike previous preparations of this enzyme, the ligase is free of contaminating nuclease and is therefore suitable for intermolecular ligation of DNA substrates. In the course of these studies it was discovered that adenylalation of the enzyme--a step in the reaction pathway--markedly decreased the electrophoretic mobility of RNA ligase through polyacrylamide gels containing sodium dodecyl sulfate. This behavior allows identification of RNA ligase among a mixture of proteins and was used to demonstrate that virtually all of the purified protein is enzymatically active.


Structure of chromatin subunits: an endonuclease Serratia marcescens study. Electrophoretic properties of chromatin subunits--nucleosomes--obtained by treatment of chromatin with the Serratia marcescens endonuclease have been studied. Double-stranded breaks of DNA between adjacent nucleosomes do not necessarily lead to their disjunction. Fragmentation of the DNA within the nucleosomes may proceed simultaneously with the breakdown of the DNA between the nucleosomes at early stages of the endonuclease digestion. Electrophoretic mobility and chromatographic properties of mononucleosomes, their dimers and trimers with internally degraded DNA was not changed. It has been deduced that the integrity of chromatin particles with internally fragmented DNA is supported by histone interaction inside and between the nucleosomes.


[Determination of the glucoamylase activity in amylolytic preparations]. Glucoamylase capacity of amylolytic preparations was determined with respect to the initial rate (VO) of the glucose synthesis from starch when treated with the preparations tested. The concentration of free glucose (y) was assayed, using a glucooxidase reagent after 5, 10 and 20 min hydrolysis. This method takes into consideration the y -- t function which may be non-linear due to the effect of a number of factors (occurrence of alpha-amylase, enzyme inactivation, etc.). In the case of the y -- t linear function VO is measured on the basis of the angle of the y(t) curve. In the case of the y -- t nonlinear function VO is determined by extrapolation according to the described method. The paper contains examples of how to determine can calculate glucoamylase capacity for the two cases.


[Development of experimental obesity from the overfeeding of rats at sexually immature and mature ages. The effect of the food composition on the development of alimentary obesity in rats]. Overfeeding Wistar rats starting one and a half months before sexual maturation led to a more marked adiposity than in the animals in which overfeeding was started after the occurrence of sexual maturity. The first category of the animals displayed an increase in the adipose tissue cell count, whereas rats overfed after reaching maturity showed an enlargement of these cells without increase in their number. Adiposity was more pronounced in rats given excessive food consisting mainly of carbohydrates in comparison with the animals of the same age chiefly given an excess of fats. The same rats showed an increase in the relative area of the islar tissue of the pancreas and of the beta-cell mass.


[Late results of treating congenital hypothyroidism]. The authors present remote results of treatment of 23 patients with congenital hypothyroidism in whom the disease manifested itself in childhood; these patients reached the age of 20-30 years by the end of their examination. The efficacy of replacement hormonal therapy was connected not only with the early diagnosis of the disease, and timely treatment, but also with regularity of its institution at later years. Stable hypothyroidish compensation at the early stages of child development led to a proper physical, mental and sexual development of the patients, and promoted normalization of the metabolic processes and functional activity of the internal organs, preventing the patients' invalidization.


State of prophage Mu DNA upon induction. We have compared the process of prophage lambda induction with that of prophage Mu. According to the Campbell model, rescue of lambda DNA from the host DNA involves reversal of lambda integration such that the prophage DNA is excised from the host chromosome. We have monitored this event by locating the prophage DNA with a technique in which DNA of the lysogenic cells is cleaved with a restriction endonuclease and fractionated in agarose gels. The DNA fragments are denatured in gels, transferred to a nitrocellulose paper, and hybridized with 32P-labeled mature phage DNA. The fragments containing prophage DNA become visible after autoradiography. Upon prophage lambda induction, the phage-host junction fragments disappear and the fragment containing the lambda att site appears. No such excision is seen in prophage Mu. The Mu-host junction fragments remain intact well into the lytic cycle, when Mu DNA has undergone many rounds of replication and apparently many copies of Mu DNA have been integrated into the host DNA. Therefore, we postulate that Mu DNA replicates in situ and the replication generates a form of Mu DNA active in the integrative recombination between Mu DNA and host DNA. This type of mechanism may be common to many transposable elements.


Packaging recombinant DNA molecules into bacteriophage particles in vitro. Recombinant phage genomes made in reactions with purified enzymes may be recovered directly by packaging into phage heads in vitro. The process is efficient and nonselective and offers containment in initial stages of handling recombinant DNA. Ligase [poly(deoxyribonucleotide):poly-(deoxyribonucleotide) ligase (AMP-forming), EC 6.5.1.1] reaction products can recombine with endogenous phage DNA during packaging, but UV-irradiation eliminates the biological activity of the endogenous DNA.


Binding of synthetic lactose operator DNAs to lactose represessors. The nitrocellulose filter assay was used to study the interactions of wild-type (SQ) and tight-binding (QX86) lac repressors with synthetic lac operators 21 and 26 base pairs long. The repressor binding properties of both operators were very similar, indicating that both contain the same specific repressor recognition sites. The repressor-operator association rate constants (k(a)) were more sensitive than dissociation rate constants (k(d)) to changes in ionic strength. The responses of both k(a) and k(d) to ionic strength were relatively small compared to the effects previously observed with lambdah80dlac as operator DNA. These results suggest that under natural conditions there are electrostatic interactions between lac repressor and DNA regions outside of the 26 base pair operator sequence. Association rate constants for SQ repressor with either operator are higher than have been predicted for diffusion-limited reactions. We postulate that long-range electrostatic attractions between repressor and operator accelerate the association reaction. The presence of nonoperator DNA decreased association rate constants, the effect being more noticeable at an ionic strength of 0.05 M than at 0.20 M. Nonoperator DNA reduced k(a) values for associations involving QX86 repressor to a greater extent than for those with SQ repressor. The two types of repressors also had different rate constants for interactions with synthetic operators. The values for k(a) and k(d) were both higher with SQ repressor than with QX86 repressor. However, the rate constants were more sensitive to ionic strength when the repressor used was QX86.


Sensory transduction in Escherichia coli: two complementary pathways of information processing that involve methylated proteins. The properties of two classes of behavioral mutants of Escherichia coli (called tsr and tar) are described. The mutations in these strains define two complementary pathways of information flow in bacterial chemotaxis: behavioral responses to one set of stimuli are defective in tsr mutants, while responses to a complementary set of stimuli are defective in tar mutants. A double mutant containing both genetic lesions is defective in responses to all stimuli tested. The behavioral defects are shown to correlate with alterations in the properties of a methylation reaction involved in chemotaxis. Two independent sets of methyl-accepting proteins are demonstrated in the wild type, each set functioning in one of the two pathways mentioned above. Methylation of one set of proteins is defective in tsr mutants, while methylation of the complementary set is defective in tar mutants. The double mutant shows no methylation of either set. The relationship between the genetic loci (tsr and tar) and the methyl-accepting proteins is discussed.


Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli: methylation of che gene products. The products of three chemotaxis-specific genes in Escherichia coli, cheM, cheD, and cheZ, are methylated. The cheZ gene codes for the synthesis of a 24,000 molecular weight polypeptide that appears in the cytoplasm. cheM codes for the synthesis of a membrane-bound polypeptide with a molecular weight of 61,000. cheD codes for another membrane-bound polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 64,000. CheM(-) mutants show chemotaxis toward some attractants (Tar(-) phenotype), while CheD(-) mutants respond to other attractants (Tsr(-) phenotype). The double mutant (CheD(-), CheM(-)) does not respond to any attractant or repellent tested. Therefore, these polypeptides play a central role in chemotaxis. They collect information from two subsets of chemoreceptors and act as the last step in the chemoreceptor pathway and the first step in the general processing of signals for transmission to the flagellar rotor. It is suggested that they may be involved in both an initial process that reflects the instantaneous state of the chemoreceptors and in an integrative, adaptive process. Two other genes, cheX and cheW, are required for the methylation of the cheD and cheM gene products.