Hydrolysis of an aliphatic monoester in emulsion by swine pancreas lipase: influence of interfacial bile salts molecules upon reaction rate. The accumulation of four bile salts at the interface between water and n-hexyl laurate is studied. Gibb's interfacial excesses of these salts are calculated, starting from interfacial tension measurements. At the same time, emulsions of the ester are treated by lipase and reactions rates are plotted against the bile salt concentrations present in the water phase of the emulsions. Inhibition by conjugated bile salts appear before the critical micellar concentration is approached. There is no defined relationship between this inhibition and the fraction of interfacial area covered by detergent molecules. In accordance with recent publication, the discussion suggests that the energy level of interfaces is important for lipase action and that, when interfacial tension becomes too small, lipase does not attach to interfaces and appears as inactive.


[Complete structure of glycopeptides isolated from IgG immunoglobulins of cow colostrum]. Bovine immunoglobulins (IgG1 type) have been isolated from colostral whey. Hydrolysis by pronase, trypsin and (or) chymotrypsin yield several glycopeptides structural studies of which lead to the following results. 1. IgG1 colostral immunoglobulins possess two glycan moieties which are linked to the peptidic chain by an N-(beta-aspartyl)-N-acetylglucosaminylamine bound. 2. The peptidic sequence around the linkage region has been determined by classical methods and is as follows: Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg-Glu-Glu-Gln-Phe-Asn(Glycan)-Ser-Thr-Tyr-Arg. 3. The following procedures: partial acidic hydrolysis, periodic oxidation, hydrazinolysis-nitrous deamination, methylation and use of specific glycosidases allowed us to determine the structure of the glycan moieties which fit with the general following scheme: (see article) Thus they could be related to the general glycan structure so-called of "N-acetyllactosamine type" because they possess the pentasaccharidic core common to numerous glycoproteins Man alpha 1 leads to [Man alpha 1 leads to 6] Man beta 1 leads to 4 GlcNAc beta 1 leads to 4 GlcNAc beta 1 leads to Asn on which are conjugated 2 N-acetyllactosamine residues. Besides they present a microheterogeneity which is due to the varying number of additional N-acetylneuraminic acid and fucose residues. 4. These structures are compared to various immunoglobulin structures proposed by others: bovine serum IgG and human serum IgG, IgE and IgA.


Pleiotypic response of rat heart cells in culture to serum stimulation. The pleiotypic effects of medium replacement were studied in rat heart cell cultures. After each medium change alpha-aminoisobutyric acid and glucose transport are increased, RNA and protein syntheses are activated. DNA synthesis did not begin before 12 hours and was followed by a wave of mitoses. This sequence of events suggests that the stimulated cells were in early G 1 phase. DNA synthesis, following the shift to a fresh medium, is linearly related to the amount of serum used as is protein synthesis. However when serum concentrations higher than 20 percent were used no increased protein synthesis could be observed suggesting the existence of another limiting factor, which was probably the isoleucine content of the medium. The serum stimulating factor is heat stable, dialysable and was found in both human and fetal calf sera.


Electromyographic biofeedback for relief of tension in the facial and throat muscles of a woodwind musician. Electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback, for the relaxation of specific throat and facial muscles, was given to a woodwind musician. The patient had a nineteen-year history of tics and high levels of tension in his throat and facial muscles. Eventurally these problems progressed to a point that interfered with his ability to perform as a professional woodwind musician. Following detoxification from alcohol and Dexamyl, and after a period of psychotherapy, EMG biofeedback relaxation training was started for the muscles specifically showing chronically high tension levels. The EMG training consisted of four phases designed to help the patient progressively lower tension and generalize these newly learned techniques to his professional life. He had a total of twenty treatments of approximately 45 minutes each. This procedure resulted in dramatic reductions in tension levels of the specific throat and facial muscles along with increased proficiency as a musician and in psychological functioning.


Electromyographic biofeedback treatment of a woman with chronic dysphagia. In this case report, a 25-year-old female with chronic dysphagia spastica (difficulty swallowing because of constriction of the throat muscles) was treated with 20 sessions of frontal electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback and home-relaxation practice. The subject monitored on a 10-point scale her difficulty swallowing during meals for 2 months prior to treatment, during treatment, and after treatment. There was a significant decrease in reported difficulty swallowing associated with frontalis EMG feedback. Improvement was maintained at a 6-month follow-up.


Differential shaping of EEG theta rhythms. Heart rate, EEG, frontal EMG, and forearm EMG were recorded in 20 subjects for 3 baseline, 8 feedback, and 2 postbaseline sessions in order to compare two biofeedback methods of teaching subjects to increase theta EEG activity. Subjects were divided into high- and low-EMG groups. Five high-EMG subjects, and 5 low-EMG subjects then received 8 sessions of strictly theta feedback. The remaining 10 subjects, 5 from the high-EMG group, and 5 from the low-EMG group, received a "graduated" training which involved shaping the target response. This procedure consisted of 4 initial sessions of EMG feedback, followed by a second phase consisting of 4 sessions of theta feedback. Results showed a clear relationship between subjects' baseline frontal EMG levels and the effect of the training methods. Although subjects with high-EMG baseline increased their theta output only with the two-phase training, subjects with low-EMG baseline levels performed better when given theta feedback only. This result shows not only that amounts of theta can be reliably increased, but that training techniques should be adapted to the physiological characteristics of the individual--in this case, baseline levels of frontal EMG levels.


Detection of EEG abnormalities with feedback stimulation. A feedback method for testing the reactivity of the occipital-parietal EEG in selected brain-lesioned patients revealed abnormalities of (a) insufficient reactivity, (b) bilateral differences in reactivity, and (3) asynchrony. These abnormalities were more evident during feedback stimulation than in the baseline conditions. The utility of feedback method for detecting EEG abnormalities rests on the increased stability or decreased "noisy" variation in the EEG during feedback. The EEG becomes more predictable even to the "on-line" human observer. This makes it easier to detect aberrations or deviations from normal effects. Some effects can only be seen with feedback such as the bilateral differences which occur when the left side controls the feedback compared to when the right side controls it. The results show that feedback EEG is a useful tool in clinical research and indicate that a clinical diagnostic test could be developed with more research. However, the feedback EEG method is not yet a proven diagnostic technique.


Conflicting results in EEG alpha feedback studies: why amplitude integration should replace percent time. Success or failure of EEG feedback training for alpha enhancement can depend on how alpha activity is quantified and fed back. Alpha-enhancement failures usually employ a percent time (%) technique; successes typically use amplitude integration (variation of). To dramatize the differences between percent and integration techniques, we derived both measures simultaneously from left occipital (O1) and left central (C3) sites for 16 male subjects who were given 5.6 hours of integrated alpha feedback from the midline occipital (Ozeta) site. At both the O1 and C3 sites the integrated and percent measures were not equivalent and not linearly related. Statistically significant differences in the (integrated, percent) correlation coefficients (z-transpormed) were observed under the different recording conditions: alpha enhancement, alpha suppression, and baselines. Theoretical discussion of integration and percent techniques is given and the adoption of amplitude integration measures and feedback stimuli is strongly advocated.


Self-regulation of response patterning: implications for psychophysiological research and therapy. This paper develops the basic premise that learning to self-regulate a pattern of responses can have different consequences from those observed when controlling individual functions alone. It is suggested that the self-regulation of patterns of responses can be a particularly sensitive and effective procedure for (a) uncovering biological linkages and constraints between responses in the intact human, (b) investigating how multiphysiological systems combine to produce unique subjective experiences and effects on performance, and (c) enhancing the clinical effectiveness of biofeedback procedures by training patients to integrate and coordinate voluntarily specific patterns of cognitive, autonomic, and motor responses. These hypotheses are illustrated by basic research involving biofeedback training for patterns of blood pressure, heart rate and EEG activity, related experiments on the cognitive self-regulation of patterns of physiological responses using affective imagery and meditation procedures, and case studies of patients treated with biofeedback. The concept of electronic biofeedback as an "unnatural act" is presented with the goal of placing self-regulation within a more biobehavioral perspective emphasizing the natural patterning of physiological processes.


Feedback-aided self-regulation of skin temperature with a single feedback locus. I. Acquisition and reversal training. A technique has been developed that enables most humans to establish rapid self-regulatory control of their own skin temperature when provided with immediate visual feedback information concerning variations in local skin temperature. Training took place during 15-min periods within 45-min sessions. Clear evidence of learning was usually manifested within 4 sessions. After acquisition occurred, mean change per session was approximately 2.2 degrees F, ranging up to 6.5 degrees F. Training was continued with some subjects who were taught to alter temperature in opposite directions during successive periods on the same day. After practice, these subjects routinely displayed ranges of 9-14 degrees F within 15 min.


Frontal EMG-biofeedback training of athetoid cerebral palsy patients: a report of six cases. Six athetoid cerebral palsy patients participated in the following: speech and motor prebiofeedback training evaluation; frontal EMG biofeedback training, 6 wk; speech and motor postbiofeedback training evaluation. Frontal pretraining levels for the subjects averaged 28.9 muV p-p. Subjects' feedback consisted of an auditory signal (clicks) varying proportionately with frontal EMG activity. A visual meter display of the integrated EMG was also provided. Self-regulation of frontal EMG was evident for all subjects within session 1. Throughout all sessions, EMG levels of 2-4 mu V were often attained. Trend analysis of EMG acquisition curves showed significant reduction in frontal tension across sessions for all but one subject. Frontal posttraining levels averaged 13.0 muV p-p. Parents or subjects, or both, reported subtle improvements in various speech and motor functions, a finding confirmed by objective postbiofeedback training evaluation. Only the 2 most severely impaired subjects, JA and DS, failed to improve significantly on the speech measures. All subjects improved significantly on those measures that tapped fine and gross motor skills. Collectively, these results indicate that EMG biofeedback training shows promise as an additional treatment modality in the habilitation of cerebral palsy patients.


Awareness during electromyographic biofeedback: of signal or process? During relaxation training, awareness of trial-to-trial changes in frontalis-muscle tension levels was assessed with and without auditory electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback. Immediately after each 128-sec training trial, the subject was required to guess whether muscle tension indexed by EMG activity increased ("Up") or decreased ("Down") relative to the immediately preceding trial. The probability of correct guessing, P(c), improved as the absolute difference in EMG increased between trials only when biofeedback was presented. For subjects not receiving biofeedback, P(c) remained low even when the absolute difference between trials was large. Subjects in each condition employed a strategy to guess "Down" more often consistent with the expectation that they were being trained to relax. The "Down" set strategy was shown to be separable from the informational basis of P(c) provided by biofeedback. This procedure can be employed to evaluate central assumptions of biofeedback relating to posttraining awareness of changes in muscle tension and the relationship between awareness and control of muscle tension.


Cognitive factors in biofeedback therapy. The role that the client's cognitions (viz., his self-statements and images) play in each of the various phases of biofeedback training is examined. Biofeedback training is conceptualized as including three phases: initial conceptualization, skills-acquisition and -rehearsal, and transfer of treatment. Cognitive-behavior modification procedures to alter or employ the clients' cognitions at each of these phases of treatment are described. A cognitive theory of self-control is offered, postulating a three-stage mediational change process whereby: (1) the client must become an observer of his behavior and physiological responses; (2) this recognition becomes the cue to emit incompatible cognitions and behaviors; and, finally, (3) the content of the client's cognitions following change influences the generalization and persistence of treatment effects. The implications of this theory for biofeedback training are discussed.


EMG-biofeedback reduction of tension headache: a cognitive skills-training approach. The biofeedback literature affirms the therapeutic efficacy of EMG-biofeedback-assisted relaxation for the treatment of tension headache. However, this form of therapy has failed to focus on the role of cognitive variables in the control and perception of tension headache. The present case study provides a prototype treatment combining cognitive behavior--modification procedures with EMG-biofeedback training to treat a subject with chronic tension headache. Phase I, baseline, involved collecting mean EMG and daily headache activity, emphasizing specification of environmental stressors. Phase II, cognitive skills--training, focused on: (1) identifying negative self-statements (cognitions) related to stressors, and (2) training the subject to replace negative self-statements with coping self-instructions. This treatment resulted in a 33% headache reduction over baseline, with no concomitant changes in frontalis EMG. Phase III, EMG-biofeedback training, resulted in a 38% reduction in mean EMG level and a 66% reduction in mean headache activity when compared to baseline. The results suggest the importance of attending to cognitive factors in the treatment of tension headache.


Effects of sham feedback following successful SMR training in an epileptic: follow-up study. After 1 year of SMR biofeedback training of a severe epileptic teenage male, incidence of atonic seizures decreased from 8/hr to less than 1/3 hr. SMR increased from 10% to 70%. Epileptiform discharges decreased from 45% to 15%. Unknown to the patient, his family, or certain members of our research staff, noncontingent feedback was introduced on 7/22/74, ending 9/11/74. A significant decrease occurred for SMR (down 8%), and a significant increase for epileptiform discharges (up 4%). Rate of seizures increased, but was not statistically significant over preceding months of contingent feedback. Incidence of seizures associated with urine loss increased from approximately 6/month to 23/month during noncontingent feedback, a significant increase. Urine-loss results suggest that although seizures did not become more frequent, those the patient did experience were "harder," i.e., more severe. Contingent feedback was reinstituted following the 7-wk sham, and recovery of all variables to their former levels (prior to sham) occurred.


Biofeedback use of common objects: the bathroom scale in physical therapy. Many common devices can be used as biofeedback devices. The feedback use of the bathroom scale in rehabilitation medicine (physical therapy) has been explored with stroke patients. These patients used two scales, one under each foot, to relearn their sense of weight distribution. In addition, the scale was used to teach patients to shift their weight distribution from their knees to their hands as they learned to crawl, and from their feet to their buttocks and the chair as they learned to sit down.


The voluntary control of heart rate under differential somatic restraint. The purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that subjects (Ss) can exert voluntary, bidirectional heart rate (HR) control in the absence of concomitant changes in respiration rate (RR) and muscle activity (chin EMG). Feedback-assisted HR control was studied under four experimental conditions involving increasing levels of somatic restraint: (a) No somatic controls, (b) RR pacing, (c) EMG feedback, to maintain constant muscle activity, and (d) RR pacing plus EMG feedback. Fifteen Ss, eight females and seven males, were assigned to each of these four conditions (N = 60). The HR control task involved ten increase and ten decrease trials in random  order, each lasting 60 sec and preceded by a 60-sec resting baseline period. The results indicated that Ss produced significant HR increases (Xdelta = +3.4 bpm), but were unable to effect decreases (Xdelta = -.3 bpm). Furthermore, the magnitude of the obtained HR changes did not differ by experimental condition, i.e., by level of somatic restraint. While concomitant bidirectional RR changes were found, the pacing procedure effectively reduced, and on HR increase trials, nearly eliminated, RR involvement. No increases in EMG activity were found on HR increase trials for any of the four experimental conditions, whereas all groups showed some EMG decreases on HR deceleration trials. With respect to the question of somatic mediation of autonomic control, it is concluded that HR increases produced under paced respiration "favor" an interpretation of unmediated HR acceleration.


Relaxation measured by EMG as a function of vibrotactile stimulation. The present study investigated the effect of vibrotactile stimulation on relaxation as measured by EMG recording. Forty-eight subjects from three age groups were randomly divided into 8 experimental groups: (1) simultaneous footrest vibration and back vibration (A1C1); (2) simultaneous footrest vibration and back roller (A1C2); (3) simultaneous footrest vibration, back vibration and back roller (A1C3); (4) footrest vibration alone (A1C4): (5) back vibration alone (A2C1); (6) back roller alone (A2C2); (7) simultaneous back vibration and back roller (A2C3); and (8) control group (no vibration/stimulation) (A2C4). The three major variables studied were footrest vibration (A1 and A2), pre- and post-EMG measures (B1 and B2), and back vibration (C1C2C3C4). Results showed that footrest vibration had a significant effect on relaxation. Other conditions (except the control) produced a decrease in EMG levels, but did not reach significance. Pre- and postmeasures by experimental conditions were also significantly different. Application of vibration as an aid in relaxation is discussed.


EEG and behavioral changes in a hyperkinetic child concurrent with training of the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR): a preliminary report. Reduced seizure incidence coupled with voluntary motor inhibition accompanied conditioned increases in the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR), a 12- 14 Hz rhythm appearing over rolandic cortex. Although SMR biofeedback training has been successfully applied to various forms of epilepsy in humans, its potential use in decreasing hyperactivity has been limited to a few cases in which a seizure history was also a significant feature. The present study represents a first attempt to explore the technique's applicability to the problem of hyperkinesis independent of the epilepsy issue. The results of several months of EEG biofeedback training in a hyperkinetic child tend to corroborate and extend previous findings. Feedback presentations for SMR were contingent on the production of 12- 14-Hz activity in the absence of 4- 7-Hz slow-wave activity. A substantial increase in SMR motor inhibition, as gauged by laboratory measures of muscular tone (chin EMG) and by a global behavioral assessment in the classroom. Opposite trends in motor inhibition occurred when the training procedure was reversed and feedback presentations were contingent on the production of 4- 7 Hz in the absence of 12- 14-Hz activity. Although the preliminary nature of these results is stressed, the subject population has recently been increased to establish the validity and generality of the findings and will include the use of SMR biofeedback training after medication has been withdrawn.


The applications and techniques of cell electrophoresis and the Zeiss rectangular chamber cytopherometer. The first part of this article is devoted to a description of the techniques of cell electrophoresis, its associated problems and its applications in research and clinical medicine. While the second part deals specifically with the techniques of the Zeiss rectangular cytopherometer, much of the information also applies to the Rank particle electrophoresis apparatus. Solutions to problems encountered in the use of this equipment with biological solutions are also discussed.


A method for monitoring uterine activity in induced labour. A system for the quantitative assessment of uterine activity during an oxytocin-induced labour has been developed. This has been achieved using relatively simple analogue techniques and can easily be used in the labour ward alongside existing monitoring equipment. Initial results indicate that a plateau of uterine activity can be easily recognised from the display and maintained at oxytocin dosage levels below those that might normally be used.


Analysis and evaluation of functional status of lower extremity amputee-appliance systems: an integrated approach. This paper introduces an integrated, objective and biomechanically sound approach for the analysis and evaluation of the functional status of lower extremity amputee-appliance systems. The method is demonstrated here in its application to the unilateral lower extremity amputee-axillary crutches system and the unilateral below-knee amputee-PTB prosthesis system, both of which are commonly encountered in day-to-day rehabilitation practice.


A system for the determination of mineralocorticoid activity by electrical potential difference measurements. An electronic measuring instrument, which automatically calculates the rectal potential difference, has been developed to determine mineralocorticoid activity in patients with primaroid disorders. A special probe with a disposable tip enables measurements to be made on successive patients without prior cleaning of the probe. The technique, results and their clinical implications are discussed. A highly significant correlation between plasma aldosterone and rectal potential difference is demonstrated.


The spectrum of pressor-response to norepinephrine in normotensive and hypertensive patients. The pressor-response to norepinephrine was determined in the whole body circulation of 15 normal subjects and 86 untreated essential hypertensive patients. The slope, the threshold-dose and the critical-dose were calculated from the log dose-response curve. In the overall population (101 subjects) a slight correlation (r = +0.20 less than 0.05) was observed between the basal diastolic arterial pressure and the threshold-dose. In contrast, highly significant parabolic correlations (r = +0.46 less than 0.00001) were observed between the diastolic arterial pressure and the slope or the critical dose. When diastolic arterial pressure was above 100 mmHg, the slope increased while the blood pressure increased. This result suggests either a decreased sympathetic tone or an adaptative structural change of the arterial wall. When diastolic arterial pressure was under 100 mmHg, the slope decreased while the blood pressure increased. This observation points to an enhanced sympathetic activity in mild blood pressure.


Intravenous loading with arginine-hydrochloride and ornithine-aspartate in siblings of two families, presenting a familial neurological syndrome associated with cystinuria. 1. Arginine-hydrochloride and ornithine-aspartate solutions have been infused intravenously to children of two families. Three children of the WOL. family are affected with hyperargininemia and hyperammonemia, due to a lack of arginase. They present a secondary cystine-lysinuria. The three WIL. siblings are suffering from muscular hypotonia, dwarfism, incomplete renal tubular acidosis and primary cystinuria. 2. The aim was to verify how and to what extent the artificial rise of one serum amino acid could influence the serum concentrations and the urinary losses of the other amino acids. The results found for the serum have been submitted to a statistical analysis of variance. 3. The variations observed for the amino acids of the urea cycle can be interpreted as being the reflections of known metabolic pathways. 4. Additional remarks are made on a paradox in the lysinemia-lysinuria relation after arginine infusion, with a simultaneous rise of this essential amino acid in serum and urine.


[Absorption cooefficient for dietary cholesterol, the fundamental parameter of cholesterol dynamic equilibrium in rats]. By an isotopic equilibrium method turnover rates of rats cholesterol have been determined in 30 various experimental conditions. A deductive analysis of these overall old data discovers that absorption coefficient of dietary cholesterol is a determinative parameter of cholesterol dynamic equilibrium. Synthesis which takes places chiefly in the intestine, fecal external secretion and fecal excretion of cholesterol are linearly increasing when the absorption coefficient is decreasing. Two types of exception have been noted. The most interesting concerns the case where there is a supplementary synthesis. For pregnant of lactating female rats placenta or mammary glands are directly interested. For rats with ligated bile duct or feed with cholestryramine, liver must be incriminated. These two last cases are the alone on 30 where hepatic synthesis play very probably a notable role in the dynamic equilibrium of cholesterol.


Dietary fibre and cholesterol metabolism: effect of fibre rich polysaccharide from blackgram (Phaseolus mungo) on cholesterol metabolism in rats fed normal and atherogenic diet. The effect of the fibre rich polysaccharide from black gram was studied on the concentration of cholesterol in the tissues, bile salts in the liver and faecal excretion of sterols and bile salts in rats fed normal and high fat cholesterol diet as compared to glucose and sucrose. The binding of bile salts "in vitro" by the polysaccharide was also studied. The rats fed polysaccharide showed the lowest level of cholesterol in the serum, liver and aorta both in normal and high fat -- cholesterol diet groups. Excretion of faecal sterols and bile salts was maximum in the animals fed polysaccharide. The concentration of bile salts in the liver was also maximum in the animals of this group. There was significant binding of bile salts by the polysaccharide when either natural bile or pure bile salt solution was shaken with it. The extent of binding of bile salts was however decreased in the presence of fatty acids, which also released some of the absorbed bile salts from the polysaccharide on subsequent shaking.


Low-molecular-weight carbohydrate-rich compounds in pregnancy urine. The isolation and the chemical composition of two low-molecular-weight carbohydrate-rich fractions individualized in non-pregnant and pregnant women urine is reported. The first one is almost composed of glycopeptides whereas the second one gathers the major part of oligosaccharides. It is shown that at the 8th month of pregnancy, both fractions contain a larger amount of neutral hexoses, N-acetylneuraminic acid, N-acetylhexosamines 6-deoxyhexoses and aminoacids than in normal urine. Further, a discrimination is observed in the enhancement of each fraction. The increased amount of fraction 2 is observed as soon as the 17th week of pregnancy, whilst the amount of fraction 1 increases slowly from the 17th week until the end of pregnancy. Both fractions exhibit a tremendous increase of all carbohydrates, one week after delivery. The increased amount of glycopeptide material could be related to glycoproteins catabolism, and the increased amount of oligosaccharide material could be related to the mammary tissue metabolism.


Prognosis of myeloid metaplasia with myelofibrosis. The study of the evolution of 168 cases of idiopathic myeloid splenomegaly allowed to point out the prognostic value of the clinical hematologic, isotopic and radiological parameters. The correlation of these data with the histological type of the osteomedullary lesions at the time of the diagnosis, allows to confirm the long survival of the hyperplastic formes (type I) and the more reserved prognosis in advanced myelofibrosis (type II and III together). Indeed, median survival is of 82 months for type I, and 60 months for type II and type III together. It seems advice to gather the two last types and so, to compare two anatomoclinical entities : one is characterized by hyperplastic marrow with reticulinic fibrosis, usually associated with enlarged spleen and sometimes even with increase red blood cells volume but without radiological bone lesions; the other one is characterized by a marrow of middle importance or marked marrow depletion, fibrosis, with or not osteosclerosis, and shows moderate or marked radiological lesions (respectively 16,9% of the cases) and, often, pancytopenia.


Differences between elevations of plasma and serum potassium in pentobarbital-narcotized cats during asphyxia. During acute asphyxia in pentobarbital-narcotized cats, the elevation in plasma potassium level was parallel to that of PCO2. From the time when PO2 reached its minimum, the elevation in serum potassium was higher than that of plasma potassium. The increase of the difference between serum and plasma potassium values seems therefore to be more related to hypoxia than hypercapnia; it could be due to membrane alteration of blood cells.


Urinary and kidney kallikrein in hypertensive rats. Urinary and kidney kallikrein were studied in rats with renal clip hypertension. The effect of protease inhibitors on urinary and kidney BAEE esterase activity was similar. Both hypertensive and not hypertensive operated rats excrete significantly less kallikrein than controls; in the ischaemic kidney kallikrein is diminished whereas is not increased in contralateral. Kallikrein is therefore related to renal functional mass but does not seem responsible for a natriuretic effect.


Deficit in neuraminidase associated with mucolipidosis II (I-cell disease). Using a tritiated sialyloligosaccharide as a substrate, the authors showed that mucolipidosis II is characterized by a lack of neuraminidase activity in leucocytes, while the other acidic hydrolases activities are normal. According to Ashwell, terminal galactose is the required signal for glycoproteins uptake by the cells. Thus, a neuraminidase deficit may explain the increase of sialylated hydrolases activities in the plasma and the non-recognition of these enzymes by cultured fibroblasts.


Zinc, copper and ceruloplasmin in arteriosclerosis. High serum levels of Zn, Cu and Ceruloplasmin were found in 13 patients with arteriosclerosis when compared with controls. The Zn/Cu ratio is much higher in arteriosclerotic patients than in healthy subjects.


Human serum Zn-alpha 2-glycoprotein in renal disease. The serum concentrations of Zn-alpha 2-glycoprotein (ZnaGP) were found to be increased in renal patients with both normal and restricted function; in the latter they showed significant correlation with serum creatinine and urea levels and a decrease after haemodialysis. Renal clearance of ZnaGP studied in four subjects was found to be from 0.1 to 0.8 per cent of that of inulin, and its excretion fraction was inversely proportional to the level of inulin clearance. The significance of the association of hyper-ZnaGP-aemia with renal pathology is unknown; it is supposed to be due rather to some defect in metabolic function of the kidney (utilization or degradation) than to restricted excretion, and its decrease after haemodialysis-with dialysis membrane not permeable to ZnaGP - to be caused by other factors than by the removal of the protein from the body.


Detection and characterization of circulating immune complexes in rheumatoid arthritis. Circulating immune complexes (IC) were detected and quantified in serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by three methods: radiolabeled Clq binding test, anticomplementary activity and optical density of 3% PEG precipitated sera. Rheumatoid factor (RF) is characterized in PEG precipitates by the Waaler-Rose reaction. The relationship between IC, complement and RF levels are analyzed.


Murine tumor cell activity on in vitro hemostasis. The procoagulant activity of various murine tumor cells was investigated. This activity is different from tumor to tumor in quality and strength. This parameter must be taken into account in any experiment designed to explore the metastatic spread or to cure tumors, including the use of drugs that modify hemostasis.


The hepatic handling of 131I-labeled sulfobromophthalein in the dog. Comparison with sulfobromophthalein. 131I-labeled BSP is obtained by the incorporation of one molecule of radioactive iodine in BSP. The purpose of this work was to study the influence of the added iodine on the hepatic extraction and biliary excretion of BSP. Two types of experiments were performed. In the first, a compartmental analysis of BSP and 131I-labeled BSP disappearance curves was performed after the simultaneous injection of 5 mg per kg of b. wt. of BSP and 10 muCi of 131I-labeled BSP: both, the plasma to liver and liver to bile transfer rates were significantly lower for 131I-labeled BSP than for BSP; the liver to plasma transfer rates were not significantly different. In the second series of experiments, the hepatic uptake of BSP and 131I-labeled BSP was estimated by the multiple indicator dilution technique: the extraction of BSP (59% +/- SD 5) was significantly higher than that of 131I-labeled BSP (35% +/- SD 5) (P less than 0.001). In conclusion the labeling of BSP with 131I significantly modified the hepatic handling of the dye; 131I-labeled BSP cannot therefore be used as a tracer of BSP.


Effect of acute sodium or potassium depletion on plasma renin activity in haemodialysed patients. A closed loop closed batch dialysate delivery system was used to determine whether Na or K has an action on the renin-angiotensin system apart from volume changes. Twenty-eight patients on chronic haemodialysis were studied, 12 (group I) were normotensive and 16 (group II) had poorly controlled hypertension. Acute Na depletion or repletion (delta NA), AND K loss (delta K) were induced with or without net water loss. Net electrolyte and water movement across the dialysis membrane could be precisely quantitated.


The isoenzymes of pyruvate kinase in normal, hypothyroid and dysmature rats. An electrophoretic study was made of the isozymes of pyruvate kinase (PK) in various adult and foetal tissues, normal or pathological (hypothyroid or dysmature as the result of retardation of intra-uterine growth) rats. The simultaneous kinetic study of PK with and without fructose diphosphate (FDP) showed that retardation of the maturation of the tissues revealed the presence of the M2 isozyme (PK III) longer than the normal foetal age. The increase of negative charges, observed in relation to age, may be the result of structural changes in the enzyme molecule which are yet to be resolved. The variations of relative electrophoretic mobility, and the reactivation of the isozyme by FDP suggest that there is a repression of the synthesis of certain isozymes in normal adult organs.


Induced piezoelectricity in isotropic biomaterial. Isotropic material can be made to exhibit piezoelectric effects by the application of a constant electric field. For insulators, the piezoelectric strain constant is proportional to the applied electric field and for semiconductors, an additional out-of-phase component of piezoelectricity is proportional to the electric current density in the sample. The two induced coefficients are proportional to the strain-dependent dielectric constant (depsilon/dS + epsilon) and resistivity (drho/dS - rho), respectively. The latter is more important at frequencies such that rhoepsilonomega less than 1, often the case in biopolymers. Signals from induced piezoelectricity in nature may be larger than those from true piezoelectricity.


Effects of alkali cations on the nuclear magnetic resonance intensity of 23Na in rat liver homogenate. Effects of alkali cations on the nuclear magnetic resonance intensity of 23Na were studied in rat liver homogenate. The loss in the resonance intensity of 23Na in the homogenate was able to be divided into two components, one of which is abolished by the addition of Cs+ ("Cs-sensitive component"), the other being insensitive to Cs+ ("Cs-insensitive component"). Both components were sensitive to guanidinium ion. In a pH range of 7.4-4.9, the Cs-sensitive component varied remarkably, but the Cs-insensitive component remained virtually unchanged. The sequence of effectiveness of alkali cations (300 mmol/kg sample) in restoring the fractional intensity of 23Na was: Cs approximately Na greater than Li approximately Rb greater than K. It was suggested that the sequences of effectiveness of alkali cations in abolishing the two components are quite different from each other. The present results were examined within the framework of a simple model. Within this framework, the results suggest that there occur, in particulate fractions, sites whose affinity for Cs+ is sufficiently lower than that for Na+.


A light-scattering measurement of membrane vesicle permeability. Light-scattering/intensity autocorrelation measurements of vesicle diffusivity were used to follow the time course of the osmotic response of lobster abdominal sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles to five lipophobic nonelectrolytes. Steady-state portions of the resulting time traces show these vesicles to be permeable to ethylene glycol and glycerol and impermeable to erythritol, glucose, and sucrose. Using measured values of the hydrodynamic radii of these nonelectrolytes, it is concluded that under passive transport conditions, these vesicles may be thought of as having pores whose radii lie between 3.1 and 3.5 A. In addition, the results presented here indicated that above a certain impermeable nonelectrolyte concentration, vesicles did not respond osmotically even though they had not collapsed. This suggests that at least under the experimental conditions reported here, vesicles behaved as if rigid when their average volume had decreased to about 50% of its original isotonic value.


A study of solvent effects on the phosphorescence properties of flavins. A combination of zero field triplet state techniques are used to study the excited electronic states of a series of flavin and flavin related molecules both in single crystals and glass matrices. Particular attention is given to the effects of solvent interaction on the triplet state properties of the flavin molecules. The total phosphorescence decay rate constants at 1.4 degrees K are reported for the flavin molecules in polar and nonpolar solvents. The rate constants are then correlated to the degree of solvent interaction. Results indicate possible complex formation between the isoalloxazine and adenine groups in FAD. Finally, the results and possible interpretation on the study of a flavoenzyme, L-amino acid oxidase are presented.


A method for measuring picosecond phenomena in photolabile species: the emission lifetime of bacteriorhodopsin. We have measured the emission lifetime of bacteriorhodopsin at physiological temperatures to be 15 +/- 3 ps using a technique which employs a mode-locked dye laser, a sum frequency light gate, and a continuous flow system. We observe no concentration dependence of the lifetime over the range of 1.1 X 10(-4) M to 1.0 X 10(-5) M. We conclude that the emission which we observe comes from bacteriorhodopsin and not one of its photochemically produced intermediates, and that the emission cannot originate from the state into which light is absorbed.


Effect of hydration on the water content of human erythrocytes. An ideal, hydrated, nondilute pseudobinary salt-protein-water solution model of the RBC intracellular solution has been developed to describe the osmotic behavior of human erythrocytes during freezing and thawing. Because of the hydration of intracellular solutes (mostly cell proteins), our analytical results predict that at least 16.65% of the isotonic cell water content will be retained within RBCs placed in hypertonic solutions. These findings are consistent not only with the experimental measurements of the amount of isotonic cell water retained within RBCs subjected to nonisotonic extracellular solutions (20-32%) but also with the experimental evidence that all of the water within RBCs is solvent water. By modeling the RBC intracellular solution as a hydrated salt-protein-water solution, no anomalous osmotic behavior is apparent.


Permeability of artificial membranes to a pluridisperse solution of 125I-polyvinylpyrrolidone. The validity of the transport equation for uncharged macromolecules across a porous membrane developed by Verniory et al. (1973, J. Gen. Physiol. 62:489) has been tested on several types of artificial membranes (Amicon PM-30, XM-50, and XM-100 Diaflo ultrafilters) using a pluridisperse solution of polyvinylpyrrolidone as filtrand. The influence of the filtration pressure on the shape of the sieving curve predicted by the theory has been verified. A mean pore radius and the width of the pore demonstrated that the method used previously to determine the effective filtration pressure in the glomerulus from sieving data is valid. The transport equation previously proposed by Renkin (1954, J. Gen. Physiol. 38:225) gives results that are less consistent than those obtained with the new transport equation.


Bimolecular quenching of excitons and fluorescence in the photosynthetic unit. The recent results of Campillo et al. and Mauzerall on the quenching of the fluorescence of chlorophyll a in Chlorella pyrenoidosa as a function of the intensity of the laser excitation pulses are rationalized by applying a model invoking singlet-singlet exciton annihilation.


Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis of the products of methylation of sulfonylurea drugs. Gas chromatographic analysis of the products of reaction of diazomethane with tolbutamide and chlorpropamide indicates the formation of three compounds in both cases. As expected, N-methylation (at sulfonamide nitrogen) is the predominant reaction; minor amounts of O-methylated product are also observed. The third product in both cases is the N-methylsulfonamide formed by decomposition of the N-methylated sulfonylurea during gas chromatography. Electron impact and chemulfonylurea during gas chromatography. Electron impact and chemical ionization mass spectrometric analysis, as well as 1H nuclear magnetic resonance examination of samples collected from gas chromatography, confirm the structural assignments. Additionally, proton magnetic resonance analysis of the crude reaction products established that N-methylsulfonamides are not formed in the course of the diazomethane reaction and that the O-methylated derivatives are true products of the reaction. The use of a paramagnetic shift reagent allowed direct estimation of the ratios of N- to O-methylation, and the demonstration that these ratios are not vitiated during gas chromatographic analysis.


Simultaneous measurement of imipramine and desipramine by selected ion recording with deuterated internal standards. A gas chromatographic mass spectrometric method for the quantitative determination of imipramine and its N-demethylated metabolite desipramine in plasma samples at the nanogram level is reported. The method involves derivatization of the extracted drugs with trifluoroacetylimidazole, a mild derivatizing reagent. Specificity is provided by selected ion recording of the [M + H]+ ions, formed upon chemical ionization with methane as reagent gas. Quantitation is achieved by stable isotope dilution techniques, using deuterium labeled analogs, prepared by acid-catalyzed exchange, as internal standards. Data on patient samples are presented.


Measurement of prostaglandin F2alpha in human cerebrospinal fluid by single ion monitoring. An imporved method is described for measuring low levels of prostaglandin F2alpha in small volumes of cerebrospinal fluid. Single ion monitoring of the ion at m/e 423, derived from the methyl ester tri-TMS ether derivatives of prostaglandin F2alpha and the internal standard, w-trinor-16-cyclohexyl prostaglandin F2alpha, is employed. Injection of 2 pg of prostaglandin F2 alpha derivative gave a standard deviation of +/- 9%. The majority of patients had cerebrospinal fluid levels of up to 2 ng ml-1 of prostaglandin F2 alpha, whereas in certain neurological conditions with progressive disease, elevated levels were encountered, some of which were higher than 10 ng ml-1.


Studies on trimethylsilyl derivatives of 1-alkyl-2-acylglycerols by gas-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Trimethylsilyl derivatives of 1-hexadecyl-2-decanoyl-, -hexadecanoyl- and -octadecenoyglycerols and 1-octadecyl-2-decanoyl-, hexadecanoyl- and -octadecenoylglycerols as well as 1,2-dihexadecanoylglycerol were analysed by a gas chromatography mass spectrometer system. The following points are characteristic of the fragmentation pattern of these 1-alkyl-2-acyl derivatives: (1) in the spectra of alkyl acyl derivatives, ions at [M -15]+ and [M - 90A1+. are 14 mass units less than those of the corresponding diacyl derivatives; (2) the base peak is m/e 130; (3) alkyl acyl derivatives show fragments due to one acyl group instead of the two acyl groups of diacyl derivatives; (4) ions at m/e 314 and 342, [R1O + 73]+., are characteristic of the trimethylsilyl derivatives of hexadecyl- and octadecylglycerols, respecitvely; (5) the ion [M -R1O]+ is present, but the complementary alkoxy ion is absent.


Mass spectral studies on prostaglandins. IV--Prostaglandin F2alpha. The mass spectroscopic behaviour of prostaglandin F2alpha and its methyl ester has been studied. Mechanisms are suggested for the formation of the prominent ions in the spectra of these compounds. The proposed fragmentation pathways have been confirmed with the aid of low electron voltage spectra, measurements on metastable ion decompositions, high resolution mass measurements and deuterium labelling.


Analysis of mixtures by collisional activation spectrometry: pyrolysis products of deoxyribonucleic acid. Six major components of a mixture of the pyrolysis products of deoxyribonucleic acid have been analysed by combined low energy electron impact and collisional activation spectra. The method allowed the assignment of the structures of the different components in the complex mixture without prior separation.


A novel metabolic pathway in the metabolism of 5-(4'-chloro-n-butyl)picolinic acid. The metabolism of 5-(4'-chloro-n-butyl)picolinic acid, which inhibits dopamine beta-hydroxylase and exhibits an antihypertensive effect, has been studied by gas chromatography mass spectrometry, utilising characteristic reaction products after derivatization. In rat urine five metabolities were identified by mass spectral analysis. It is found that four were elongated by a C2 unit in the carboxyl group at the 2-position on the pyridine ring and accounted for approximately 50% of the radioactivity in the 24 hour urine. The facts show that the metabolic pathway corresponding to the chain elongation of fatty acids is the major route of metabolism for this drug in the rat. Furthermore, this pathway would be confirmed in man, rabbit, guinea pig and mouse.


The synthesis of alpha, alpha, beta, beta-d4-serotonin. Alpha, alpha, beta, beta-d4-Serotonin (94% d4, 6% d3) has been synthesized for use as an internal standard in mass spectrometric determinations of serotonin in biological systems.


An automatic apparatus for continuous suspension culture with a concentrating device. A chemostat in which mammalian cells can be raised in continuous suspension culture is described. It is constructed from commercially available parts. This apparatus has the advantage over earlier models in that the medium can be pumped off free of cells, thus suddenly increasing the cell concentration in the culture. The apparatus has been successfully used in studies on contact inhibition.


Immobilization of enzymes based on hydrophobic interaction. I. Preparation and properties of a beta-amylase adsorbate. Sweet potato beta-amylase (alpha-1,4 glucan maltohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.2) was immobilized through adsorption onto an agrose gel to which nonpolar side chains had been introduced via ether bridges. The adsorbent showed evidence of saturation at an enzyme content of 35 mg per milliliter of packed gel. The adsorption was rapid and yielded a product whose operational stability depended on the initial content of beta-amylase. Activity leakage was low. The relative activity of immobilized enzyme was inversely related to the amount of enzyme adsorbed to a given gel volume, having a maximal value of around 50% at low enzyme contents.


Immobilization of enzymes based on hydrophobic interaction. II. Preparation and properties of an amyloglucosidase adsorbate. Amyloglucosidase from Aspergillus niger (alpha-1,4 and 1,6 glucan glucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.3) was immobilized through adsorption onto a hexyl-Sepharose, containing 0.51 mol hexyl-group per mole of galactose. The adsporption limit of the carrier with respect to this enzyme was about 17 mg per gram wet conjugate. The retention of activity upon immobilization was high, varying from essentially full activity at low enzyme content down to 68% at the adsorption limit. The immobilized preparation, as well as the soluble enzyme, showed apparent zero order kinetics within 60% of the substrate's conversion limit. Product inhibition of the soluble enzyme showed a KI of 5-10(-2)M. In the presence of 3M NaCl, adsorbates were formed more rapidly and with a higher yield of immobilized protein, but with lower specific activity. Conjugates resulting from adsorption of amyloglucosidase in identical concentrations, but at different salt contents, showed comparable activities and operational stabilities. Continuous operation from three months reduced conjugate activity to 40%. The thermal stability of the adsorbate was inferior to that of the soluble enzyme, but was noticeably enhanced in the presence of substrate.


Immobilization of enzymes based on hydrophobic interaction. III. Adsorbent substituent density and its impact on the immobilization of beta-amylase. Hexyl-groups have been introduced into crosslinked Sepharose 6B, yielding gels with degrees of substitution which range from 0.02 to 0.70 mol hexyl-side chain per mole galactose residue. The gels were exposed to beta-amylase in solution, and the resulting adsorbates indicated a monotonic increase in adsorption capacity with an increasing hexyl-content. Adsorbate activity, by contrast, displayed a maximum for a carrier gel with a hexyl-galactose ratio of 0.51. Adsorbates based on gels with different hexyl-content were used in column reactors for continuous maltose production from a soluble starch substrate.


Bacterial yields on methanol, methylamine, formaldehyde, and formate. Several bacteria utilizing C1-compounds as sole carbon sources were grown on these substrates in continuous culture. The molar yield values (g of cell dry wt/mol of substrate utilized) of bacteria which utilize C1-compounds via the ribulose monophosphate pathway were between 15.7 to 17.3 when grown on methanol; while the molar yield values of bacteria which use the serine pathway for the assimilation of C1-compounds varied between 9.8 and 13.1. The molar yield values of different bacteria which use the serine pathway decreased as the oxidation levels of the C1-growth substrates increased. On formaldehyde the values were between 7.2 to 9.6, whereas on formate the values varied from 3.3 to 6.9. It appears that bacteria utilize C1-compounds more efficiently via the ribulose monophosphate pathway than via the serine pathway. The oxidation step from methanol to formaldehyde (and from methylamine to formaldehyde) in the bacteria studied may be energy yielding. A comparison has been made between the experimental yield values obtained and theoretical values.


A simple device for stationary cultivation of microorganisms. A new device is designed that is suitable for both laboratory- and industrial-scale cultivation of microorganisms, particularly filamentous fungi, on the surface of liquid media. The device reliably ensures the sterility of cultivation, regardless of its duration. Its installation costs are relatively low and maximum production is reached per unit of installation space. In comparison with submerged cultures in fermentors, the proposed mode does not use a high consumption of energy for stirring and aeration (consequently, the duration of cultivation is not an economically relevant factor) and does not require maintenance of complicated equipment. Due to the building and construction of the technological equipment, the production plant is capable of very fast expansion and, when the need arises of very fast and economical liquidation.


Continuous proteolysis with a stabilized protease. II. Continuous experiments. Batch proteolysis experiments were performed in order to choose a protein-protease system to prepare a correct hydrolysate suitable for the enrichment of soft-drinks. The system eventually studied was casein-Alcalase. Comparative batch and continuous proteolysis of casein by Alcalase showed that the reaction, which does not exactly follow first order kinetics with respect to the substrate concentration, is inhibited by the reaction products. Furthermore, experiments were done in order to determine the reaction conditions (pH8.8 in the reactor, casein concentration 5%, 40 degrees C). Determining the molecular weight of Alcalase (43,000) suggested the choice of ultrafiltration membrane PM 30. Sutdies of continuous proteolysis with the chemically stabilized enzyme retained by the ultrafiltration reactor showed that protease reuse for seven days at 40 degrees C is possible and that the growth of microorganisms is practically inhibited under these conditions. Gel chromatography showed the molecular weight.range of the peptides to be less than 2,000. Triangular taste tests showed that the threshold identification concentration of the dry hydrolysate in orange juice is about 0.65%.


Delayed mutation as a cause of retinoblastoma: application to genetic counseling. The genealogic and genetic data on retinoblastoma were reviewed and interpreted according to the model of delayed mutation; then applications of the model to specific situations in genetic counseling were considered. Patients with multiple congenital abnormalities and systemic chromosome aberrations are regarded as belonging to a different category of retinoblastoma cases than the more common patients without such abnormalities. The model of delayed mutation is considered for the latter group of patients. According to the model, mutation at the retinoblastoma locus can be delayed or complete and can occur during meiotic or mitotic cell division. Genotypically, three clases of individuals can be identified in retinoblastoma families: homozygous normal, heterozygous for the premutated allele, and heterozygous for the (fully) mutated allele; the other possible combinations of individuals have apparently not been observed. There is to date no evidence to suggest incomplete penetrance of the mutant allele, but 14% of individuals who have the mutant gene are "only" unilaterally affected. Carriers produce normal, affected and carrier offspring in the empiric proportion of, respectively, 54.5%, 36.4% and 9.1%. Most difficulties in genetic counseling arise because affected individuals may have inherited the premutated or the mutated allele and because unaffected individuals may have inherited the normal or the premutated allele. These aspects were considered for individuals presenting as sporadic-unilateral, sporadic-bilateral, familial-unilateral and familial-bilateral cases, and the empiric risk figures for various situations were quoted from the literature.


[Influence of the somatic region of the cortex on trace inhibitory processes in the posterior lateral nucleus of the thalamus]. Acute experiments were conducted on cats under nembutal anesthesia. A study was made of the dynamics of the changes occurring in the curve of restoration of the test response amplitude in the thalamo-cortical fibers to the pared stimulation of the medial lemniscus with various actions on the somatosensory ared. The curve under study served as an indicator of the corticofugal influences on the inhibitory after process in the transmission nucleus of the thalamus. The influences on one somatosensory area of the cortex blocked the transmission of the afferent signals in 70% of the neurons of the transmission nucleus of the thalamus. A correlation between the number of the neurons participating in the reaction and the character of the initial phase of the inhibitory afterprocess was noted.


[Characteristics of afferent impulsation from cutaneous receptors during exposure to air currents]. The method of colliding pulses was used to study the afferent flows in various types of the nerve fibers of the skin nerve innervating the medial surface of the hair-covered skin of cat paw. Alterations in the intensity of the acting stimulus caused changes in the structure of the afferent flow. Increased air flow led to increase in the number of active fibers, of the frequency of the afferent impulsation, and also to inclusion of the fibers of the other types into the excitation.


[Distensibility of the heart muscle during adaptation to a physical load]. Strips of the papillary muscle of rat left ventricle were extended by means of increasing loads. The curve of the strip elongation depending on the load value characterized the myocardial distensibility. Seven to eleven weeks from the beginning of regular swimming exercises (for 30 to 60 min) the distensibility curve showed a significant increase of the myocardial distensibility, and the maximal contraction amplitude was reached with a lesser force. An increased distension of the cardiac muscle of the adapted animals can serve as one of the components of dilatation of the "trained" heart and a more rapid mobilization of the contractile function during exercises.


[Renin-angiotensin system in the presence of altered prostaglandin synthesis]. The activity of the renin-angiotensin system was studied in experiments on rats under conditions of the inhibited prostaglandin synthesis. It was found that the injection of indometacin in non-hypertensive doses was accompanied by a substantial lowering of the plasma renin activity and of the secretory function of the juxtaglomerular apparatus of the kidneys. The amount of lipid granules increased in the interstitial cells simultaneously, this reflecting the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis in the medulla of the kidneys. The results of these experiments permit the assumption to be made that the renin synthesis in the juxtaglomerular apparatus was connected with the synthesis of renal prostaglanins.


[Contractile properties of the smooth muscle cells of the aorta during development of experimental atherosclerosis]. Experiments were conducted on the isolated ring-shaped segments of rabbit aorta; the contractile reactions of the smooth muscle cells under the effect of catecholamines and KC1 were investigated at 27 and 37 degrees C both under normal conditions and at the initial stages of atherosclerosis. The contractile reactions of the atherosclerotic aorta stimulated by KC1 were lower in amplitude than those of the intact one; the opposite shifts were observed under the action of catecholamines. A decrease of the temperature reduced the contractile responses both under normal conditions and in atherosclerosis.


[Bile secreting function of the liver in birds of different ages with experimental atherosclerosis]. The bile-secretory function of normal liver and during the cholester-induced experimental atherosclerosis was studied in young (3-4-month-old) and adult (30-36-month-old) Russian white hens. In the course of natural ageing there was observed a decrease in the total and free serum cholesterol and in the bile-secretory function of the liver. Following the cholesterol administration these indices increased and the atherosclerotic injuries of the aorta developed. As compared with the young hens, the mentioned changes were more marked in adult experimental hens.


[Glucose transport in the small intestine of rats following section of the pancreatico-biliary duct]. Following ligation of the bile-pancreatic duct in rats a determination was made on the 4th, 7th, 14th and 28th day in 6 segments of their small intestine of the mucous-serous glucose transport by the concentration gradient and against it (a modified method of the "inside out turned sac"). Reconstruction dynamics of the transport systems characterized by a different dependence on the energy sources varied in each of the intestinal segments. At the early postoperative periods the transport became intensified by the concentration gradient; at the later periods the transport was against this gradient.


[Regional blood redistribution following blood loss in unanesthetized rats]. The authors describe relative changes in the blood filling of 46 vascular areas of the body in rats after a moderate and severe blood loss. Moderate blood loss caused redistribution of the blood from the skin of the chest and from the skin of the posterior limbs, the majority of the abdominal and pelvis minor organs, muscular and bone tissues of the abdomen, pelvis minor and extremities into the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach and into the muscles of the head and neck. In severe blood loss the changes were analogous, but the blood content in the kidneys and the stomach decreased, and there was also a relative elevation of the blood in the muscles and bones of the chest. The intensity of the redistributive reaction in severe blood loss was less than in moderate blood loss.


[Serum humoral factors--cause of the altered physiologic state of peripheral blood lymphocytes in schizophrenic patients]. Statistically significant correlations were revealed between the following: the percentage content in the lymphocyte cultures of patients suffering from schizophrenia of cells responding to stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) by DNA synthesis, and the percentage in the white blood cell cultures of healthy donors of lymphocytes failing to respond to the PHA stimulation by the DNA synthesis as a result of cultivation of these cells in a medium containing the blood serum (20%) of schizophrenic patients. Similar correlation was revealed between the percentage content in cultures of the white blood cells of schizophrenic patients of adhesive lymphocytes and the percentage of adhesive lymphocytes in the white blood cell cultures of healthy donors in cultivation of these cells in a medium containing the blood serum (20%) of schizophrenic patients. The data obtained confirmed a supposition that the altered physiological condition of the peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients suffering from schizophrenia was caused by the factors contained in the blood serum of these patients.


[Mitochondrial respiration and the state of adenine nucleotide phosphorylation in rat liver following multiple administration of 3-methylcholanthrene and phenobarbital]. After 4 injections of phenobarbital (PB), 3-methylcholantrene in olive oil (MC) or olive oil alone the corresponding concentrations of acyl-CoAs in the liver (in per cent to control) were: 73, 167, 230. The liver mitochondria from rats injected with oil and MC showed inhibition of the metabolic state 3 respiratory rate after Chance, Preincubation with carnitine elimated this inhibition. In accordance with these data the blood ketone body level in the administration of PB, MC and oil were 31, 136, and 342%, respectively. The phosphate potential value declined only after the injections of olive oil when the ATP concentration in the liver was markedly diminished. The AMP concentration doubled in the liver of rats after the PB and oil injection. Comparison of the data on the induction of microsomal monoxigenases by PB and MC permitted to draw a conclusion that there was a different metabolic fate of acyl-CoAs in these two cases.


[Effect of restoration of light flashes on energy processes in the cerebral visual system of animals developing under conditions of light deprivation]. The changes in the rate and the character of energy processes in the mitochondria of the visual system of the brain caused by prolonged dark-rearing of the animals (for 2 1/2 months from the time of birth) proved to be reversible. The extent of normalization differed in the case of mitochondria of the optic cortex and the superior colliculus. After the animals were placed under normal light conditions the rate of the mentioned processes (when glutamic acid was used as a substrate) increased in the course of a two-week restorative period, and reached the control level or even exceeded it. The rate of the electron transport in the area of cytochrome c -- cytochromoxidase succinic toxidase oxidation chain decreased at the period of restoration and approached the control level. The role of specific impulsation in the age formation of the energy processes of the brain mitochondria is discussed.


[Lysosomal enzyme activity in the serum of rats with experimental lead poisoning]. Examination of the effect of experimental lead poisoning on permeability of lysosomal membranes in albino rats demonstrated activation of lysosomal enzymes (alpha-manosidase and beta-acetylglucosaminidase) in the blood serum as soon as the third day after daily administration of lead acetate (20 mg/kg). Apparently damage of the lysosomal membrane played an important role in the pathogenesis of lead poisoning.


[Effect of D-, M- and T-antagonists of serotonin on its absorption by human thrombocytes]. Serotonin M-antagonist -- cocaine, and D-antagonist -- dihydroergotamine depressed the serotonin absorption by guman platelets considerably (in a concentration of 10(-4) by 90 and 62%, respectively). Serotonin M-antagonist--morphine, D-antagonist--deseryl, and T-antagonist--typindol inhibited serotonin absorption much less (in a concentration of 10(-4)M by 33, 28 and 18%, respectively). It is supposed that "serotonin" centre of the membrane carrier participating in the process of transmembrane serotonin transport was not identical to any definite type of serotonin receptor.


[Interaction of nonachlazine and noradrenaline on a model phospholipid membrane]. The binding of nonachlazine (NCL), imipramine (IMP), and noradrenaline (NA) with the model phospholipid membrane vesicles--liposomes--was studied. The binding was determined by the qunching effect of these substances on the fluorescence of 3-methoxybenzantrone (MBA) present in the membrane of the fluorescent probe. A method rendering possible calculation of the binding of the preparations under study with the membrane of the basis of the fluorescence changes was developed. The binding constant of the NCL, IMP, and NA interaction with the membrane was equal to (4.3 +/- 0.3)-10(3)M-1, (2.7 +/- 0.2)-10(3)M-1, and (0.7 +/- 0.15)-10(3)M-1, respectively. It was shown that NCL and IMP could compete with NA for the membrane binding centers. Such competitive interactions could be regarded as a probable mechanism of the block of the reverse NA transport through the synaptic and the vesicular membranes characteristic of NCL and IMP.


[Effect of heparin on the lipid peroxidation reaction of erythrocytes and their stability]. Physiological concentration (10 units/ml) of heparin activates ascorbate-dependent lipid peroxidation of erythrocytes and reduces their stability in the citrate-phosphate buffer (pH 3.0). In a concentration of 100 units/ml heparin does not influence the thermal (62 degrees) oxidation of methyloleate. It follows that heparin is not direct prooxidant.


[Relationship between the development of experimental leukemia and animals' capacity for a humoral immune response]. The tests on AKR and C57BL mice of different age were conducted using experimental models of transplanted Gross leukemia (the first passage), Pujman leukemia and spontaneous AKR mouse leukemia. An inverse relationship between the ability of mice to produce humoral antibodies and their susceptibility to transplantation of singeneic leukemic cells and the incidence of spontaneous leukemia has been established. The differences in the ability of the animals to develop immune response to a heterologous antigen were connected with the physiological processes of the aging organism. The data obtained indicated that the failure of one of the links of immunity did not always result in a higher risk of tumor development.


[Participation of antibodies synthesized in vitro in rosette formation]. The author studied a possibility of rosette-formation by cells which became bound with the antibodies synthesized in vitro. It was found that antibodies capable of inducing formation of false rosettes appeared at the period of conduction of the rosette-formation reaction at 37 degrees C and with the prolongation of the incubation time in the culture medium. In carrying out the reaction of rosett-formation under conditions of cold the formation of false rosettes in the precipitate after the centrifugation was minimal.


[Globulin producing cells in cultures of blast-transformed lymphocytes in vitro]. Globulin-producing cells -- lymphocytes, transitional transformed forms, blasts and plasmocyte-like cells were revealed with the aid of Coon's method in the culture of the human peripheral blood following stimulation with staphylococcus filtrate and phytohemagglutinin. Analysis of dynamics of the appearance of these cells suggests that they originate from a special B-lymphocyte subpopulation -- the immunological memory cells. Some of the globulin-producing cells arose from precursors without any division, in others differentiation was combined with proliferation.


[Effect of different antisera on the magnitude of the immune response following induction of antibody formation by allogenic macrophages]. Data are presented on the effect of different antisera on the antibody-genesis induction by immune allogeneic macrophages. Significant decrease of the immune response was shown after administration of both alloantiserum and antimacrophagal serum during the first two days after the allogeneic macrophages transfer. Injection of these sera at the subsequent days did not significantly influence the entensity of the immune response. Antierythrocytic serum inhibits accumulation of antibody-producing cells when administered at different periods of time after allogeneic macrophages transplantation.


[Kinetics of the colony-forming capacity of bone marrow cells following hydrocortisone administration to mice]. A study was made of the dynamics of the colony-forming and migration capacity of the polypotent stem hemopoietic cells of the bone marrow of the F1 (CBA X C57BL) mice after the hydrocortisone administration. The relative count of the stem hemopoietic cells in the bone marrow increased on the 3rd day after the hydrocortisone administration. This elevation was maximal on the 5th day after the hydrocortisone administration. On the 8th day the stem hemopoietic cell count decreased to the normal level.


[Concentration of free glutamine and glutaminase activity in the gastric mucosa of patients with precancerous diseases and cancer of the stomach]. Free glutamine content and phosphate-dependent glutaminase activity were studied in the biopsy specimens from the tissue of ulcer, polyps, carcinoma and the surrounding gastric mucosa of patients with precancerous diseases and carcinoma of the stomach. The glutamine content in carcinoma was not significantly different from that in the normal gastric mucosa. The glutamine level in the gastric mucosa remote from the tumour was considerably higher than normal. In case of polyposis of the stomach glutamine was present in the polyps and absent in the remote gastric mucosa. A marked glutaminase activity was revealed in the carcinoma of the stomach, but its level did not differ from the normal or in the case of precancerous diseases.


[Reactions of the rat submandibular salivary gland to injury of the contralateral gland]. After burn or resection of one submandibular salivary gland the contralateral gland responded by an increase of proliferation. The maximal mitotic index was observed 48 hours after the resection and 72 hours after the burn. Burn of the salivary gland initiated a stable, but weak compensatory hypertrophy of the contralateral gland. Hypertrophy of the gland was accompanied by an increase in the size of the cells and the nuclei whose area enlarged by 10 and 17%, respectively. Resection of the salivary gland caused an increase in the weight of the intact contralateral gland only at the early periods of the experiment. By the 30th and the 45th day after the operation the weight of the intact contralateral gland failed to differ from control. The detected differences in the compensatory growth of the intact glands in two types of action on the contralateral salivary gland depended on the quantity of the tissue degeneration products and on the period of their stay in the organism.


[Effect of neonatal androgenization on biogenic monoamines of the hypothalamus and the functional activity of the rat pituitary]. Injection of testosterone-propionate to female Wistar rats on the 2nd--4th days of birth failed to alter the serotonin level, but produced a sharp fall of the noradrenaline and dopamine levels in the hypothalamus of 3 1/2-month-old animals. This was accompanied by an increase in the prolactin content in the adenohypophysis with the retention of the normal somatotropic activity. The results of these studied indicated the participation of catecholamines in the pathogenesis of the anovular sterility, and elucidated current views on the control of the hypophysial gonadotropic function.


[Effect of liver damage in females on reactive changes in the livers of the progeny]. The liver of 30-day ratlings was studied spectrocytophotometrically (glycogen, amino acid, RNA, and DNA content) and morphometrically (the size of the nuclei, nucleoli, mitotic index) 48 hours after the intragastric administration of CCI4; the mothers of these ratlings had sustained toxic hepatitis before pregnancy. The results obtained indicated that hepatitis sustained by the female animals not only influenced the morphological peculiarities and the histochemical properties of the liver of the progeny, but also largely conditioned the changes in the response of hepatocytes to the poison -- enhanced the damaging effect of the hepatotoxin.


[Transplacental and immediate effect of ortho-aminoazotoluol on organ cultures of embryonal mouse liver]. A study was made of the transplacental and direct action of orthoaminoazotoluol (OAAT) in the organ cultures of the embryonic liver of mice of a highly hepatomic CBA line. In direct action in vitro OAAT caused a marked reduction of survival of the organ cultures of the embryonic liver in comparison with control. In the transplacental action of OAAT the toxic effect was replaced at the last periods of cultivation by the growth stimulating one; the percentage of live experimental cultures increased by 30 in comparison with control.


[Effect of heparin on incorporation of H3-thymidine in cells of transplantable line A-1]. The effect of heparin on the thymidine-3H incorporation into the cells of the continous line A-1 was studied. Cell incubation in medium 199 containing heparin (1--200 units per ml) did not lead to reduction of the labeled nuclei percentage; the duration of the G2 and S periods also failed to change in comparison with control. However, the incorporation intensity of thymidine-3H (the mean number of granules per one labeled nucleus) was decreased significantly. The data obtained indicated that heparin influenced the plasmalemma permeability, but had no effect on the DNA synthesis. The antimitotic action of heparin was apparently due to its influence on the cell surface.


[Effect of thyroxine on the mitotic cycle of cell cultures]. Thyroxin taken in concentration of 10 mug/ml exert a different influence on the mitotic cycle periods of the HeLe-cells in the log and stationary growth phases of the culture. During the log phase of growth thyroxine reduces the tG 2min period (for 2 hours), without influencing the other periods of mitotic cycle. In the stationary growth phase thyroxine reduces the mitotic cycle duration by 3--7 hours, chiefly on account of the accelerated G1 plus 1/2 M (by 4--8 hours) and partially of the G2min periods (by 1 hour). A conclusion on the hormonal stimulation of the cell entry into the mitotic cycle from the Go periods in the stationary culture was drawn.


[Subcellular changes in rat myocardium in nephrotoxic glomerulonephritis]. Disorganization of the mitochondria, myofibrillae, sarcolemma, intra- and intercellular edema, swelling and pyknosis of the endothelium, capillary obstruction by the blood elements, thickening of the basal membranes were revealed in the myocardium of rats with Mazugi nephritis. The maximum changes were observed on the 10--20th day after the onset of the reproduction of glomerulonephritis; the intracellular regenerative processes became intensified from the 20th day. There was a correlation in the dynamics of the subcellular histological and clinical manifestations of glomerulonephritis.


[Morphologic analysis of the cortical substance of the adrenals under conditions of bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy]. After bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy (in 7 to 45 days) there was revealed in Wistar rats an enlargement of the fascicular and the reticular zone of the adrenal cortex and a greater content of unsaturated phospholipids in their cells. A sharp dilatation of the venous sinusoids was noted in the medulla. Glucose administration to the vagotomized animals caused further accumulation of unsaturated phospholipids in the cells of the fascicular zone, but was not accompanied by any changes in the width of the zone. These cursors occurred in vagotomy; this was regarded as a morphological sign indicating the reduction of the functional activity of the fascicular and the reticular zones of the adrenal cortex.


[Effect of vagotomy on the ultrastructural organization of the enterochromaffin cells of the rat duodenal mucosa]. Detailed investigation of the ultrastructure of the enterochromaffine cells of the duodenal mucous membrane was conducted by electron microscopy. These cells were studied 7, 14, 28, and 56 days after bilateral subphrenic vagotomy. Vagotomy resulted in the alteration of the ultrastructural orgainzation of the enterochromaffine cells. These changes were due to disturbances of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonine) secretion. The changes in the ultrastructure of the enterochromaffine cells were most expressed 7 and 56 days after the operation. Temporary and relative normalization of the ultrastructure was observed in 28 days.


[Hyperproduction of the epithelium and its vital rejection in the lumen of the small intestine outside the "rejection zone"]. Whole and histologically-treated biopsy material of the small intestinal mucosa of dogs with a full intestinal fistulae and of dogs with a portion of the small intestine excluded from digestion was studied. An intensive production of the surplus epithelial structures (protrusions, layers) was revealed in the areas of the crypts and the base of the villi. Rejection of these structures into the intestinal lumen occurred outside the "expulsion zone" with the preservation of the intactness of the villar surface. Less marked signs of this process were seen in control material. The data obtained testify to the fact of the existence of another way of development of the crypt cell leaving the crypt-villus system in the composition of the branching and rejecting epithelial structures.


[Telomeric chromosome fusion in cells treated with colcemid and 5-bromdeoxyuridine]. Specific chromosomes with two or more centromeres were found in the tetraploid metaphases of the second mitotic division after combined treatment with coldemid (0.05 mug/ml) and 5-bromodeoxyuridine (50 mug/ml) for 24 hours in the aneuploid Chinese hamster cell line. They were formed by telometric fusion of chromosomes and were absent in the cells treated with colcemid or 5-bromodeoxyuridine separately. A possible relation of this phenomenon to the telomeric association of chromosomes in the interphase nucleus, as well as to the chromosomal disturbances in the Louis Bar symdrome (ataxia -- telangiectasia) is discussed.


[Method of damaging rabbit myocardium during the intrauterine period]. The author describes a method used for injury of rabbit fetuses myocardium on the 20-24th days of pregnancy. The abdominal cavity and the uterus of pregnant rats were incised and the amniotic sac and thoracic wall of the fetus -- punctured, thus injuring the heart. Two methods were used: in the first case the amniotic sac was completely drawn out from the uterine cavity, and in the other case -- it remained in the uterus and was punctured through the uterine incision. If the operation was not followed by abortion the animals gave birth to viable full-term rabbits.


[Analysis of muscle electrical activity during indirect rhythmic stimulation]. A mathematical model of transformation of the electrical signals in the peripheral neuromuscular junction, and a method of analysing the experimental data obtained in experiments on the muscle and muscle fibers of rat diaphragm in indirect rhythmic stimulation is described. The parameters characterizing the muscle by frequency potentiation and depression properties were determined as a result of the EMG analysis.


[Fractionation of normal human bone marrow on albumin gradients]. Bone marrow from 52 healthy donors has been fractionated on two discontinuous albumin gradients with different osmolarities in an effort to eliminate immunocompetent cells and to isolate hemopoietic stem cells. The nutrient agar system of Robinson was utilised as an assay procedure for the detection of colony-forming cells (CFU-c) in the resulting fractions. CFU-c, early granulocytic progenitors, are consistently present in the lighter fractions. On cytochemical staining, they showed a positive reaction for enzymes bound to lysosomes. The concentration of CFU-c was in an average 7 times that of the original marrow. At best, 1 X 10(5) CFU-c could be isolated from 10 ml marrow corresponding to 2 X 10(8) buffy-coat cells. The presence of immunocompetent cells was monitored by Phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulation and T-cell rosette formation. In a human marrow transplant situation it appears that a better yield of CFU-c is necessary than is afforded by albumin gradient technique.


[Selenium concentration and activity of glutathione peroxidase in lysate of human erythrocytes]. The concentration of selenium in human red cells was measured by a fluorometric determination method after wet digestion of the biological material. In the red cells from the same blood samples the activity of the selenoenzyem glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9) was determined with tertiary butyl hydroperoxide as acceptor substrate. The results show that only 10% of the total selenium content of human red cells is fixed to the enzyme. No correlation between the enzyme activity and the selenium concentration could be found. On the basis of these results can be presumed that the protective effect of selenium in glutathione peroxidase against oxidant damage of cells is not the only biological function of this element.


Technical improvements in heat-ethanol isolation of serum albumin. Although the heat-ethanol method of fractionation for the isolation of normal serum albumin (NSA) is technically easier and more economic than cold-ethanol methods, globulin removal and albumin concentration remain basic hinderances to a truly simplified procedure. Continuous flow centrifugation for the separation of precipitated proteins has been effectively replaced on the one hand by alluvial filtration (globulins), and onthe other hand by diafiltration (albumin). Through these changes, investive and running costs are further reduced, noise is all but eliminated, albumin yield is somewhat increased, and personnel required for a 600 1 plasma batch is reduced from four workers to one.


[Changes of kappa/lambda ratio of human serum immunoglobulins in the course of development]. In sera of normal individuals of different age groups the kappa- and lambda-type immunoglobulins were measured and the kappa/lambda ratio was calculated. The relative concentration of lambda-immunoglobulins in sera of newborns and young children was found to be significantly higher than in the adult sera. The well-known asynchronous maturation of immunoglobulin classes and IgG subclasses in the early childhood is evidently accompagnied by a asynchronous maturation of immunoglobulin types.


Re-entry of resting leukaemic blood cells into proliferation in human acute leukaemia during diffusion chamber culture. From 17 patients with different forms of acute leukaemia, mononuclear blood cells were cultured in diffusion chambers (DC) implanted intraperitoneally into pre-irradiated mice. In 14 patients, growth of blast cells could be observed during the culture period of up to 21 days. To question whether this growth of blast cells was due only to proliferation of the initially proliferating fraction or whether a re-entry of resting leukaemic cells into proliferation was involved, various 3H-thymidine (3H-TdR) labelling studies were carried out. The absolute increase of blast cells in EC showed no correlation with the fraction of leukaemic blast cells in DNA-synthesis in the implanted cell suspension as measured by 3H-TdR labelling in vitro. Furthermore, in 2 patients where the kinetic behaviour of initially labelled leukaemic blast cells was followed during DC culture, the increase in total blast cells could only be attributed to a small extent to proliferation of those cells initially in the cell cycle. Lastly, "in vivo" labelling during the culture period showed that in one case 25% and in another case 60% of the blast cells in DC were proliferating. The conclusion is that, owing to the stimulation of the diffusion chamber milieu and possibly also due to removal of an in vivo inhibition, in most cases of acute leukaemia resting leukaemic blast cells can apparently re-enter the active cell cycle. This has relevance for an understanding of the self-maintenance of the leukaemic cell population and may also be a reason for relapse of leukaemia after the usual cytostatic drug treatment which affects mainly the proliferating leukaemic cells.


[Amh, a Bombay variant with cryptantigen H]. Untreated red cells of the Bombay variant Amh have traces of A. They are Le(b)-positive but H-negative. Following RDE-(Receptor destroying enzyme) treatment H is demonstrable by anti-HLa, -BHEe, and -HUe but not by anti-HLt. This type of reaction resembles that in O-newborns: H is present only in the form of a glycolipoid but not in the form of a mucoid. The barrier of neuraminic acid prevents recognition of H as his own. Anti-H is present. It has been shown that H as a precursor is necessary only for A1 but not for Am, A3, and A2.


[Polymorphism of human erythrocytic esterase D]. Within a population sample of 2530 blood donors the EsD-polymorphism in Northern Bavaria has been investigated. The calculated gene frequencies are: EsD1 = 0,8737; EsD2 = 0,1261; EsD3 = 0,0002.


[Thoughts on carcinogenic pollution caused by ionizing radiation]. The pollution phenomenon groups the effects of small doses of radiation on large populations. These effects on Man are not directly accessible. One must: a) consider some epidemiological statistics (cosmic radiation at high altitudes; radioactivity from granitic surroundings); b) extrapolate from datas obtained with high doses; c) extrapolate from datas obtained with low doses in micro-organisms or mammalian cells in vitro. The interpolation scheme of Abrahamson et al. is so available for mutagenicity. The question of a threshold remains theoretical, although radiation-induced carcinogenesis often displays a dose-effects curve with a well market threshold. A new concept, that of a "practical threshold" is developped, which may be of great usefulness. The main genetic considerations are listed upon which the present international admissible doses are based. Finally, in order to establish quantitative comparisons between chemical and radiation carcinogenic pollution, the concept of "rad equivalents" for the main chemical mutagens is stressed.


Skin reaction as a biological parameter for prospective studies of different dose schedules with the CRE formula. The validity of the CRE formula for prospective calculation of biologically equivalent radiation doses with different fractionation schedules has been investigated. Patients with breast cancer were irradiated postoperatively on bilateral parasternal fields. The biological radiation effect was studied by reflectance spectrophotometry of skin erythema and pigmentation. The results from daily irradiation in comparison with twice-a-week, once-a-week, 3-times-a-day and "split-course" irradiation indicate that the formula is a very good predictor of the acute skin erythema and pigmentation.


[Anticancerous chemotherapy trial with  duborimycin. Analysis of 151 cases]. Duborimycin is a new antimitotic agent approaching danorubicin and adriamycin in activity which has been tried on 151 patients suffering from cancer of different types, is an advanced local/regional stage and/or metastatic disease. It was administered intravenously every fortnight in a mean unit dose of 400 mg, and the duration of the treatment ranged from 2 to 52 weeks. Objective improvement was registered in 56 patients of the 135 cases in whcih the results were assessed (around 41.4% of cases). In 4 cases the regression of tumour volume was greater than 50% (one of these cases was in melanoma, the other a sarcoma) and in 2 cases regression was complete (a squamous cell carcinoma and an embryonal testicular tumour). The subjective effects were appreciable in 53 of the 115 cases which could be studied (46%) and above all in the refractory pain of bony secondaries from breast cancer (a favourable response in 78% of cases). Manifestations of intolerance/toxicity were of a minor nature on the haematologic side, that cardiologic ones relatively frequent (18% of treated cases) and occasionally serious (2 cases of asystole). Great care is therefore necessary in supervision of the treatment. However, the first results obtained by this line of approach, notably in chemo-resistant forms of tumour such as melanoma and sarcomas, utilizing the very strict criteria in one analysis encourage further study of duborimycin in cases of this sort (preferably in association and in accordance with protocols of comparative trials) so that its place in cancer chemotherapy may be more precisely defined.


[Anticancerous chemotherapy and the general practitioner]. The evolution of anti-cancer chemotherapy has led to long duration treatments, which preferentially are given at home, with the participation of the general practitionner (G.P.). The indications and general supervision of these belong to the oncologist, so thus necessitates a coordinated effort between the many physicians. A postal inquiry has permitted the collection of the opinions of 169 G.P. (more than half of the consulted physicians) from the southwest of France, in the region depending on the Fondation Bergonié. Thus it was possible to establish the importance of this type of treatment for the majority of the G.P., the details of problems of practical application, and the value attached to the relationships with the oncologist, which need further development.


Magnetic transverse relaxation time of the protons in transplantable melanotic and amelanotic melanoma and in some inner organs of golden hamster Mesocricetus auratus, Waterhouse. The proton magnetic relaxation time T2 was measured in transplantable melanotic and amelanotic melanoma as well as in some organs of golden hamsters of agouti and albino strains. These measurement indicate that the proton relaxation rate depends upon the properties of the biopolymers contained in the tissues, such as melanin, upon the age of the animals, but also on pathological changes different from the neoplastic transformation of the tissues, such as oedema.


[Response of digestive tract mucosa to single and fractionated irradiation. Practical implications for radiotherapy]. After a short description of the gastro-intestinal syndrome (for a single "acute" irradiation) and a discussion of the importance of fractionation in radiotherapy, the authors report their experimental results on intestinal tolerance in mice after fractionated irradiation. Intestinal tolerance was assessed from LD50 after abdomen irradiation. Variation of LD50 was first studied as a function of the fraction number N (keeping constant the overall time T). From these data iso-effect curves were calculated which can be used for clinical applications for correcting the total dose when the fraction number has to be modified (for T constant). In a second series of experiments, variation of LD50 was studied as a function of overall time T (keeping constant the fraction number N),  this study confirms the large recovery capability of the intestinal mucosa, which is due to the combination of 2 mechanisms: shortening of the mitotic cycle of the surviving stem cells and increase of the size of the stem cell compartment. These 2 mechanisms were evaluated quantitatively for a fractionated irradiation. The data obtained for intestine are compared to similar data obtained for other tissues (skin, lung). The authors emphasize the risk of applying to late effects the conclusions obtained for early effets.


[Role of electrocoagulation in treatment of cancers of the rectum]. The authors describe the technics of a wide local electrocoagulation which was used in the treatment of 42 malignant tumors of the rectum: 27 adenocarcinomas and 15 malignant villous tumors. This not disabling technic, avoiding colostomy, is generally harmless even in old and poor risk patients. The mortality rate was 7 p. 100 in the adenocarcinomas series, nul in the malignant villous tumor series. The five year survival rate was 66 p. 100 in the first series and 80 p. 100 in the second. One third of the patients bearing adenocarcinomas developed recurrences, among which some were treated either by large surgery, iterative electrocoagulation, or radiotherapy after colostomy. The indications depend on the size and the site of the tumor. Electrocoagulation is found possible only for T1 or T2 tumors of the posterior and lateral walls of the rectum, provided that they are located at less than 10 cm from anus and above the sphincter.


A combined therapeutic approach for the management of advanced stages of rectal cancer. Patients with moderately advanced, inoperable, recurrent or metastatic rectal cancer, referred to the R.R.T.I. since December 1970 till December 1973, were treated with combined therapeutic regimens that differed according to the stage of the disease. Patients with border operability rectal cancer were treated with preoperative radiotherapy (with or without 5-FU combination) followed by radical surgery within two weeks. Those treated with preoperative radiotherapy + surgery (group I) showed a survival rate of 62 per cent at 48 months while those treated with combined preoperative radiotherapy + 5-FU followed by surgery (group II) showed a survival rate of 78 per cent at 48 months. As for the inoperable patients (group IV) and the recurrent cases of the rectal amputation (group V) who were treated with a split course of combined radiotherapy + 5-FU, they showed a mean survival of 20 and 48 months respectively. Patients in groups III and VI were very few to yield any meaningful results. Detailed treatment policies, techniques and results are also discussed.


[Chemotherapy of soft tissues sarcomas. Summary of a decade and current trends]. The results of palliative chemotherapy applied to 123 patients with disseminated soft tissue sarcomas are reviewed with the recent literature data. With the exception of embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas of children, which are considered separately, the response of these tumors to chemotherapy is poor but not negligible. The association of several active drugs should permit substantial progress, especially in the initial stage of local treatment, when the number of disseminated cells is still reduced. A follow-up of controlled clinical studies must specify the modalities of multidisciplinary treatment in an effort to reduce regional recurrence or metastasis.