Labelling of oviduct nuclear and nucleolar proteins during estrogen induced differentiation. The effect of secondary stimulation with estrogen on synthesis of nuclear and nucleolar proteins is studied in chick oviduct. Isolated nuclei and nucleoli have a protein/DNA ratio of 5.2 and 5.6, respectively. 35% of nuclear and nucleolar protein is recovered in the histone fraction after hydroxylapatite chromatography. Gel electrophoretic separations of nuclear and nucleolar nonhistones are largely similar as to visible bands and distribution of radioactivity. Nucleoli bind 1.4 times more [3H] estradiol as compared to whole nuclei. Nucleolar histones are labelled slightly more actively with [3H] leucine than nuclear histones; nucleolar nonhistones are labelled about 3 times more actively than nuclear nonhistones. An 18 hour secondary stimulation with estrogen increases the radioactivity of histones by 6-fold and that of nonhistones by 2.5-fold in whole nuclei as well as in nucleoli. Stimulation appears to increase preferentially radioactivity of nonhistones at 50 000 daltons. As this change is observed in whole nuclei and nucleoli and is not reduced with hydroxyurea, it is suggested that this may be related to a gross structural reorganisation of chromatin induced by the hormone.


Composition of phospholipids and phospholipid fatty acids in rat mast cells. The composition of phospholipids and phospholipid fatty acids in isolated rat serous fluid mast cells was analyzed by thin layer chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The phospholipids constituted about 50% of the mast cell lipids and phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylcholine were identified. The phosphatidylethanolamine fraction contained aldehydes and the highest proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. Sphingomyelin contained predominantly saturated fatty acids whereas the ratio unsaturated fatty acids: saturated fatty acids for the other phospholipids was more close to 1.


Polyisoprenoid glycolipids involved in glycoprotein biosynthesis. Until five years ago, it was believed that the oligosaccharide chains of most, if not all, glycoproteins were assembled by the stepwise transfer of single sugar residues from their nucleotide derivatives to growing oligosaccharide chains attached to a polypeptide core. It is now becoming widely accepted that polyisoprenol-linked mono- and oligosaccharides function as activated glycosyl carriers in the biosynthesis of some glycoproteins in animal tissues. The lipophilic glycosyl carrier of monosaccharides is the phosphomonoester of dolichol, the C(80-100)-polyisoprenol, containing a saturated terminal isoprene unit. In this biosynthetic process, sugars are initially transferred to dolichol monophosphate from their nucleotide derivatives by membrane-associated glycosyltransferases. These dolichol-linked monosaccharides serve as glycosyl donors in the glycosylation of oligosaccharide phospholipids. It appears likely that dolichol is also the lipid moity of the oligosaccharide intermediates. Detailed enzymatic studies with oligosaccharide phospholipids formed by rat liver, a mouse myeloma tumor and hen oviduct have revealed that these intermediates function as  oligosaccharide donors in the assembly of at least one class of glycoproteins. The exact nature of the glycoproteins glycosylated by lipid intermediates and the sub-cellular site(s) of this assembly process remain to be established. The possibility, that the mannose and GlcNAc-containing core found in many glycoproteins, is assembled at the lipid-level is now being investigated. At the current rate of progress in this area of research, the identity of the glycoproteins glycosylated via lipid intermediated and the subcellular site of this assmebly process will soon be known.


Role of tyrosine residues in cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase from beef kidney. Cytoplasmic aspartate aminotransferase from beef kidney loses 25% of its activity on nitration with tetranitromethane while the apoenzyme about 95%. In the holoenzyme 0.5 tyrosine residue and 1.0 tyrosine residue in the apoenzyme are nitrated per enzyme protomer. In addition 1 cysteine residue per protomer is oxidized in both. The presence of substrates, alpha-ketoglutarate and glutamate, both at ten times their Km values, does not change these results. Mercaptoethanol does not affect the residual activity of either the nitrated holo or apoenzyme. Dithionite abolishes the activity of the nitrated holoenzyme by reducing tha coenzyme moiety. It has no effect on the native holoenzyme or on either the native or nitroapoenzyme.


Direct demonstration of a complementarity between mRNA and double-stranded sequences of pre-mRNA. The total poly(A)-containing mRNA from mouse liver or Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells was annealed with denatured ds RNA prepared from heavy nuclear 3H-labeled pre-mRNA of the same tissue. The hybrids formed were detected by binding of complexes to poly(U)-Sepharose columns through the poly(A) of mRNA. With this technique, about 30% of labeled ds RNA was bound to poly(U)-Sepharose after annealing it with an mRNA excess. The proportion of hybrid material detected by RNase treatment was two to three times lower than that obtained by poly(U)-Sepharose binding. The length of the RNase-stable acid precipitable hybrid material consisted of heterogeneous sequences of 10-100 nucleotides long when cytoplasmic, and 10-60 nucleotides long when polysomal mRNA was used in the hybridization reaction. The results obtained show that at least some of the mRNA molecules contain sequences complementary to one of the branches of the pre-mRNA hairpins. These results are compatible with the idea that the hairpin-like sequences in pre-mRNA are localized between mRNA and the non-informative part of the precursor molecule.


The nature of the differential inhibition of polyphenylalanine synthesis in extracts from Artemia salina and rabbit reticulocytes by the Phytolacca americana protein. The difference in sensitivity of polyphenylalanine synthesis in extracts from Artemia salina and rabbit reticulocytes to inhibition by the Phytolacca americana protein (PAP) has been found to be linked to the source of the supernatant enzyme fraction and not the ribosomes. In the presence of reticulocyte supernatant enzyme fraction polyphenylalanine synthesis in less sensitive to inhibition by PAP than that observed in the presence of A. salina supernatant enzyme fraction. The results suggest that reticulocyte elongation factor 2 is responsible for this effect.


The properties of oligonucleotide fragments containing the triphosphorylated 5'-termini of nuclear pre-mRNA from Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells. Triphosphorylated 5'-end fragments 50-150 nucleotides in length were isolated from nuclear pre-mRNA with the aid of a hydroxyapatite chromatography. They are enriched in U and G (28 and 26%, respectively). About 15% of the fragments isolated from poly(U)+RNA contain poly(U) tracks. Neither poly(A)- nor double-stranded sequences were found. Hybridization experiments in conditions of vast DNA excess demonstrated that the 5'-end fragments contain a low amount of highly repetitive sequences but enriched in sequences hybridizing at C0t 1/2 approximately 100.


Studies on two groups of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from rat liver. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from rat-liver cytoplasm were fractionated into two groups, characterized by their sedimentation coefficients of about 20S and 5S, respectively. These two groups of synthetases could be isolated from postmicrosomal supernatant either by gradient centrifugation, by gel filtration or by acid treatment at pH 5.2. Both groups were required for maximal amino acid incorporation in a cell-free system.


Size heterogeneity of the structural units of brain nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles. Nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles were examined by electron microscopy after negative staining. The results confirmed the polymeric nature of the particles. The constitutive units were distributed into 4 size classes (diameters varying from 100 to 300 A, approximately) indicating that the monoparticle population was heterogenous. When examined on ultrathin sections, the particles had a fibrillar appearance.


Synthesis of human placental lactogen in Xenopus oocytes. Oocytes from Xenopus laevis were injected with polysomes from normal human term placenta. Synthesis of the protein hormone Human Placental Lactogen (HPL) in the oocytes was demonstrated by specific immunoprecipitation with anti-HPL serum. Analysis of the immunoprecipitates on SDS-polyacrylamide gel revealed one peak, with a migration distance corresponding exactly to that of [14C]-Radioacetylated HPL added as a marker. Two days after injection the mRNA was still able to direct the synthesis of HPL.


A code controlling specific binding of regulatory proteins to DNA. A possible code is suggested that describes a correspondence between amino acid sequences in stereospecific sites of regulatory proteins and nucleotide sequences at the control sites on DNA. Stereospecific sites of regulatory proteins are assumed to contain pairs of antiparallel polypeptide chain segments which form a right-hand twisted antiparallel beta-sheet with single-stranded regions at the ends of the beta-structure. The binding reaction between regulatory protein and double-helical DNA is accompanied by significant structural alterations at stereospecific sites of the protein and DNA. Half of the hydrogen bonds normally existing in beta-structure are broken upon complex formation with DNA and a new set of hydrogen bonds is formed between polypeptide amide groups and DNA base pairs. The code states a correspondence between four amino acid residues at a stereospecific site of the regulatory protein and an AT (GC) base pair at the control site. It predicts that there are six fundamental amino acid residues (serine, threonine, histidine, asparagine, glutamine and cysteine) whose arrangement in the stereospecific site determines the base pair sequence to which a given regulatory protein would bind preferentially.


A model for the binding of lac repressor to the lac operator. A model is suggested for the lac repressor binding to the lac operator in which the repressor polypeptide chain sequences from Gly 14 to Ala 32 and from Ala 53 to Leu 71 are involved in specific interaction with operator DNA. A correspondence between the protein and DNA sequences is found which explains specificity of the repressor binding to the lac operator. The model can be extended to describe specific binding of other regulatory proteins to DNA.


Radiation-induced aneusomic clones in bone marrow of rats. Wistar rats 3 months old were given a single whole-body X-irradiation with 700 R. They were killed 9.3 months, on average, after irradiation. From the bone marrows of the 23 irradiated rats, 54 clones of cells with radiation-induced chromosome abnormalities, ranging from 3.3 to 78.3% in size, were obtained. Karyotype analysis at the banding level showed that 43 out of the 54 clones had balanced chromosome constitutions, and that the remaining 11 clones were unbalanced. The 43 balanced clones consisted of 33 clones with reciprocal translocations, 6 with inversions and 4 with both translocations and inversions. The 11 unbalanced clones were made up of 7 aneuploid clones and 4 pseudo-diploid clones. Of the 54 clones, 15 were large with frequencies of more than 25%. Contrary to general belief that cells with unbalanced chromosome constitutions have less capacity to proliferate than those with balanced ones, 8 of the 15 large clones, especially all, except 1, of the largest 6 clones were unbalanced, either aneuploid or pseudo-diploid.


Human lymphocytes as target cells in a metabolizing test system in vitro for detecting potential mutagens. A metabolizing test system is presented that comprises mouse liver microsomes for metabolic activation of the test compound, NADPH as co-factors, dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) as model mutagen and human peripheral lymphocytes as target cells. Lymphocytes were cultured in RPMI 1640 medium in the presence of phytohemagglutinin for 48 h before being used in the system. Incubation of the lymphocytes for 45 min in the metabolically active system reduced thymidine incorporation by 50%, whereas in the metabolically inactive system without NADPH thymidine incorporation was reduced by 15%. The latter reduction was due to the cytotoxic effects of the mouse liver microsomes and of DMN. When the lymphocytes were cultured for another 24 h after exposure to the metabolizing system and DMN, significant increased formation of chromosomal aberrations such as gaps were observed, cross-overs and breaks being less frequent.


Inhibition of transcription by isonicotinic acid hydrazide. Isonicotinic acid hydrazide (INH) reacts with the CMP moiety of a polynucleotide at slightly acid and alkaline pH. The reaction product, when used as a template in the cell-free transcription step, greatly diminishes the incorporation of GMP. In this system we were not able to show that INH -- in contrast with hydrazin -- is potentially capable of producing point mutations, since noncomplementary incorporation could not be observed with a poly(C)/INH adduct as template. Hydrazine could not be detected when INH was incubated with liver-cell fractions.


Reassessment of the use of desferrioxamine B in iron overload. Treatment of transfusion-induced iron overload by daily intramuscular injection of the chelator desferrioxamine has not produced impressive urinary iron excretion. We attempted to augment net iron excretion by altering both the route and quantity of chelator administered. Two ascorbic acid-replete patients excreted a mean of 14.5 mg of iron per 24 hours after a single intramuscular injection of 750 mg of desferrioxamine. Excretion increased to a mean of 44.9 mg when this dose was delivered by a continuous 24-hour intravenous infusion. When the intravenous dose of chelator was increased incrementally to as high as 16,000 mg per 24 hours, iron excretion increased up to 180 mg per day. At these high-dose levels, efficiency of binding of iron to chelator was compromised. Constant exposure of the labile iron pool to a chelating agent markedly enhances net iron excretion in splenectomized transfusion-dependent patients.


A blood test for multiple sclerosis based on the adherence of lymphocytes to measles-infected cells. The increased capacity of lymphocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis to adhere to human epithelial cells persistently infected with measles virus has provided an accurate blood test for multiple sclerosis. When lymphocytes from affected patients were mixed with measles-infected human epithelial cells, the lymphocytes formed rosettes around a mean (+/-S.E.) of 69.2 +/-1.7% of the measles-infected cells. In contrast, lymphocytes from controls, either healthy or with other neurologic and non-neurologic diseases, formed rosettes around a mean of only 28.2+/-2.1% of the measles-infected cells. Of greater importance was the complete absence of overlap between multiple sclerosis and control values, thus indicating the diagnostic potential of the rosetting phenomenon. The severity, duration and activity of the disease had no effect on the degree of rosette formation.


Value and limitations of thallium-201 scintigraphy in the acute phase of myocardial infarction. We examined the diagnostic usefulness of thallium-201 scintigraphy in 200 patients with acute myocardial infarction. The scintiscans showed a defect, suggesting infarction in 165. In all 44 patients studied iwthin six hours after onset of symptoms the scintiscans indicated a defect. Frequency of positive scans was significantly higher (90 of 96) in patients studied within 24 hours after onset than in those (75 of 104) studied later (p less than 0.01).


The glomerular complement receptor in immunologically mediated renal glomerular injury. We examined 25 renal-biopsy specimens to determine whether there is a relation between immunologically mediated renal diseases and the activity of complement receptors that selectively bind antigen-antibody complexes containing activated third component of complement (C3b). These receptors have been termed glomerular complement receptors. Renal lesions associated with in vivo deposition were associated with a loss of receptor sites as demonstrated by reduced or absent in vitro binding of C3b-coated test reagents by glomerular complement receptor. These findings suggest that binding of complement containing immune complexes to glomerular complement receptors in human subjects may participate in the immunopathologic processes of certain immune-complex-mediated renal diseases.


Community medicine: success or failure?

Community medicine: success or failure? The development of university-based community-medicine programs represents one of the most fundamental reforms in medical education in recent times. These programs have attempted to train and motivate students to undertake research and innovations in health service and health-care systems, and to provide service to those in need. Since community medicine is based upon the collective needs of population groups, its relevance, value and effectiveness as a teaching, research and service device in the United States must be seriously questioned unless the prevailing system of individualized care is fundamentally changed to one of collective and regionalized organization. Moreover, working with small population groups, university programs do not provide a large enough epidemiologic base to serve as models for this reform. In developing countries community medicine has proved to be ineffective when isolated from broader socioeconomic development, and should, as now constituted, be abandoned as an independent undertaking.


Childhood antecedents of adult obesity. Do chubby infants become obese adults? We investigated whether obese infants tend to become obese adults. Records of subjects born between 1945 and 1955 were reviewed to select three cohorts based on weight in the first six months of age, which exceeded the 90th percentile at least once, ranged between 25th and 75th percentiles or was below 10th percentile at least once. Three hundred and sixty-six subjects, now between 20 and 30 years of age, were located and their present height and weight determined. Thirty-six per cent of those exceeding the 90th percentile as infants were overweight adults, as compared to 14 per cent of the average age and light-weight infants. A significant increase (chi square = 17.2, p less than 0.001) in adult obesity was evident when the infant exceeded the 75th percentile that was independent of his height. Social class, educational level, and parental weight all correlated with adult weight (p less than 0.001). Sex and ordinal position of birth did not. The data suggest that infant weight correlates strongly with adult weight independently of other factors considered.


Parathyroid autotransplantation in primary parathyroid hyperplasia. Four patients with primary parathyroid hyperplasia were treated by total parathyroidectomy and autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue into the forearm muscle. All patients remained normocalcemic after vitamin D and oral calcium replacement therapy were stopped at 1 1/2, four, nine and 13 months, respectively. Graft function was documented further by detection of a higher concentration of parathyroid hormone in plasma from the basilic vein draining the graft bed than from the basilic vein in the contralateral arm. Intravenous calcium infusion suppressed parathyroid hormone secretion from the graft whereas hypocalcemia induced by ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid markedly stimulated hormone release. In two patients histologic examination of a grafted fragment revealed hyperplastic parathyroid tissue. This method of treatment offers a suitable alternative to radical subtotal parathyroidectomy in selected patients with hyperparathyroidism.


The diastolic murmur of renal failure.

The diastolic murmur of renal failure. A characteristic and transient early diastolic precordial murmur is commonly heard in patients with renal failure. On the basis of its clinical characteristics, this murmur has previously been attributed to functional aortic incompetence. We undertook a formal cardiac investigation, including aortography, in six of eight patients with renal failure in whom such a bruit developed. Aortic regurgitation was detected in only one of the six. Echocardiography revealed no abnormality of aortic-valve function but did indicate the presence of a small pericardial effusion in each of the five patients examined. We conclude that the early diastolic murmur associated with renal failure does not usually arise from functional aortic incompetence but may be a sound of pericardial origin.


Hemoglobin Beth Israel. A mutant causing clinically apparent cyanosis. We found that an abnormal hemoglobin with a very low oxygen affinity was responsible for overt cyanosis in an otherwise healthy adolescent. Hemoglobin Beth Israel, in which serine replaces the asparagine residue normally present at position 102 (G4) of the beta-polypeptide chain, was associated with normal blood counts and no apparent exercise intolerance in the heterozygous carrier. Cyanosis resulted from a drastically right-shifted oxygen dissociation curve, whose position and shape could account for the absence of "physiologic" anemia. The whole-blood oxygen tension at 50 per cent oxygen saturation was 88 mm Hg (normally 26 +/- 1 mm Hg), and the arterial blood was only 63 per cent saturated with oxygen despite a normal oxygen tension of 97 mm Hg. The hemolysate showed a low oxygen affinity but normal Bohr effect. Unexplained cyanosis, particularly in association with normal arterial oxygen tension should prompt a search for an abnormal hemoglobin, which may obviate the need for invasive diagnostic procedures.


Gluten-sensitive enteropathy. Inhibition by cortisol of the effect of gluten protein in vitro. Cortisol partially prevents the harmful effect of gluten on the jejunal mucosa of patients with gluten-sensitive enteropathy. To investigate further the pathogenesis of this disorder, we analyzed the effect of cortisol in cultures of jejunal specimens obtained by biopsy. Cultures were done with and without gluten or cortisol. Morphology and alkaline phosphatase activity were assessed before and after 24 hours. Biopsies from untreated patients cultured with gluten showed low enzyme values and cuboidal epithelial cells before and after culture. Biopsies cultured in a gluten-free medium showed a threefold increase in enzyme values (P less than 0.01) and morphologic improvement with change to columnar epithelial cells. Cultures with gluten plus cortisol showed rises in alkaline phosphatase and morphologic improvement indistinguishable from cultures without gluten. Cortisol and gluten had no effect on cultures from appropriate controls. Cortisol thus prevents the harmful effects of gluten on biopsies from patients with gluten-sensitive enteropathy in vitro.


Echocardiography in bacterial endocarditis. We examined 129 standard M-mode echocardiograms obtained in 65 patients (16 to 73 years old) with bacterial endocarditis. Twenty of the 22 patients with vegetations recognizable by echocargiography died, or underwent cardiac operation (mean interval from admission 22 days, and range two to 120 days). Vegetations were seen on the echocardiograms in 22 (aortic 10, mitral nine and tricuspid three, with anatomic confirmation in 19). Of patients without vegetations on echocardiography none underwent emergency operation or died as a result of cardiac disease (mean follow-up period of 14 months, range of two to 38 months). Other echocardiographic findings in those with vegetations included early mitral-valve closure (six), "flail" aortic leaflet (three), and "flail" mitral leaflet (three). Echocardiography can provide a rapid, reliable noninvasive diagnosis of bacterial vegetations in certain patients with bacterial endocarditis and may identify patients with more severe disease who may require operative intervention.


Neighborhood health centers as providers of primary mental-health care. The 19 Boston neighborhood health centers with mental-health programs were studied to investigate the delivery of mental-health services as part of a primary health-care system. Staff-time utilization data show these programs focus on the provision of primary mental-health services to neighborhood residents and indirect consultative and collaborative services to general health staff to co-ordinate health care. Forty-eight per cent of referrals for mental-health services were patients first identified and referred by general health staff. Children constituted a disproportionately high percentage of the patients served (43 per cent), and 22 per cent of the services were outreach visits, primarily in patients' homes. Quantitative studies are necessary to confirm my qualititative findings that the conjoint health and mental-health delivery site at the neighborhood level increases the accessibility and psychologic acceptability of mental-health services and enhances case finding, successful referral, and co-ordination of primary health care.


Acute renal failure of glomerular origin during visceral abscesses. We studied 11 patients who had visceral abscesses and in whom acute renal failure developed. All renal biopsies showed a diffuse proliferative and crescentig glomerulonephritis. In seven patients blood cultures were repeatedly negative. Endocarditis could be ruled out in six patients. Seven patients had circulating cryoglobulins; serum complement levels were normal in seven and decreased in four; circulating immune complexes were found in the three patients studied. The evolution of the glomerulonephritis, documented by serial biopsies, closely paralleled the course of the infection. A complete recovery of renal function occurred in four cases in which a rapid and complete cure of the infection was obtained. Of five patients in whom the infection was not cured, four died, and chronic renal failure developed in one. In two patients in whom therapy was delayed, chronic renal failure also developed. Deep suppuration, even in the absence of bacteremia, may be responsible for a severe but possibly reversible glomerulonephritis with circulating immune complexes.


Systemic embolism in chronic sinoatrial disorder. We attempted to estimate the prevalence of systemic embolism in patients with chronic sino-atrial disorder. In a group of 100 patients, evidence of embolism was found in 16, of whom 15 had the bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome. In 712 controls with chronic complete heart block, who were matched for age and sex, embolism had occurred in only 1.3 per cent (P less than 0.001). A second group of 41 patients with chronic ventricular bradycardia and atrial flutter or fibrillation had an embolic prevalence of 7.3 per cent, which was also greater than that in the controls (P less than 0.05). All patients with sinoatrial disorder in whom systemic embolism developed were over 54 years of age; multiple episodes occurred in six. The risk of embolization remains even if the bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome is replaced by stable atrial fibrillation. Impaired atrial function appears to be a key factor in predisposing to intracardiac thrombosis, and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia increases the risk of subsequent embolization.


Chilean medicine under social revolution. During the last decade Chile has experienced a series of social changes under Christian Socialist (1964-1970), Marxist Socialist (1970-1973) and military (1973-1975) governments. These changes grossly affected the evolution of medicine and public health in Chile. Nevertheless, vital statistics show an overall improvement in health indexes, with a short interruption during the Marxist government. During this period medical standards and the quality of medical services declined when revolutionaries disrupted the organization of traditional socialized Chilean medicine founded 50 years ago. The vital statistics of 1974 suggest an overall recovery, but physical and human resources for health, eroded by revolution and the present acute economic crisis, have not yet begun to improve. Nevertheless, Chilean medicine has reasumed the technical character that should never have been abandoned.


Isolation and N-terminal amino acid sequence of membrane-bound human HLA-A and HLA-B antigens. Membrane-bound HLA-A and HLA-B antigens have been extensively purified in good yield. The sequences of the N-terminal 16 amino acids have been determined using about 1 nmol of protein eluted from polyacrylamide gel after electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate.


[Reactions of neurons in the primary and secondary somatosensory zones of the cortex to stimulation of the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus]. Neuronal responses in the first and second somatosensory cortex (SI and SII) to stimulation of the ventroposterior nucleus of the thalamus (VP) were studied in experiments on cats immobilized with d-tubocurarine. 12.0% responding neurons in SI and 9.5% in SII were activated antidromically by VP stimulation. In the majority of antidromic responses the latencies did not exceed 1.0 ms. The minimal latency of orthodromic spikes was 1.5 ms in SI and 1.7 ms in SII. In SI the number of neurons whose orthodromic spike latencies did not exceed 3.0 ms was larger than neurons activated with latencies of 3.1-4.5 ms. In SII an inverse quantitative relationship between those two neuronal groups was observed. In SII a significantly larger number of neurons was excited with latencies of EPSPs ranged between 1.1-9.0 ms in SI and between 1.4-6.6 ms in SII and the latencies of IPSPs between 1.5-6.8 ms in SI and 2.2-9.4 ms in SII. The importance of different pathways for excitatory and inhibitory VP influences to neurons of SI and SII is discussed.


[Spatial organization of the direct connections of the sensory-motor cortex with the rhombencephalon and spinal cord in cats]. The distribution and ultrastructure of terminals of corticofugal fibres in the cat hindbrain and spinal cord were examined by light and electron microscopy in various periods of experimental degeneration elicited by large or small sensorimotor cortex destructions. Using the Fink-Heimer technique, it is shown that the corticofugal projections in the dorsal column nuclei and in the spinal intermediate zone are somatotopically arranged. Even small restricted areas of sensorimotor cortex give two separate descending supraspinal systems. The fibres of the first system are distributed in the dorsolateral and dorsolmedial parts of the spinal intermediate zone, predominantly contralaterally. The fibres of the second system are distributed in the dorsolateral and ventromedial parts of the intermediate zone (bilaterally). Degenerating axo-somatic and axo-dendritic contacts contain spherical vesicles. The majority of degenerating axons in n. cuneatus are 0.5-1,5 mu in diameter. The data obtained are discussed in connection with the electrophysiological data on the mechanisms of the cortical control of the spinal cord neuronal activity.


[Changes in the synaptic contacts in the amygdaloid complex following unilateral lobectomy in rabbits]. Synaptic junctions in the rabbit amygdala were studied by electron microscopy. A definite distribution of morphologically different synapses on the neuronal surface was noticed. This distribution changed 3 days after ipsilateral lobectomy. A suggestion is made on transformation of a certain morphological form of synaptic contact into another one during the changed function.


[The predominantly unilateral influence of the posterior hypothalamus on the neocortex]. High-frequency electrical stimulation of the-posterior hypothalamus applied 10-20 days after the sectioning of the brain stem at the level of the anterior frontal margins of the anterior coliculus results in the preferential activation of the ipsilateral neocortex. When unilateral lesions are placed in the posterior hypothalamus, the predominance of synchronous activity in the ipsilateral neocortex is observed. In the premesencephalic preparations, weak single electrical stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus provokes spindles in the ipsilateral portions of the frontal cortex. At more intensive single stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus there occurs diffuse appearance of spindles in different neocortical areas. Besides the preferential unilateral effect, the influence of the posterior hypothalamus is more prominent in the frontal than in the occipital regions of the cortex. It is suggested that the posterior hypothalamus exerts its influence on the neocortex through the thalamic nuclei.


[The influence of aconitine on several properties of the sodium channels of the membranes of nodes of Ranvier]. Effect of aconitine on the sodium channels in the frog Ranvier node membrane was studied. Aconitine was shown to produce two types of modified channels. The first type channels acquire stable properties after effect was developed; they open at high  negative voltage, their inactivation, if any, is incomplete, their selectivity is greatly  reduced: the potassium-sodium permeability ratio averages to 0.72. The second type channels turn impermeable as effect develops, their kinetics and conductance-voltage dependance are similar to those of normal sodium channels; as compared with normal channels their selectivity is reduced: the potassium permeability ratio averages to 0.22. Both aconitine-modified and normal channels have the same sensitivity  to tetrodotoxin.


[Several characteristics of afferent flow following skin injuries]. Using a crosscorrelation method, the quantitative characteristics of afferent impulse flow in the n. saphenus were investigated under stimulation of cat's skin with acid, needles, and pins. The appearance of the nociceptive reaction served as a noxious stimulation test. Noxious mechanical  and chemical stimuli affecting directly the nerve fibres activate the same afferent fibres as those activated by weak tactile ones exciting the receptors. The impulse flows under such conditions differ by the amount of active A and C fibres, their correlation and the activity duration in them. The nociceptive reaction is realized owing to a considerable predominance of activity in C fibres over that in A fibres and owing to the long activity duration in both kinds of fibres, particularly in C fibres. The paper demonstrates the possibility to use an optic correlometer for the analysis of the activity in a whole nerve.


[Separation of the sodium and potassium channels in the surface membrane of mollusk nerve cells]. Characteristics of transmembrane ionic currents under controlled changes in ionic composition of extra-and intracellular medium were studied by means of intracellular dialysis and voltage clamp in isolated neurons from the molluscs Helix pomatia and Limnea stagnalis. The outward potassium currents were eliminated by replacement of intracellular potassium by Tris and the pure inward current could be measured. Replacement of the Ringer solution by NA-free or Ca-free solutions in the extracellular medium made it possible to separate the inward current into additive components, one of which is carried by sodium ions, and the other, by calcium ions. The sodium and calcium inward currents are shown to have different kinetics and potential dependence: taumNa = 1+/-0.5 ms, taumCa = = 3+/-1 ms, tauhNa = 8+/-2 ms, tauhCa = 115+/-10 ms when Vm = 0, GNa = 0.5 when Vm==-21+/-2 mV, GCa = 0.5 when Vm=-8+/-2 mV. Both currents were not altered by tetrodoxin (TTX), however calcium current is specifically blocked by externally applied calcium ions (2 X 10(-3) M), verapamil, D = 600 as well as by fluoride while introduced inside a cell. These data prove the existence of separate systems of sodium and calcium ion-conducting channels in the somatic membrane.


[Changes in the phasic evoked activity of cortical neurons following iontophoretic application of glutamate, GABA and atropine]. L-glutamic acid, GABA and atropine were applied ionophoretically from a microelectrode to single neurons in the somatosensory cortex of awake rabbits. The influence of the substances varied for the separate neuron response phases and depended on changes in electric stimulation parameters. A conclusion is made on the chemical specificity of separate phases of the neuronal responses and the neurochemical nature of the changes in the receptive fields of central neurons.


[Corticofugal influences on the background activity of the rabbit lateral geniculate body]. Two groups of P-neurons were found in the rabbit lateral geniculate body: with lowfrequency and high-frequency background activity. The background activity of the low-frequency neurons was subjected mainly to facilitatory coritcofugal influences. Inhibitory corticofugal influences predominated in the regulation of background activity of high-frequency neurons.


[Comparative characteristics of interneuronal dimensions in the cervical segments of the cat spinal cord]. A comparative study of interneuronal dimensions in segments C1, C4, C7 was performed for the cat cervical spinal cord. It is shown that in three groups of interneurons the mean values of the two somatic axes, the correlation coefficients of these values and the mean volumes of the cell somata are the greatest in the C7 segment and the smallest in the C6 segment.


Ultrastructure of human uveal melanomas cultivated in vitro. Ultrastructural characteristics of four mixed-cell type human uveal melanomas cultivated in vitro were described. The authors stress the significance of melanosome microtubules in the process of melaninisation. They also stress the significance of smooth membraness for the formation of premelanosomes. The question of differentiation between melanocytes and lysosomes in ultrastructure is discussed.


Cytology of delayed hypersensitivity reaction in patients with malignant tumors. A modification of the "skin window" method is proposed for investigation of delayed hypersensitivity in patients with tumors. The principle of the modified method consists in an antigen injection into the site of lesion. Patients with tumors showed a strikingly lowered lymphoid cells and eosinophilic and basophilic granulocytes than the controls.


Are the tumor cells of the G2 period of the cell cycle sensitive to the immune pressure? The present work was aimed at analysing as to whether the cell loss is random within the cell cycle or not. In order to verify the former statement two regressing tumor systems: Ehrlich ascites carcinoma transplated into rats (heterologous graft) and BN/b lymphoma implanted into immunized BN/b mice (syngeneic graft), were used. Both tumor lines were examined by means of double labeling method coupled with short colcemide block. In the case of regressing tumors the cell flux into DNA synthesis was found to be at the same level as for the growing tumors. On the contrary, the flux into mitosis was much lower for regressing tumors than for growing ones. The above results suggest the immune attack on tumor cells while in the G2 phase of the cell cycle.


The effect of dibromodulcitol (Elobromolr, Mitolactolr, nsc 104 800) on the postoperative recurrences of the Guerin carcinoma of the rat. In all cases of Guerin carcinoma of the rat the recurrence of the tumor in 7-10 days can be observed following surgical removal. Local treatment with Dibromodulcitol combined with intraperitoneal administration of the same drug results in delayed occurrence of tumor recurrences, the growth of which is slower, and in a significant increase of life span of the animals. In exceptional cases no recurrence appeared. The local treatment combined with intraperitoneal administration was the most effective. Peroral treatment was also effective although in a lesser degree.


Incorporation of 3H-dibromodulcitol and 3H-dianhydrodulcitol into ascites tumor cells. Autoradiographic study. The incorporation of 3H-Dibromodulcitol and 3H-Dianhydrodulcitol into S37 ascites tumor cells has been studied with autoradiography. Both drugs war incorporated very rapidly into the cells. The labeling of nucleus was higher than that of cytoplasm. A slight accumulation of grains was found above the condensed chromatin and along the membranes. The uptake of DAD has been more intensive than that of DBD.


Structural and metabolic characterization of RNAs from rats with experimental Guerin tumor - I. Nucleotide composition of RNAs from the liver and tumor tissues of rats. The characteristics of the ribonucleic acids of Guerin tumor was the subject of this work. The effect of tumor development on the structure of the ribonucleic acids in the liver of tumor bearing rats was studied. Some differences of nucleotide compositions in RNAs isolated from subcellular fractions of liver of control and tumor bearing rats and of cancer tissue were observed. The nucleotide compositions of cancer nuclear RNA is distinctly different from liver RNA. The changes in primary structure of liver RNAs due by development of tumor in rats may be result of metabolic peculiarities of these RNAs.


Structural and metabolic characterization of RNAs from rats with experimental Guerin tumor - II. metabolic peculiarities of RNAs from the liver and tumor tissues of rats. Metabolic peculiarities of RNAs in the liver of the tumor bearing and in the tumor tissue were found. The synthesis of nuclear RNA in liver of tumor bearing rats is distinctly disordered in comparison to that of control rats. The level of 14C-orotic acid incorporation into RNA of cancer tissue is manifold lower than that into the liver RNA. The studies on turnover rate showed the metabolic heterogeneity of the nuclear RNAs. The part of them showed a short turnover, the other RNAs were degraded much slower.


Serum immunoglobulin levels in cancer patients. II. Serum immunoglobulins and stage of tumor progress. A study of the IgG, IgA and IgM levels in relation with the clinical course of the tumor disorders revealed the IgG values to correlate with the progress of the disease. Their levels were found to rise from stage I to stage III of the classification according to tumor progress, the difference between these stages being of statistical significance. A similar trend, though statistically nonsignificant, was noted also in IgA levels, but these proved right from the start to be higher than the values reported for the apparent normal population. The rising tendency in the IgG--and the less striking one in the IgA levels were also confirmed by a comparison of the mean values of collections separated by a definite time interval in the same patients and this both for the deteriorated and unchanged cases, but not for the group of improved patients.


Reorganizing the nursing home industry: a proposal. This paper proposes a reorganization of the nursing home industry with capital facilities owned by government, but with management conducted through a system of competitive contracts with the private sector. The paper explicity demonstrates in real estate finance terms how the present system of private ownership of capital facilities inherently impedes providing a high quality of care. The authors believe that in the proposed industry reorganization, market forces, instead of working against quality care, would be supportive of quality care in a framework that would involve generally less regulation than exists today.


Food distribution as a guarantee for nutrition and health: China's experience. In China, agriculture, health, education, and welfare are intricately woven as part of the development and its relationship to health programs, the strategy  of food rationing and the "private plot" to improve nutrition and health, and the balance of food and population in the Chinese society. China's nutritional experience contributes significantly to understanding the role of "energy food" in the struggle against protein malnutrition and hunger. The author has outlined the implications for the developing countries.


The impact of certificate-of need controls on hospital investment. Certificate-of-Need (CON) controls over hospital investment have been enacted by a number of states in recent years and the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974 provides strong incentives for adoption of CON in additional states. In this study, we review the questions that have been raised about the effectiveness of CON controls and then we develop quantitative estimates of the impact of CON on investment. These estimates show that CON did not reduce the total dollar volume of investment but altered its composition, retarding expansion in bed supplies but increasing investment in new services and equipment. We suggest that this finding may be due to (1) the emphasis in CON laws and programs on controlling bed supplies and (2) a substitution of new services and equipment for additional beds in response to financial factors and organizational pressures for expansion. Finally, we caution against the conslusion that CON controls should be broadened and tightened, though our results might be so interpreted, because of the practical difficulties involved in reviewing and certifying large numbers of small investment projects.


Thrombokinetics in systemic lupus erythematosus A preliminary report. Twelve non-thrombocytopenic patients ( 3 males and 9 females) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were investigated with respect to platelet size, percentage of megathrombocytes, platelet survival and platelet production. The values for platelet size and percentage of megathrombocytes did not differ from those of a control group. In the SLE group the mean platelet MLS was identical to the control mean, and all patients with SLE had values for platelet MLS within the range of the control subjects. All SLE patients but one had values for platelet turnover within the control range. For unclear reason one single SLE patient had a moderately elevated platelet turnover value. The results of the present investigation do not support the theory that a state of compensated thrombocytolysis is present in SLE.


On the phosphate problem.

On the phosphate problem. Acceptable Daily Intakes (ADI) of phosphorus set by the FAO/WHO Committee are fixed at 70 and 30 mg P/kg body weight, for conditional (C) (where Ca intake is high) and unconditional (UC) intake, respectively. In light of the increasing application of phosphates in food industries, the question arises whether these permissible limits are not exceeded by certain population group (s). The groups studied in this paper included: children, nursing mothers, farmers and town's men, and students. Average per capita and excessive consumptions were also estimated. Spectrometric techniques were used for analysis of both phosphorus and calcium. Unless for few items, Dutch Food Composition Tables were found accurate enough to use for calculations. Intake of P was found to exceed the UC ADI in most groups, and even the C ADI in infants (1 year). Food intakes of all groups resulted in P/Ca ratios higher than the recommended dietary allowances of U.S.A. Milk and dairy products proved important items for lowering this ratio in the Dutch diet. It is concluded that more investigation for the toxicological evaluation of phosphates is required, and a more clear ADI need be set. Food laws must take into account addition of phosphates during food processing. Estimation of P intake should be carried out particularly in countries of low calcium intake or high consumption of phosphate-treated or phosphate-rich foods (e.g. wholemeal bread and nut consumption in Iran).


Effect of electrical stimulation of the medullary respiratory neurons on respiratory air flow in cats. New findings on expiratory neurons. Respiratory air flow during electrical stimulation of the medullary respiratory neurons was measured in 25 sodium pentobarbital-anesthetized cats. The effect of variation of stimulus parameters on the air flow was studied too. The medullary respiratory neurons were localized by exploring the medulla with microelectrodes. The inspiratory neurons were found hetween 2 and 4 mm lateral to the midline, and from the level of the obex to 4 mm rostrally in the ventral reticular formation. The expiratory cells were between 2 and 3 mm lateral to the midline, extending from the level of the obex to 3 mm caudally, slightly less ventral than the inspiratory neurons. The maximal inspiratory and expiratory flow rates were 56 and 44 liters per minute respectively when the respiratory neurons were stimulated with a stimulus of 4 volts and 200 Hz/sec., while duration of the stimulating pulse was 0.5 millisecond. In general, the increase in air flow was proportional to the magnitude of the stimulus strength, stimulus frequency and duration of the stimulating pulse.


Leg lengthening with a new type of external fixator (a preliminary report on 24 cases). A new type of external fixator bas been designed for absolute fixation and prevention of lateral migration of fragments of bone. The apparatus has been used for leg lengthening. The apparatus and the technique are described and results of the first 24 cases are presented. Complications were minimal. The technique proved to be simple to apply, and painless to the patient with his ambulation from the start. And less expense are involved because of a very short period of hospitalization.


Progeria, a case report from Iran.

Progeria, a case report from Iran. A 4 1/4-year-old male child with the Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome is described. This is the first case to be reported from Iran.


A process model for curriculum deveopment. An operational model of the processes of decision making in the development of curriculum was porposed. Attempts were made to present a conceptual framework from which the model was elaborated. In addition, examples of field experience related to the application of educational planning theory into practive were presented.


Convulsive seizures in infancy and childhood. Epilepsy is a symptom and not a disease. An etiologic and therapeutic approach to the acutely convulsing child has been outlined. The necessity of attempting to determine the cause while in the process of stopping the seizure has been emphasized. Suggestions as to what to evaluate on physical examination and what laboratory tests to order have been discussed. An approach to the child whose seizure was not witnessed by a physician is also presented. Emphasis is placed on obtaining an accurate history. Finally, the treatment of a child with epilepsy involves more than prescribing appropriate medication. The child's performance in school and the concerns of parents and patient must be considered.


Echocardiographic assessment of cor pulmonale in cystic fibrosis. The early clinical recognition and assessment of cor pulmonale are frequently difficult. To evaluate the usefulness of echocardiographic measurement of right ventricular dimension and septal motion in assessing cor pulmonale, we studied 94 patients with cystic fibrosis of varying severity. There was a significant relationship between increasing right ventricular dimension index (RVDI) and (1) decreasing clinical score, vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and maximal midexpiratory flow rate (MMFR); and (2) increasing residual volume and thoracic gas volume. There was no correlation between right ventricular dimension index and PaO2. These findings were supported by electrocardiogram and pathologic evidence of right ventricular involvement. Abnormal septal motion was observed more frequently in patients with severe obstructive airway disease as measured by decreased vital capacity, FEV1, and MMFR. The data show that there is echocardiographic evidence of mild right ventricular enlargement and/or hypertrophy much earlier in the course of cystic fibrosis than previously suspected and that the echocardiogram is a useful tool in the evaluation of cor pulmonale in patients with cystic fibrosis.


Hydantoin-5-propionic aciduria in folic acid nondependent formiminoglutamic aciduria observed in two siblings. Hydantion-5-propionic acid was detected in massive amounts in the urine of two previously described sisters with folic acid nondependent formiminoglutamic aciduria. HPA was identified rigorously, e.g. by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and was measured quantitatively by selected ion monitoring (mass fragmentography) using deuterated HPA as internal standard. Before histidine loading, both girls with the postulated formiminotransferase deficiency excreted an amount of HPA more than 50 times greater than the control subjects. After histidine ingestion, HPA excretion was still doubled or tripled. With the exception of the father, the values for the other members of the family also markedly exceeded the normal range and were of the same order of magnitude as in folate deficiency. Measurement of HPA excretion in urine seems to be a valuable supplement or alternative to the enzymatic FIGu test for the detection of general or functional folate deficiency or impaired folate utilization and it will be indispensable for the detection of (as yet unknown) 4-imidazolone-5-propionic acid hydrolase deficiency.


Ornithine decarboxylase activity in human fetal liver. The Km of ODC in human fetal liver is comparable with values obtained in other tissues and species (3.3 X 10(-4) M). The ODC activity in human fetal liver varies with the gestational age of the fetus, declining rapidly from a peak in the youngest tissue examined. Human fetal liver explants maintained in organ culture for 32 hr demonstrate no ODC activity in the presence or absence of insulin. Rat fetal liver explants display a prolonged period of stable ODC activity after 16 hr in organ culture.


Gaseous exchange and acid-base balance in premature lambs during liquid ventilation since birth. Nine distressed premature lambs were studied before, during, and after ventilation with fluorocarbon liquid (FC-80). It was found that premature lambs, delivered by cesarean section, could be adequately ventilated with oxygenated liquid for period up to 3 hr. Using fluarocarbon liquid in conjunction with the described liquid breathing system, it was possible to maintain remarkably good pulmonary gas exchange and acid-base balance during normothermic conditions. In addition, peak intratracheal pressures measured during recovery from liquid ventilation were significanly reduced (P is less than 0.001) as compared with preliquid ventilation values. This improvement in lung function is in direct contrast to the deterioration in that of the adult animal following liquid ventilation as reported previously.


Lactate and pyruvate as fetal metabolic substrates. Lactate and pyruvate concentration differences across the fetal umbilical circulation and the maternal uterine circulation were measured in a chronic sheep preparation. Significant gains in lactate in both the fetal and maternal circulations were observed. The lactate taken up by the fetus would account for 32% of fetal oxygen consumption if oxidized. There was no significant change in pyruvate concentration across the fetal umbilical circulation; however, pyruvate was gained by maternal uterine blood.


Elevated plasma levels of carcinoembryonic antigen in cystic fibrosis. Elevated levels of plasma CEA were found in patients with cystic fibrosis. The elevations were well correlated with the Shwachman scores of the patients. Parallel changes of the levels of plasma CEA and clinical conditions of four patients were also observed in the follow-up studies. Close clinical examination indicated that the elevated plasma CEA of cystic fibrosis patients may be derived from sputum which is produced in abnormal amounts. This hypothesis is further supported by the very high content and the chromatographic profile of the CEA activity of sputum from patients with cystic fibrosis.


Temperature-sensitive mutants of influenza A virus: response of children to the influenza A/Hong Kong/68-ts-1(E) (H3N2) and influenza A/Udorn/72-ts-1(E) (H3N2) candidate vaccine viruses and significance of immunity to neuraminidase antigen. One of two slightly different influenza A/ts-1[E] recombinant candidate live vaccines was given intranasally to each of 23 young children. Twelve of 15 children who had no serum HI antibody but who did have serum ANAB at the time of administration became infected and 1 had mild rhinitis. All eight who lacked both types of antibody became infected and they shed virus in higher titer and for longer than the former group; five had rhinorrhea and five had mild fever. These findings suggest that serum ANAB plays a part in modulating influenza virus infection and that the full expression of virulence of these or other attenuated influenza vaccines may be manifest only in individuals lacking both HI antibody and ANAB. These particular candidate vaccine strains appear to be attenuated for older children (who have some prior experience with influenza A as demonstrated by serum ANAB), but the occurrence of fever in over half who had no prior experience indicates that they would not be acceptable for a vaccine in wide-spread use.


Intestinal absorption of amino acids and peptides in Hartnup disorder. Absorption of free and peptide-bound amino acids was investigated in a girl with Hartnup disorder aged 26 months. Plasma levels of amino acids were followed after oral administration of (1) an amino acid mixture simulating casein and (2) an equivalent dose of a partial enzymic hydrolysate of casein containing oligopeptides in addition to free amino acids. The results suggested that many neutral amino acids were poorly absorbed when given in the free form, but much more readily absorbed when given as peptides. Unexpectedly, the results also suggested that glutamic acid was poorly absorbed when given in the free form. The results obtained with threonine could not be interpreted. There was an increased renal clearance of many neutral amino acids, including glycine, but clearance of proline was not increased. Most amino acids with an increased renal clearance also appeared to be poorly absorbed when given by mouth in the free form.


Kinetic properties of pyruvate kinase in human maternal leukocytes in fetal malnutrition. Pyruvate kinase (PK) is one of the regulatory enzymes in glycolysis. The present study was undertaken to determine whether regulation of the enzyme by normally occurring metabolites was disturbed in leukocytes of mothers who delivered fetally malnourished (FM) babies. Kinetic studies of enzyme regulation by physiologic effectors approximated a potential regulating mechanism of the enzyme in its cellular environment. There are two isoenzymes of PK. Leukocytes contain an M2 enzyme with intermediate regulatory properties between the liver (type L) and the muscle (type M) enzymes. The presence in the cell of M2 PK in the A form leads to inhibition of glycolysis by amino acids, such as alanine, and therefore, to the sparing of glucose but probably inhibition of energy production from glucose. In this study, leukocytes were isolated from blood of six pregnant women and 11 women in the postpartum period in Oklahoma and at parturition from 31 women in Mexico. Fourteen of the latter group delivered FM babies. The kinetic characteristics of the nonpurified enzyme PK with respect to allosteric modulation in fructose-1, 6-phosphate (FDP) and L-alanine (Ala) were studied in the leukocyte extracts. Data for initial reaction velocities (v) vs substrate concentrations (s), double reciprocal Lineweaver-Burk plots, and Hill plots are presented. The equations for the double reciprocal plots were determined by linear regression analysis. The enzyme constants were derived by computer, and the values compared by the Mann-Whitney U-test. In all subjects studied, 0.5 mM FDP activated and 2 mM L-alanine inhibited the enzyme. During pregnancy, the v vs s concentration curves were hyperbolic (Hill coefficient, n is less than 1.0) except for the Ala-inhibited enzyme during pregnancy, which had a sigmoid curve, n=1.54. The interaction of FDP and Ala was dependent on the concentration of the substrate phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) at low [PEP]. There was net activation, not inhibition, at high concentrations; the switchover was at 0.5 mM PEP during pregnancy. In Mexican mothers having normal babies (normal mothers) the maximum initial velocity, V (micromoles per min per mg of DNA), with respect to PEP, was 2.22+/-0.34; in FM mothers, V was 2.01+/-0.44. With respect to binding of the substrate, PEP, V of the leukocyte enzymes in FM mothers vs normal mothers was equally inhibited by Ala (deltaV=-50% vs -47%), but was significantly less responsive to stimulation by FDP (deltaV=+10% vs +75%). When both Ala and FDP were present, FDP less effectively overcame the inhibition by Ala (deltaV=-9% vs +54%). The K0.05 of the enzyme (molar concentration X 10(-4) PEP) was significantly reduced by FDP, whether Ala was present or not, during pregnancy and in the postpartum period in leukocytes of Oklahoma mothers and at term in Mexican mothers. The K0.5 for normal and FM mothers was similar. Thus, the enzyme in leukocytes of Mexican mothers who delivered FM and normal babies exhibited different kinetic responses to the allosteric modulators...


Response of the neonatal heart to a new inotropic agent, RO2-2985 (X537A). The ionophore RO2-2985 did not produce a positive inotropic response in 1-day-old canine isolated ventricle. A gradual increase in inotropic response was seen with age. Isolated atria, however, exhibited a positive inotropic response at birth (50% increased dF/dt), which became progressively greater with age (100% increase in dF/dt at 15 days of age). In the neonatal heart in situ there was a positive inotropic response in 1-day-old puppies (40% increase in left ventricular dF/dt) with progressively greater responses with age (135% increase in left ventricular dF/dt at 11 days of age). There was a positive chronotropic (75-125% increase) response to RO2-2985 at all ages studied. The drug elevated systemic arterial pressure (150% increase in mean arterial pressure) to a similar degree in all ages studied. RO2-2985 depressed total calcium binding by both neonatal and adult isolated cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum approximately 50%.


Parotid gland function in children with cystic fibrosis and child control subjects. Parotid saliva was collected from 22 children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and 21 control children. Stimulation was by 0.1 ml 5% citric acid on the tongue every 15 sec over a period of 10 min, and samples were collected for 2-min intervals. Stimulated saliva showed a lag period of low amylase release, and an activated period of higher amylase release. The major difference between CF and child control parotid saliva was in the elevated calcium concentrations in CF subjects. Flow rate and amylase, although higher in the CF group, were not raised to a statistically significant level. There were higher mean values for sodium and inorganic phosphate in CF children but statistical significance was minimal. Potassium values were almost identical in CF and control saliva. In the activated parotid saliva samples of both control and CF subjects there were positive correlations between flow rate and calcium, flow rate and sodium, anylase and calcium, and sodium and calcium, and negative correlations between sodium and potassium. The parotid function test has no value as a diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis, as even calcium values show too much overlap with control saliva to be of diagnostic worth.


Morphologic studies in a patient with homocystinuria due to 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency. Biochemical and morphologic studies on a patient with homocystinuria due to a deficiency of 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (EC. 1.1.1.68) were performed. The concentrations of homocystine in the patient's plasma and urine were 2.97 mumol/dl and 44.67 mumol/24 hr, respectively. Activities of 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (expressed as nanomoles of formaldehyde formed per hr per mg of protein) in cultured skin fibroblasts and liver tissue were 0.53 (control: 5.14) and 0.00 (control: 13.80), respectively. The major abnormalities were found in the arterial bed, consisting of intimal hyperplasia, fragmentation, and disruption of elastic lamellae and subcellular changes in the endothelial cells. Extensive thrombosis was observed. The brain and the liver also showed widespread pathologic changes. In the former, neuronal loss and cellular damage were prominent and extensive. Diffuse demyelination with moderate astrocytosis was found; but demyelination was out of proportion to the vascular changes. Hirano bodies in the cortical neurons and crystalline and lamellar bodies in the Purkinje cells were observed. In the liver, there were fatty change and mild to moderate portal fibrosis. Bizarre, giant mitochondria and membrane-bound multivesicular bodies were found. Mild pathologic changes were also observed in the striated muscles and the kidneys. Focal fragmentation, disruption, and smearing of the Z discs and disorganization of the myofilaments were found in the skeletal muscles. The kidneys showed shrunken glomeruli, thickened basement membranes, and swelling of epithelial as well as endothelial cells.


Effects of calcium on intestinal mucin: implications for cystic fibrosis. A major feature of the disease cystic fibrosis is the excessive concentration of mucus within ducts and glands of mucous-producing organs. Some mucous secretions also show an elevation in calcium concentration. Using purified rat intestinal goblet cell mucin as a model mucin, we have investigated the effect of millimolar additions (1-25 mM) of CaCl2 on the physical properties of the mucin. Isotonicity of incubation media was preserved in order to mimic in vivo conditions. CaCl2 (8-15mM) caused a 15-33% decrease in viscosity, no change in electrophoretic mobility in acrylamide gels, and a 20-30% decrease in solubility of the mucin. Solubility changes were reversed by the addition of EDTA (20 mM) to incubations. Insolubility was also produced in incubations of mucin with a mixture of soluble intestinal contents (NaCl washings). These findings strongly suggest that the mucin became smaller and more dense as calcium was added, a process most probably achieved by loss of intramolecular water.


Sickle cell syndromes. I. Hemoglobin SC-alpha-thalassemia. Hematologic and globin synthesis studies were performed in a black American family in which the genes for alpha-thalassemia and hemoglobins (Hb) S and C were segregating. The following distribution of these abnormalities was found: father, sickle cell trait + alpha-thalassemia; mother, HbC trait + alpha-thalassemia, propositus, HbSC + alpha-thalassemia; older sibling, alpha-thalassemia trait; and younger sibling, hemoglobin H disease. The child with HbSC-alpha-thalassemia demonstrated more severe anemia and a more hemolytic picture than is typical of HbSC disease. Her erythrocytes exhibited decreased osmotic fragility in comparison with HbSC erythrocytes, but had an indistinguishable oxygen equilibrium curve and 2, 3-diphosphoglycerate (2, 3-DPG) level. Erythrocyte sickling in the patient, however, was significantly reduced, with less than 35% sickle forms observed at nearly complete oxygen desaturation. The sibling with hemoglobin H disease exhibited 26% Bart's (gamma4) hemoglobin at birth, a level comparable with that seen in infants with HbH disease in Far Eastern populations. At age 5 months typical findings of mild hemoglobin H disease appeared, with HbH making up 6.5% of the total hemoglobin.


Enzymatic diagnosis and carrier detection of aspartylglucosaminuria using blood samples. The activity of the glycoprotein degrading lysosomal hydrolase, 4-L-aspartylglycosylamine amido hydrolase (AAD Gase, EC.3.5.1.26), was measured in plasma, buffy coat leukocytes, and separated lymphocytes (Ficoll separation) from 16 patients with aspartylglucosaminuria (AGU), 29 obligate heterozygotes, and 30 control subjects. In lymphocytes the AGU patients had unmeasurable or minimal AAD Gase activity with a mean of 3.9 U. The obligate heterozygotes showed AAD Gase activities ranging from 5 to 69 U with a mean of 34.1 U. Enzyme activities in the control group ranged from 91 to 243 U with a mean of 127.9 U, and were clearly separated from the values of the heterozygotes. In leukocytes the AGU patients had unmeasurable enzyme activity and obligate heterozygotes had enzyme levels closely similar to those in the lymphocytes from the same individuals. The AAD Gase activity in the leukocytes of the control group displayed a much wider variation than in the lymphocytes, ranging from 22 to 132 U with a mean of 70.7 U. In plasma the AGU patients had undetectable AAD Gase activity. The mean enzyme level of obligate heterozygotes was 72.2 U and that of control individuals 107.2 U, but the overlap between the groups was extensive. The results indicate that homozygous deficiency of AAD Gase, i.e., aspartylglucosaminuria can be reliably diagnosed using plasma, leukocytes, or separated lymphocytes. For carrier detection only separated lymphocytes allow a satisfactory differentiation between heterozygous and normal individuals. A group of 31 siblings of verified AGU cases and 11 children of identified carriers, whose spouses had normal AAD Gase activity, were investigated using the lymphocyte assay. The observed and expected frequencies (on the basis of Mendelian probabilities) were closely similar, suggesting that the lymphocyte assay can be used reliably for carrier detection.


Alpha brain wave production as an interpolated task in a Brown-Peterson paradigm. Rehearsal, backward counting, and production of alpha brain-waves were used as interpolated tasks in a Brown-Peterson paradigm to determine their effect upon verbal retention. A within-subjects design was used in which trained subjects were told on a given trial either to produce alpha rhythm, mentally rehearse, or count backward following presentation of a CCC trigram. Results for the backward-counting condition duplicate, for the retention intervals used, the shape of the classic Peterson and Peterson forgetting curve but indicate little loss of memory in either the rehearsal or alpha conditions. No siginificant difference was found between the alpha production and rehearsal conditions.


Integration of post-exposural directional scanning and cerebral dominance explanations of lateral differences in trachistoscopic recognition. Post-exposural directional scanning and cerebral dominance are major postualtes which account for lateral differences in tachistoscopic perception. These ideas can be intergrated when tachistoscopic perception is viewed as a short-term memory task. Briefly exposed stimuli not only have to be scanned, but also rehearsed, subvocally, before they can be encoded. Since most Ss are left-hemisphere dominant for language, scanned information arriving in the right hemisphere has to be sent to the left hemisphere for rehearsal. This transmission effects a loss of scanned information because it is held in a rapidly dissipating storage. These ideas account for lateral differences found with vertically and horizontally oriented targets, but methodological considerations are discussed which indicate that these notions are more clearly demonstrable with the former than latter displays .


Psychological dynamics and self-perceptions of persons with essential hypertension. Recent literature suggests specific dynamic commonalities among hypertensives are unlikely; study of development, building and evaluation of programs tailored to the individual is in order.


Use of perceptually based apparatus to train adult women's performance on a Piagetian measure of the horizontality concept. A segmented container called the V-box was designed to train adult subjects who fail a Piagetian type measure of the horizontality concept. The first segment appears round when viewed from straight an and virtually all adults were able to predict correctly howthe water line would appear when this segment was half filled with water. Partitions can be removed and the water allowed to fill up the entire container which has straight-line boundaries. On a pretest, 28 of 43 subjects failedto indicate the water line correctly on the container, when its straight-line characteristics were apparent. Of these 28, 18 were able to do so after being exposed gradually to the container's rounded segment and, step by step, to its elongated segments with straight-line boundaries. The difference in pre- to posttest change in performance between these 18 subjects and the 10 control subjects was significant.


Hypnotic suggestion of stimulus change and visual cortical evoked potential. Two experiments were conducted to determine whether the hypnotic suggestion of stimulus intensity change would affect the physical parameters (latencies, amplitudes) of the visual cortical evoked potential. Stimulus intensity was kept constant as visual cortical evoked potentials were measured under conditions in which it was suggested that stimuli were "bright" or "dim". The results of both experiments led to the conclusion that, under the present condition, hypnotic suggestion of stimulus intensity change did not result in changes in visual cortical evoked potentials.


Comparison of nonretarded and mentally retarded children on tasks involving direct and rule-governed imitation. The influence of intellectual level and social reinforcement on imitation learning was examined. Tasks involving direct and rule-governed imitation of a mode were presented to 20 mentally retarded and 20 nonretarded children. The children within each group were randomly assigned to either an affective ("good-fine") or an informative ("correct-right") social reinforcement condition. Reinforcement, administered on a fixed ration (FR4) schedule, was contingent on the child's imitative behavior. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that both the Population X Reinforcement Type interaction and the Reinforcement main effect were significant. Univariate follow-up tests showed that only rule-governed imitation contributed significantly to the multivariate effects. Analysis of simple effects indicated that retarded children performed optimally under affective reinforcement, while the nonretarded children performed highest under informative reinforcement.


Learning disabilities and central nervous system involvement. The relation of damage to the central nervous system to learning disabilities remains a continuing issue. This study explored how learning disable children fare on the Visual Retention Test. Analysis of correct scores and errors for the 24 children responding to Administration A would ordinarily suggest a primary relationship (t = 2.60, p less than .02; t = 4.01, p less than .001, respectively). However, since extensive medical and case history material yielded no evidence of cerebral injury or disease and since the impact of short-term memory (Administration D) led to no further performance decrement (t less than 1.00), additional research must determine a more precise understanding of perceptual dysfunction and the role of short-term memory in regard to learning disabilities.


Comparison of schizophrenics and normals on a visual search task. The response times of 16 paranoids, 16 nonparanoids and 16 normals were compared on a search task which required subjects to identify target letters embedded in displays of varying numbers of non-targets. The rate on increase in response times with increased numbers of letters displayed was not markedly different for the various groups, although a derived measure of decision and response-selection time indicated that normals selected responses more rapidly. When compared with normals, schizophrenics seemed to experience more difficulty in response selection and decision than in processing visual stimulus information.


Effects of set, setting, and sedatives, on reaction time. The effects of sessions, individual characteristics, group behavior, sedative medications, and pharmacological anticipation, on simple visual and auditory reaction time were evaluated with a randomized block design. The project involved 4 separate small groups of 5 to 9 healthy young adults who met 4 times for 9 hr. over 4 mo. and received 4 drug regimens under controlled conditions. Attitudes toward the experiment, which were mainly related to an early fear of potent drugs and late feelings of weariness, markedly affected reaction time. This effect decreased the test-retest reliability of the instrument, hence its sensitivity. Group behavior, subjective feelings attributable to the medications, and pharmacological anticipation, on the other hand, did not seem to have affected psychomotor performance. The effects of sedatives were much more marked and consistent with reaction time than with subjective responses, which primarily represented the influence of anticipation. This dissociation between objective and subjective behavior indicates that the subjects acted according to the drugs which they had taken but felt according to what they believed they had received.


Note on selective effects of short-term tobacco-abstinence on complex versus simple mental tasks. Effects of a 15-hr. abstention from tobacco smoking in 12 habitual smokers were examined with 3 complex cognitive tests and 2 simple perceptual tests. Abstaining from tobacco led to improved performance on the complex tests but no change on the simple ones. The results are interpreted in terms of the inverted-U relation between performance and arousal.


Mutual visual regard during mother-infant play. Mutual visual regard was observed in 48 mother-infant dyads during a 6-min. play session. Infant-mother dyads containing 4 mo. -olds displayed significantly more mutual visual regard than dyads containing 6- or 8-mo.-olds. In addition, the more time infants spent in face-to-face interaction with mother, the more smiling they engaged in. No sex difference were observed.


Cognitive style and the Perky effect.

Cognitive style and the Perky effect. Depending on inner versus outer frames of reference in Witkin's sense parallels a subject's tendency to distinguish between internal images and external percepts. A rank-order correlation of .69 (N = 22) was found between scores on a task designed to test the latter tendency and scores on the rod-and-frame task.


Koppitz errors on the Bender-Gestalt for adult retardates: normative data. Normative data on the Koppitz developmental scoring system for the Bender-Gestalt test were derived from a sample which included 510 protocols of adult resident retardates. Percentile norms are presented on Koppitz error scores for three AAMD ranges of retardation based on WAIS IQs and two AAMD ranges of retardation based on Stanford-Binet IQs.


Convergent and discriminant relationships between factor matrices of motor performance and arousal data. An experimental study was conducted to demonstrate the value of a procedure for analyzing motor performance data. A sample of 156 subjects practiced on two instruments for motor learning while arousal data were recorded. Each set of data was submitted to an analysis of principal components and four components resulted for each set of data. Similarity coefficients were calculated for pairs of component matrices after rotation to maximum similarity. The similarity coefficients exhibit a consistent pattern which provides meaningful information concerning influence of experimental conditions on performance data.


Personality traits and their relationship to traffic violations. There is a relationship between personality traits of enlisted personnel at one mid-west Air Force Base and their frequency of moving violations. The 52 individuals who received one or two moving violations were more emotionally stable than the 33 non-offenders and the 18 chronic offenders. Discriminant analysis showed significant differences between the personality characteristics of the occasional offender and the other two groups, but none between the chronic offender and the non-offender. The personality characteristics of the chronic offender resembled those of Zelhart's alcoholic offender and Dunbar's "accident-prone" individual. Additional research using a more heterogeneous sample might make possible identification of the high-frequency traffic violator by means of personality characteristics measured after his first offense.


Comparison of women's studies students with female golf star athletes on the 16 PF. 29 female students in the first author's psychology of women took the 16 PF, along with 8 female golf stars and 8 average female golf team members. The women's studies students were significantly more venture-some, more tough-minded, and more imaginative than the female golf stars.


Competitive behavior and perceived aggression. In groups of 39 males and 39 female undergraduates played a reaction-time game in which descriptions of a player's shock settings were constant or consistently below or above another player's; wins were varied. Ratings of aggression, offensiveness, positivity on semantic scales showed naive subjects considered the offensive or defensive nature of obseved behavior in making ratings.


Potential artifact in dichoptic backward masking. Under some conditions a dark interval in the target eye may be concomitant with presentation of a dichoptic mask. Results show that this monoptic dark interval contributes to the over-all observed dichoptic masking effect.


Causal attribution of success and failure as a function or authoritarianism and sex. We predicted that authoritarian actors would engage in defensive attribution, and authoritarian observers would derogate the other, to a greater extent than egalitarian perceivers. 48 male and 48 female college students were run in pairs of same sex and authoritarianism. A set of easy anagrams was given to subjects in success conditions and difficult anagrams to those in failure conditions. Each subject rated own outcome and other outcome in terms of internal factors of ability and effort, and external factors of task and luck. We found that authoritarian actors were more internal than egalitarian actors only in the condition own success-other's failure. Authoritarian observers, as compared to egalitarians, were more external for other's success and more internal for other's failure only when own outcome was successful. It seems that authoritarian perceivers exaggerate their abilities and derogate the other only when they are clearly in a superior position vis-a-vis the other. There were no sex differences as a function of outcome and authoritarianism.


Recall of letters from the left and right visual half-fields under unilater and bilateral presentation. Bilateral presentation in the visual half-field greatly increases superiority of the right visual half-field in tachistoscopic recognition of words when fixation is controlled using a center digit. Two experiments explored left-right asymmetry with bilateral presentation on a visual half-field short-term memory task, with fixation controlled by a sequence of letters at fixation. A total of 40 subjects served in the two experiments, which compared recall under unilateral versus bilateral presentation to the visual half-field. Bilateral presentation increased over-all recall from the last serial position but did not alter asymmetry of the visual half-field. As in previous experiments, the superiority of the right visual half-field was greatest from the initial serial positions. It was concluded that asymmetry of the visual half-field on this recall task with controlled fixation depends primarily on masking and short-term memory but is independent of unilateral-bilateral presentation.


Orienting responses as a function of age and task complexity. Aged-related differences in the elicitation and habituation of orienting responses to the onset and offset of stimuli have been suggested by several authors. Electrodermal and cardiac orienting responses to the onset and offset of a visual stimulus were measured in three age groups (4 yr., 7 yr., and undergraduate). Each S made one of three judgments: non-signal (observe stimulus), content (color of stimulus), and duration (length of time stimulus presented). Few age differences were found in elicitation or habituation of orienting responses to stimulus onset or offset. There was a trend for elicitation of orienting responses to stimulus offset to be age-related, but the failure to find any other age-related changes made this difference somewhat questionable. Instructions as to the judgement to be made by S were the primary determinants of orienting responses to stimulus onset and offset across all age groups.


Detection of a deficit in visual discrimination of pattern following lesions of anterior cortex: role of type of motivation. 6 albino rats were trained under appetitive motivation to perform diametrically opposed visual discriminations of pattern via opposite eyes. Small lesions were subsequently placed unilaterally in anterior neocortex. Following a period of post-surgical recovery, subjects were re-trained on the diammetrically opposed discriminations in alternating 10-trial blocks. Every subject made more post-surgical errors on the discrimination mediated by the eye contralateral to the lesion. Since albino rats have virtually complete decussation of the visual system, this indicates selective impairment in mediation of performance of pattern discrimination in the part of the lesioned hemispheres. Thus, findings previously obtained in studies involving aversive motivation are general to appetitively motivated tasks.


The unimportance of experimenter-bias in sensory deprivation research. 3 graduate student experimenters' expectations about the stress reaction of 24 subjects to sensory deprivation or to an ambulatory control condition were factorially manipulated. No significant differences were found for experimenters' expectation, directly or through interaction. Results were interpreted as a refutation ofthe assumed pervasiveness of experimenter-bias effects.


Time delay in estimation of angles.

Time delay in estimation of angles. The hypotheses were that a 2-min. delay as opposed to a 2-sec. delay between observation and mechanical estimation to an acute angle will increase the likelihood of overestimation of that angle and that minimal-surround cue-conditions would produce greater overestimation than maximal cue-conditions. 40 subjects estimated a 54 degrees acute angle presented behind a 2-way mirror in one of the four treatment combinations in a 2 X 2 factorial design. A 2-min. time delay caused significantly larger estimates of the angle. Overestimation in the maximal cue-condition was significant but the underestimate in the minimal cue-conditions was not. Cue-conditions were not significantly different from one another.


Autokinetic movement in geometric illusions: a note. Four static geometrical illusions were presented in an autokinetic movement situation. 50 Ss saw each form four times. Of the total responses, 36% were no-movement responses while 37% of the time the total figure was seen as moving. The meaning 27% of the responses involved apparent movement in only a part of the figure. In general, the elements seen as moving are the parts misperceived in the static geometrical illusion.


Hand movements which cross the body midline: findings relating age differences to handedness. Performance of 200 children (5 groups, 4 to 12 yr.) in an experimental study of spatial development was analyzed in terms of hand preference and differences in laterality of response. In accord with the literature a cross-lateral inhibition effect was confirmed but there were marked differences between hands. The supposed 'body midline' seemed to offer more resistance to one hand than to the other. Alternative explanations are suggested.


Signal pulse-rate and judged duration.

Signal pulse-rate and judged duration. Therories which construct perception of time from content of input predict monotonic functions of rate-judged duration of stimuli, and  do not account for intersensory differences. Two experiments required Ss to compare directly the durations of paird lights or sounds pulsed at various rates to produce discriminable beats and flickers (6.0, 10.0, 14.0 Hz), and steady signals. Pulsed lights, not sounds, were judged longer than steady, and this visual effect was identical for all flicker rates. Faster pulsled sounds and lights were judged longer than slower ones for all frequency combinations except for 10.0 to 14.0-Hz comparisons with vision. No monotonic function of ratejudged durations of pulses was obtained; the effect was all-or-none. Although pulse rate did affect judged duration, neither simple functions nor symmetry across senses was found.


Amnesia for random shapes following unilateral and bilateral electronvulsive shock therapy. Three 16-point shapes were shown to 15 patients before undergoing either unilateral or bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. They were then tested for recognition following therapy. The same subjects were similarly tested for recognition memory with no intervening shock. Analysis of variance indicated no significant differential effects of the two methods of electroshock application.


Numerosity discrimination of tactile stimuli. The ability of 40 college students to discriminate the number of tactile stimuli presented simultaneously was measured in two experiments. Simulation was provided by 12 solenoids fixed to points on the arms and legs. Exp. I showed a mean correct discrimination level of between 1.55 and 2.10 solenoids. Exp II compared discrimination of numerosity by a group who received immediate feedback with a no-feedback control group. Feedback produced a small increase in this ability. However, the most stimulation points correctly discriminated did not exceed three. The data are discussed in terms of the possible role of cutaneous masking.


Selective attention in children with learning disabilities. 49 children, aged 11 to 14 yr., a learning disabled group and a normal group, performed a primary, reading-like, card-sorting task. After they completed the primary task, they were tested for memory of incidental materials presented during learning. While the normal children showed better recall of incidental materials related to the primary task, 24 children with disabilities showed superior recall of material irrelevant to the primary task. The results were discussed in terms of alternative "motivational" and "developmental lag" interpretations.


Development of ability to perceive and produce pictorial depth cue of overlapping. The perception of the pictorial depth cue of overlapping was studied in children 3, 5, and 7 yr. old. Both a sequential and a simultaneous picture/object-matching task were used to test sensitivity. All age groups successfully perceived the depth relation information provided by pictorial overlapping. Height on the picture plane, which projectively covaries with overlapping, was not consistently used as a depth cue by any age group. Children's drawings were also analyzed for the presence of distance information. The drawings of the 3- and 5-yr. old children contained no overlapping cues and indicated a general lack of understanding of the third demension behind the picture plane. Seven-yr.-old children showed the beginnings of this understanding through their use of size perspective and height on the picture plane as depth cues. For all ages the production of the overlapping cue lags behind its perception.


Selected Designs and the background interference procedure: evaluation of use with a specific population. A combination of Selected Designs and Background Interference Procedure was administered to 31 (11 men, 20 women) adult inpatients. Only 48% of the protocols showed discriminable differences between the first and second reproductions.


Electromyographic responses in infants after auditory stimulation. 49 of 50 newborn infants, when presented with a strong auditory stimulus, showed significant increases in EMG potential. The infant who failed initially responded when rechecked in 1 mo. The results suggest it may be possible to develop an EMG-Audiometric process which could be employed in screening hearing of newborn infants.


Eye dominance in a reading clinic population. Eye dominance tests (24 comparisons) varied markedly in aggreement with each other for 225 consecutive screening evaluation (5 yr. to 55 yr.) in a reading clinic.


Autokinetic movement as a function of symbolic meaning of target shape. The autokinetic movement responses of 10 American, 10 Chinese, and 10 Iranian students to religious symbols and control stimuli were measured. The hypothesis of differential direction response as a function of the target shapes was supported. Iranian students did show a pattern of responding significantly different from the American and Chinese.


Self-disclosure in friendship.

Self-disclosure in friendship. An experimental investigation of the influence of self-disclosure on friendship was conducted by manipulating the level of self-disclosure. 65 same-sex pairs were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions, intimate self-disclosure, nonintimate self-disclosure and control (no disclosure); the treatment conditions were independently verified by judges' ratings. One member of each pair was randomly selected as the confederate or first speaker and was provided with a list of 7 conversation topics. There were no lists provided in the control condition. The dependent variable, level of friendship as measured by the Acquaintance Description Form (Wright, 1969), was rated before and after Ss engaged in self-disclosure, and the influence of the experimental conditions on friendship scores was assessed by analyses of covariance. The results showed that the general level of friendship increased as a function of intimate and nonintimate self-disclosure; however, intimate disclosure produced greater increases in friendship than nonintimate disclosure. The unique influence of self-disclosure on male friendship patterns is discussed.


Comparison of deaf and hearing children on body-object localization. 20 profoundly deaf and 20 normal hearing children from ages 10 to 13 were compared as to their ability to locate visually the position of apparent vertical and the apparent location of the longitudinal axis of the body under erect and 30 degrees left and right body-tilt. Both deaf and normal hearing children were able accurately to locate a rod to the apparent visual vertical, but deaf children were significantly more accurate in aligning a rod to their apparent body-position than hearing children. This finding is discussed from both a learning view and from a hypothesis of developmental lag.


Effects of prior hypoxia exposure on visual target detection during later more severe hypoxia. Three groups of 15 subjects each were exposed to 3 different combinations of intermediate (staging) altitudes and exposure times, and were then tested for visual target detection capability at a final altitude of 4300 m. All groups with staging exposure performed better at altitude and had fewer symptoms of acute mountain sickness than a fourth group which went directly to 4300 m altitude from sea level. The data showed that task factors of both viewing distance and degree of peripheral placement of the target significantly influenced detection time within all groups regardless of variations in exposure to altitude.


Cardiac cycle phase and movement and reaction times. The EKG was recorded while Ss differentially responded to auditory or visual stimuli in a reaction time task. The EKG record was analyzed by dividing each R-R interval encompassing a stimulus presentation into 9 equal phases. Reaction times were determined as a function of the phase encompassing stimulus onset while movement times were determined for the phase in which the response was initiated. Only reaction time significantly varied with cardiac cycle, with reactions during the second phase being slower than later phases.


Performance of retarded and nonretarded adolescents when processing relevant and irrelevant information. The information-processing performance of 12 retarded and 12 nonretarded adolescents was compared. Using reaction time keys each subject classified color words, secondary color words, non-color words, non-sense syllables, and stick figures according to the color of ink in which each stimulus was presented. Reaction time of the nonretarded subjects was significantly faster than that of retarded subjects; color words and secondary color words significantly interfered with processing performance as measured by correct reaction time. The results indicate that the Stroop task interferes with response initiation rather than memory retrieval and that the locus of interference for retarded and nonretarded subjects is equivalent.


Laterality, hand preference, and human spatial ability. 6 left-handed females scored significantly below 60 right-handed females on a test of spatial visualization (p less than .005). 13 left-handed males showed a higher mean score than 33 right-handed males on the spatial test, although this difference was not statistically significant. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the left cerebral hemisphere is of greater relative importance to spatial functioning in females than males.


Perceptual reactance and melanic density. Following assessment of eye color, a total of 108 college students (33 males and 75 females) estimated changes in sizes of standardized blocks while blindfolded. Subjects were classfied as perceptual augmenters, moderates or reducers as a function of their overestimation, accurate estimation, or underestimation, respectively, of the sizes of the blocks. A significant interaction of gender by perceptual reactance appeared, with augmenting males being rated the most dark-eyed and augmenting females being rated the most light-eyed. Interpretation of the findings was made in terms of attention to relevant cues.


Effects of framed spectacles and contact lenses on self-ratings of facial attractiveness. 15 females with glasses tended to defend against relatively low self-perceptions of attractiveness by de-emphasizing the influence of their eyes on facial beauty.


Immediate proprioceptive decrement with hypnotic anesthesia: a preliminary report. Hypnotic anesthesia induced in a subject's entire arem produced a decrement in proprioceptive abilities as assessed by the inability to locate the nose position with the forefinger of the anesthetized arm. The magnitude of the decrement was positively related to level of hypnotic susceptibility.