Influence of training in visual perceptual discrimination on drawings by children. This study attempted to determine empirically the influence of visual perceptual remediation on drawing utilizing educationally handicapped children of elementary age as subjects. The 34 girls and 78 boys were of average intelligence, with one-half of the subjects evidencing measured visual perceptual dysfunction. In each experimental group, 14 visual perceptually impaired (learning disabled) and 14 non-perceptually impaired (learning disordered) children received instruction on one of three commercially available visual perceptual remedial materials, Controls (28 subjects) received no special training. Prior to the training, subjects' drawings were collected, as well as after the 12-wk. intevention period by five graduate students in art education. The analysis of variance used to determine the effects of the intervention program on seven specified descriptors of drawing behavior yielded only one statistically significant descriptor, "Non-awareness of Social Situations and Self vs Awareness of Social Situation and Self." There were no differences between the perceptually impaired and non-impaired subject groups on any of the drawing tasks.


WAIS subtest score distributions of institutionalized retardates. WAIS subtest scores for three samples of instiutionalized retardates, from the East Coast (n = 509), West Coast (n = 436), and Midwest (n = 113) were compared. The Midwest sample norms diverged most from the remaining two sets, but the most significant findings was the heterogeneity of the intratest variance, suggesting the influence of exogenous factors related to the institutional setting.


Voluntary alpha control, visually evoked potentials, and peripheral physiological indicants of activation. To test the hypothesis that voluntary alpha control is mediated in part through self-induced changes in cortical activation level and bodily arousal, changes in several physiological indicants of such activity were systematically examined as a function of the voluntary enhancement and suppression of scalp-recorded alpha activity. Following per-training, 6 subjects attempted to either produce or suppress alpha with eyes closed while receiving continuous anditory feedback of their alpha levels. The results were interpreted as offering tentative support for the hypothesis.


WAIS digit span differences between prisoners and psychiatric patients. 37 prisoners tended to exceed 29 psychiatric patients in having WAIS Digit Sapn scaled scores higher than the mean of their 5 other Verbal scaled scores. MMPI T scores were slightly to moderately inversely related to Digit Span performance.


Time estimation and total subjective time. Techniques for estimation of magnitude were used in a questionnaire given to 100 university students to test the hypothesis that the subjective duration of an interval of actual time decreases in proportion to total subjective time rather than total chronological age. The results supported the subjective time hypothesis for retrospective reports of perceived duration of a year at both one-half and one-quarter of the subject's present age. In both cases the subjective time hypothesis provided a better fit to the data than the chronological age model. The hypothesis of the subjective time model that subjective life-span is equal to the square root of the statistically expected life-span was also tested but was not confirmed.


Tactile-perceptual functioning as a factor in general psychological abilities. This investigation was designed to study the influence of simple sensory perceptual ability (tactile perception) on various human abilities such as language acquisition, visuo-spatial problem solving, concept formation, motor skills, memory, and learning. Children with documented evidence of impaired brain functions (seizure disorder and corresponding EEG abnormality) and children without evidence or suspicion of neurological impairment were examined. The results suggest that tactile perceptual ability exerts a significant effect on the adequacy of a broad range of human abilities.


Hemispheric differences in simple reaction time to auditory stimuli of different frequencies. To determine whether reaction time varies as a function of tone frequency and/or ear stimulated 27 adult subjects were presented with two two-tone series (1,000 Hz vs 2,500 Hz and 1,500 Hz vs 4,000 Hz) in a simple reaction-time paradigm. The analyses clearly indicated that the higher tone in each series and stimulation to the right ear resulted in significantly shorter reaction times. These results were interpreted as indicating that cerebral asymmetries are apparent in tasks and with stimuli that do not seem to require higher-order inferences regrading the functional organization of the cerebral hemispheres.


Specific and general contour adaptation effects found using a selective adaptation paradigm. There is evidence for discrete property analyzers in mammalian visual systems. Research has indicated that prolonged stimulation of such units reduces their sensitivity to subsequent stimulation. Psychophysical studies have employed this effect, terned selective adaptation, to study feature extractors in the human visual system. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of density and deviation in the adaptation figure on the recognition thresholds of simple and complex text figures. A selective adaptation paradigm was employed. A strict property analyzer model suggests that increases in density, deviation, or complexity should lead to an increased recognition time for the test figures. This was not confirmed. The complexity of the test figure had no effect on its recognition time. Both increased density and deviation did have an effect on the recognition times of the test figures. The results thus suggest that contour adaptation involves at least two processes: a general, probably peripheral effect due to the fatigue of visual receptor units and a more specific effect generated by the similarity between test figure and adaptation contours, independent of the site of stimulation.


Parental perception and self-concept of gifted and average underachievers. Self-concept and parental evaluation of their child's self-concept were investigated in fifth to eighth grade gifted and average achievers and underachievers (n = 134). In the average sample achievers had higher self-concepts than underachievers. In the gifted sample, the reverse was true; underachievers had higher self-concepts than achievers. In general, the parental evaluations of their children were unaffected by the child's performance in school. In the average sample only the mothers evaluated their underachieving children lower, whereas in the gifted sample there was no significant difference between parents' evaluations. A tentative explanation is offered for the relationship among giftedness, achievement, and self-concept.


Cognitive control of pain: four serendipitous results. The experiment was designed to determine whether specific cognitive strategies are effective in reducing pain. Subjects were tested either on cold pain or pressure pain. Although the cognitive strategies did not significantly alter pain tolerance or pain intensity, the following four findings emerged: (a) males and females responded in a similar manner to the painful stimuli, (b) both the experimental subjects and the controls had surprisingly high tolerance of pain, (c) subjects typically generated their own thoughts and images to control pain, and (d) subjects responded to cold pain and to pressure pain in a similar manner.


Relationship between the Geriatric Interpersonal Evaluation Scale and the WAIS Verbal Scale. 27 psychogeriatric patients at Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center were tested by separate examiners on the WAIS Verbal Scale and the Geriatric Interpersonal Evaluation Scale to determine the relationship between these two tests. The sample was restricted to patients who were judged clinically to be "in contact," i.e., oriented as to time, place, and person. The correlation between the WAIS Verbal IQs and the geriatirc scale raw scores was .80; correlations with the individual verbal subscale scores ranged from .58 to .76. Relative advantages and disadvantages of the geriatric scale are discussed.


Development of a mechanism for detection of error and retention of a graded motor response. Several methods for developing an internal mechanism for error detection were compared to determine the extent to which a self-paced response could be acquired and retained without knowledge of results. During training, blindfolded subjects attempted to learn a positioning response under one of three conditions. One group was presented with the criterion end location by means of a stop and then required to recall the location with the stop removed. A second group moved the total distance of the track and then was instructed to replace the slide in a location representing a specific fraction of the total. A final group of subjects learned the criterion location by using post-response knowledge of results administered on each trial. Following acquisition subjects were give retention trials involving only repetition of the acquired response. The development of a strong mechanism for error detection was indicated only for those groups presented with the standard or with post-response knowledge of results. During retention trials (without knowledge of results), performance of the group required to learn the criterion by estimating a fraction of the total range was characterized by significanlty greater response biasing and less consistency than the other conditions. The findings were discussed in terms of several predictions from Adams' (1971) closed-loop theory of motor learning.


Effect of geometrical structure on perception of the vertical in the Rod-and-Frame Test. Male and female subjects were selected on the basis of their unsigned deviation scores (USD) in the rod-and-frame test to be retested and scored by a new method. The new method analyzes performance on this task in terms of the effect of the tilt of the frame (phi), the constant deviation (micron), the starting position of the rod (rho), and the response consistency (sigma) of each subject. The geometrical structure of the frame was varied by changing the number of identical stimulus elements in it. Variations in the geometrical structure of the frame affected phi-scores primarily in subjects with significantly high phi-scores (frame-dependent subjects). Variations in the frame's geometrical structure did not affect micron or rho. The relationship between USD-scores and the values for phi, micron, and rho for each subject is discussed.


Saccadic eye movements and eye-head coordination in children. The eye and head movements of nine children, ages 6 through 10, were measured in order to establish quantitative characteristics of eye movements and eye-head corrdination patterns of children with normal vision and reading levels. The relationship between saccade amplitude and duration was linear, but the slope of this relationship indicated that saccades in children may have higher velocities than they do in adults. One of three temporal patterns of head and saccadic eye movement occurred during shifts of gaze to visual targets, depending on the temporal and spatial predictability of the target. It is suggested that quantitative measurements such as these could be used to examine developmental characteristics of eye and eye-head movement control.


Foveal threshold of one eye when illuminated by contralateral steady light. The effect of luminance of the contralateral steady light upon the foveal threshold was examined in the situation where both test-field and contralateral background (or surround) appeared to be completely fused when both were exposed simultaneously. The relation between the test threshold (defined as log Lt/Lto) and the luminance of the contralateral background (or surround) (I) was expressed by log (Lt/Lto) = a(1 - e-b log I), where a and b are constants.


Third-year summary of IES Arrow-Dot longitudinal comparisons in preschool children. Three samples of preschool children in a suburban nursery school and kindergarten were administered the IES Arrow-Dot test at the beginning and end of three successive school years. Trends for declining Impulsivity and similar baselines for this variable were found in all three samples. Results for Ego and Superego scores showed variation. These findings support the effective use of this instrument with preschool children. Future investigations within varying educational environments are suggested to delineate further patterns of preschool personality development and integration.


Selective attention and eye movements while viewing reversible figures. This study suggests that different eye-movement patterns are associated with reversals of ambiguous figures. The high scanners seem to be more dependent on eye movements for reversals and their recognition of each pattern depends on the sequence and location of fixations; thus shifts of attention appear to be externalized in the form of large, saccadic eye movements. In contrast low scanners are better able to shift attention internally, e.g., by mental restructuring, without large eye movements. We further suggest that scanning behavior associated with reversals may be modulated by stimulus complexity, figures' reversibility, and extrinsic/intrinsic motivational styles.


Imposed delay of response: effects on aphasics auditory comprehension of visuality and non-visually cued material. Two groups of aphasics were administered an auditory comprehension task under conditions of 0-, 5-, and 10-sec. imposed delay of response. The auditory-visual group received auditory and visual cues; the auditory group received only auditory cues. Comprehension for the auditory-visual group was significantly better than for the auditory group. Increase in delay time significantly improved comprehension for the auditory-visual group but not for the auditory group.


Visual set and anxiety in the Stroop phenomenon. The effects of a visual set, the Stroop phenomenon, and anxiety--as measured by the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory--upon response latency were examined. Three variations of the set were presented, a color congruent with the response color, a color conflicting with the response color, or no color. Two response conditions were required, reading the color word or reporting the color in which the word was printed. "Reporting the color" had a significantly longer response latency than "reading the word" for all 60 subjects, female volunteers from freshman psychology classes. There was also a significant interaction between anxiety and the Stroop. The medium-anxiety group showed the least discrepancy between the response conditions of the Stroop, indicating the interference effect present in the Stroop phenomenon was least influential for this group. A consistent though not significant difference between the congruent set and conflicting set conditions for the color response as opposed to the word response indicated that, when the set is similar to the response, it is more influential than when it is unrelated.


Stimulus complexity and rate of alternation in binocular rivalry. Pairs of random figures representing four levels of complexity were presented in a binocular-rivalry situation to 12 student volunteer observers. The effect of different levels of complexity on the rate at which complete alternations of the rivalry stimuli occurred was assessed. Rate of alternation was significantly inversely related to the level of stimulus complexity.


Verbal productivity and expression of primary process. The effects of verbal fluency upon the production of primary-process thinking on the Holtzman Inkblot Test as scored by the Holt system were investigated for a group of 49 male university students. Increasing verbal productivity resulted in a significant increase in primary-process scores in both high and low primary-process groups, selected on the basis of a trial of unlimited verbal productivity. In addition there were consistent significant differences in primary-process scores comparing the high and low primary-process groups at different levels of fluency. The importance of considering the level of verbal fluency when using scores from inkblot records in discussed.


A binocular pinhole device for visual field constraint during reading. The Binocular Pinhole Device requires binocular vision, without constraints on head-movements, for viewing a group of letters at one fixation. It is simple and adjustable for individual differences. The role of peripheral vision can be explored in experimental settings.


The phenomena of the disembodied eye or is it a matter of personal geography? When a bilaterally asymmetrical figure is drawn on the skin at various bodily positions, the observer often reports that the figure he "sees" is reversed. On the head and neck, for example, figures drawn to the front of an imaginary line through the centre of the head, approximately in line with the ear canal are seen as reversed, and those to the rear of this line as correctly orientated. Different bodily locations such as the palm were tried and the orientation was found to depend in most instances upon the direction in which the surface faced. Several possible theories were tested against the data.


Visual proprioception and postural stability in infancy. A developmental study. The effect of conflicting visual, and mechanical proprioceptive information on postural stability was compared in two groups of infants. The older group could sit or stand unsupported, while the younger group could sit but could not yet stand. The results suggest that visual proprioception functions to maintain postural stability before infants have learned to stand.


Cue saliency in faces as assessed by the "Photofit" technique. The present study attempted to assess the relative salience of different parts of the human face through the manipulation of the features contained in the Photofit Kit. Subjects observed a face constructed from the kit before attempting to identify the same face in an array of alternatives. The alternatives differed from the target in only one feature and this was systematically varied within the array. Nose changes were least likely to be noticed, followed by mouth and eyes, with foreheads producing the lowest rate of error. This order of features held irrespective of the similarity of the distractors or whether judgements were made in the presence or in the absence of the target. The chin region produced different results depending upon the similarity of the distractors. The results are discussed in relation to earlier experiments in which Photofit and previous studies of cue saliency were used.


Individual differences in the selection and use of features for classifying visual stimuli. Two experiments were performed to investigate the classification of pot-like outlines by human judges. In experiment 1, seventy-two pot-like shapes, drawn by using all possible combinations of values of four pot ratios, were classified by twenty subjects and by a computer program. The shapes varied only in quantitative features and possessed no all-or-none characteristics. In experiment 2,256 shapes traced from drawings of existing pots were classified by fifteen judges. The pots varied in both quantitative and all-or-none features. The results showed that there were differences between judges in the weightings they assigned to different features, and the judges themselves could be classified according to the weightings they gave the features. There were even differences in the way different judges used all-or-none features for classifying. Possible mechanisms are suggested for the basis of these differences.


EEG, measures of complexity, and preference for nonrepresentational works of art. With a heterogenous sample of human subjects, alpha abundance, an inverse function of cortical arousal, was found to increase with greater complexity of a series of 18 nonrepresentational works of art. This finding is contrary to those of previous EEG studies with artifically generated stimuli, which showed increased arousal with increasing complexity; but is consistent with those which reveal an interverted-U-shaped relation between arousal and complexity when the range of complexity sample is broad. That is, at higher levels of complexity, subjects may be less able to process the information content of paintings. Ratings of interestingness and pleasingness increased with complexity; it may be that they are dependent to some extent on social learning factors.


Brightness as an indicator to distance: relative brightness per se or contrast with the background? A black and a white target are displayed, in five different conditions, on five grey backgrounds having different degrees of brightness (from very bright to very dark). The results show that the target having the higher contrast with its background is perceived as the nearer. With the off-white background, e.g., the black target appears as the nearer to the observer. This contradicts the well-known concept according to which the brighter target should in any case be perceived as the nearer ("relative brightness" cue). The conclusion is that the frame of reference must be taken into consideration: study of the indicators to distance in an empty space and per se is not sufficient.


Motion in depth induced by brightness changes in the background. A disc of  unvarying brightness and position is presented against a background whose brightness is continuously changing up and down. This change is perceived as a pendular movement to and from the subject and, in its turn, clearly induces an analogous but contrary movement in the disc.


On the use of "calibration equations" in perception research. Gogel's procedure of using "calibration equations" to obtain reports of perceived distance which are at least partially independent of individual differences in response bias, was examined. The procedure involves determining the relationship between reported and physical distances in a full-cue viewing situation. By making four assumptions, this equation can be used to "calibrate" responses gathered from other situations in which perceived distances are under investigation. In the present experiment, both verbal and string-pull measures of perceived distance were obtained for several objects under reduced viewing conditions. Calibration equations were determined for each response measure in a full-cue setting. The usefulness of the calibration technique was tested by comparing the differences between the two response measures for each object seen in reduced viewing, both before and after the application of the calibration procedure. The results indicated that, consistent with the usefulness of the calibration technique, group differences between the measures were almost always decreased by the procedure. However, no general improvement in the agreement of the measures was found when the data were examined on an individual basis. From the results, a modification of the method of calculating calibration equations was suggested that might increase its usefulness by simplifying the arithmetic operations required for the procedure.


Eye movement strategies involved in face perception. Recordings were made of the eye fixations of three subjects in two tasks involving black-and-white photographs of faces. In the first task, subjects matched a test face with a previously viewed target face; in the second task, subjects compared two simultaneously presented faces. The eye movements were recorded with a corneal reflection technique. Each subject showed an individual fixation strategy for the tasks; in particular each subject had one or more preferred facial feautres which were viewed foveally in both tasks. The subjects also showed some tendency to use a regular sequential pattern of eye movements. However, the sequences used differed from one task to the other. Although some aspects of the results support the scanpath hypothesis of Noton, it is suggested that an alternative interpretation is possible.


Stereopsis and the representation of space. Four stereoblind and four normal subjects were tested on a mental rotation task. It was hypothesized that, if stereopsis is an important input for building up the perceptual system that represents three-dimensional space, then subjects lacking it ought to be deficient  at mental rotations in depth. Stereoblind subjects were equally efficient at picture-plane and depth rotations, and were nonsignificantly better than normal subjects at rotations in depth. It was concluded that in the absence of stereopsis other cues are sufficient for the development of the "three-dimensional" perceptual system. A puzzling paradox was raised, however, by the finding that the introspections of the two groups differed markedly.


Early stages of tactual matching.

Early stages of tactual matching. Naive sighted subjects tested under blind conditions were able to match raised dot (Braille letters) patterns relatively accurately by touch, but showed no advantage in judging identical pairs over different pairs of patterns. This was the case also for letters subjects had been taught to name. Instructions to match on name or feel had significant effects, but these did not relate differentially to "same"/"different" judgments. Under visual conditions subjects matched "same" letters faster than "different" letters. Errors in drawing the letters after tactual exposure and naming training showed that subjects had no accurate idea of the spatial relations or configuration of the dot patterns. The findings suggested that early stages of tactual matching involve exhaustive comparisons and rechecking of features, and that correct notions of tactual dot configurations may be built up rather slowly, and depend on identifying features along orthogonal axes.


[Method of registration and analysis of eye movements]. The aim of this article is to describe an apparatus registering eye movements, that alleviates the constraints that are usually necessary to control head movements. In a second part, the errors observed in gaze localisation by using the pupilar referential are analysed. Finally, means of increasing precision in the determination of visual fixation and facilitating the analysis of the registered images are proposed. These means comprise: (i) the use of an algorithm enabling the calculation of a correspondence grid of distortion for any one visual fixation, (ii) the use of a fixed standard dependent on the apparatus enbaling the permanent determination of the position of the head, (iii) the possibility of analysing the registered images in a semiautomatic way by means of a "writing tablet" and a computer of the PDP 8 series. Only four calibration points are necessary to determine all the useful parameters for the registering procedure and the analysis proposed.


[Feed supplementation with selenium in relation to the vitamin E-selenium deficiency syndrome in pigs (author's transl)]. After the addition of selenium to swine feed (max. 0.1 ppm) was legalized in Denmark in 1975, a marked reduction has occurred in the incidence of hepatosis dietetica (HD) in the material received at the State Veterinary Serum Laboratory for diagnostic examination, while the incidence of mulberry heart disease (MHD) appears to be unchanged (Table I). In a material collected before the addition of selenium to swine feed was permitted, the selenium content in liver and heart was found to be significantly lower in the pigs that had died of MHD than in normal pigs, but higher than in pigs that had died of HD (Table II). These observations tend to support the view that feed supplementation with selenium is more effective to prevent HD than MHD.


[Glutathione peroxidase and selenium-vitamin E deficiency in pigs (author's transl)]. Glutathione peroxidase activity was measured, by the simple paper-fluorescent method of Board & Peter (1976), in blood samples from growing pigs(8 to 16 weeks old) originating from various production herds. The animals were divided in three different groups (Tables I and II): 1) Clinically normal animals from herds fed a selenium supplemented feed (about 0.1 ppm) (40 pigs, 5 herds). 2) Clinically normal animals from herds fed rations low in selenium feed (18 pigs, 3 herds). 3) Clinically normal pigs from litters fed rations with unknown selenium content and with at least one pig having died from Mulberry heart disease (MHD) or Hepatosis dietetica (HD) (Diagnosed at the State Veterinary Serum Laboratory) (40  pigs, 7 herds). The glutathione peroxidase activity was expressed as the reaction time (min.) corrected for haemoglobin concentration, as shown, in Fig. 1. and Equation A. The activity in whole blood was found significantly higher (P less than 0.001) in Group 1 than that in Group 2. The mean activity in Group 3 was significantly higher than in Group 2  (P less than 0.001) and significantly lower than in Group 1 (P less than 0.001). It is concluded that estimation of glutathione peroxidase activity may be useful in evaluating the "selenium status" in pigs.


Chronic copper toxicosis in sheep.

Chronic copper toxicosis in sheep. Some spontaneous cases of chronic copper toxicosis, that occurred in ewes of about 3--4 years of age during the period 1974--1976, were investigated. The diagnosis based on clinical and pathoanatomical alterations was substantiated further by demonstration of considerably elevated copper and iron content in the liver andkidneys of the affected sheep. Texel being a heavy breed seems to have suffered most possibily on account of having ingested relatively high amount of copper by way of consuming much more food at one time as compared to sheep of mixed breed. Besides breed predisposition and other possible contributing factors like stress, the possibility of increased use of commercial feed with supplementary copper and concentrates in sheep ration resulting in high risks of cummulative poisoning is discussed.


Observations on genital abnormalities in dairy cows using slaughterhouse material. The investigated material consisted of the sexual organs of 2010 cows, collected at a slaughterhouse during the years of 1971--74. The organs were examined macroscopically, with special regard to the ovaries, ovarian bursae, oviducts, and the uterus. The genital tract was cut open and examined for anomalies and other pathological changes. The results are presented in Tables I--IV. The total frequency of abnormalities within the investigated material was 18.2%. The most common disease condition was cystic degeneration of the ovary (8.6%). Bursal adhesions, parovarian cysts, and various forms of cervical anomalies constituted respectively 2.7, 2.3, and 1.7 per cent of the cases. The percentage of genital abnormalities as a cause of infertility was estimated to 1.5. The results have been compared with those of similar investigations.


High fluorine water to wether sheep maintained in pens. Aluminum chloride as a possible alleviator of fluorosis. The experiment reported here, gave the following answers to the questions asked (see introduction): a. Water with 30 ppm F gave deleterious effects on wethers. A considerable difference was observed as compared to animals given about 1 ppm F in their water, see Table IV. b. The toxicity was slightly less from bore hole water containing 30 ppm F, as compared to Nairobi tap water with added fluorine to 30 ppm F. The difference in toxicity may be due to the very high content of minerals in the bore hole water, see Table I. c. More fluorine was excreted in faeces when aluminum chloride was added to the diet, as compared to animals which did not receive aluminum chloride. Aluminum chloride had no alleviating effect on fluorosis, but apparently decreased gut absorption of fluorine and also reduced fluorine retention in the bones, se Table VII. Under the conditions of this experiment, toxic levels of fluorine were considerable lower than the quoted safe levels in the literature.


Study of the inheritance of the SME seminal defect in the boar. The characteristic SME-defect was demonstrated in the spermiogram of two boars in Denmark, one of the Danish Iandrace, and one of Yorkshire breed (imported from England). Recently a similar case has been reported from Norway in a Norwegian Iandrace boar. In order to ascertain whether or not the SME-defect is due to heredity, an inbreeding experiment was performed during the years 1974--76 based on two sons (with normal spermiograms) and two daughters of the Yorkshire boar. In the F2 generation 13 boars were studied. Ten had normal semen, while two were affected with the SME-defect to about the same extent as the grandfather. The last one showed a somewhat lower percentage of affected sperm heads. Assuming simple, recessive inheritance, the observed ratio of affected (2 + 1) to nonaffected boars (10) is, generally speaking, identical with the expected ratio. Thus the results support the theory of simple, recessive inheritance.


Thallium loading in owls and other birds of prey in Denmark. Due to previous findings of increased concentrations of the rodenticid, thallium, in free-living Danish carnivores, thallium analysis has been carried out on material from 77 owls and birds of prey. Thallium was found in 2/3 of the birds and in 10% the concentration was so high that the load of thallium may have caused the death of the birds. The load of thallium in birds of prey was lower than concentrations found in carnivores, probably because poisoning caused by direct intake of thallium baits placed for rodent control does not seem to occur among birds of prey. From the investigation of this limited number of birds, it is not possible to tell if thallium did have any influence on the maintenance of a healthy population of birds of prey, but the large number of thallium loaded birds also justify the restrictions in the sue of thallium which were given from the 1st of July, 1975.


Ethoxyquin (EMQ) residues in Atlantic salmon measured by fluorimetry and gas chromatography (GLC). Salmons of two different sizes (group I; 22--30 g, group II; 600--1450 g) were tested for ethoxyquin (EMQ) residues after fed ad libitum a diet supplied with the therapeutic level of 900 ppm EMQ for 2 months. The sums of residues of EMQ and possible metabolites having similar fluorescence characteristics were determined by a fluorimetric method. The percentage of unmetabolized EMQ present was estimated using a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GLC-MS) method measuring only unchanged EMQ. For both methods the detection limit was 0.1 ppm. EMQ residues were also fluorimetrically estimated in muscle tissue of small salmons fed a diet preserved with 150 ppm EMQ for 2 months. At termination of feeding the diet supplied with 900 ppm EMQ, residues measured fluorimetrically in muscle tissue of salmons in both groups were averaging 0.7 ppm. Approximately one third was unchanged EMQ. From salmons of group II blood, kidney and hepatic tissue were also analyzed at termination of feeding and residues averaging 0.3, 0.8 and 1.8 ppm respectively were estimated. The elimination of EMQ from muscle tissue is illustrated in Fig. 1. No residues could be detected 9 days following termination of feeding the therapeutic level of EMQ. In muscle tissue of salmons fed the diet preserved with 150 ppm EMQ, residues ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 ppm of EMQ and possible metabolites were found in 9 of 10 samples obtained from 20 salmons in group I. For an evaluation of EMQ used as a feed additive (150 ppm), further studies were recommended. The diets used in the experiment contained 88 and 830 ppm EMQ respectively measured fluorimetrically at the end of the experiment. Approximately 88% of the residues in the feed was unchanged EMQ. It is suggested that most information regarding the hygienic aspects of residues in muscle tissue is obtained by fluorimetry which is therefore recommended for determination of EMQ residues in tissues. The GLC-MS method, however, is recommended for estimation of EMQ levels in feed.


[Demonstration of hereditary enzyme defect in coproporphyria]. We measured lymphocytes Coproporphyrinogen III Oxidase activity in 17 subjects with hereditary coproporphyria. The mean activity was about 50% of that in lymphocytes from normal subjects. This finding suggests that decreased coproporphyrinogen III oxidase activity reflects the primary genetic defect in Hereditary Coproporphyria. The technique described allows easy detection of asymptomatic carriers.


[The Holoscan: a great improvement for diagnosis by ultrasonics]. We present a new B-scan device, the Holoscan, which combines real time imaging and high resolution capabilities. These capabilities are given by electronic scanning of a linear array and by a holographic focusing technique. This instrument is easy to use and allows high quality pictures to be obtained. Some results are presented.


[Effect of artificial ventilation on pulmonary capillary pressure in acute respiratory insufficiency]. To determine the influence of intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB), the level of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) was compared during IPPB and after a short period off the respirator in 68 occasions on 42 patients with an acute respiratory failure (ARF) of various etiologies. During IPPB, the average PCWP was in the normal range in patients with toxic or neurologic comas and in cases of increased pulmonary capillary permeability edema (IPCPE), PCWP slightly increased within chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated with ARF and in hemodynamic acute pulmonary edema (HAPE). During the weaning stage, PCWP decreased in the groups of coma, COPD, and IPCPE, but increased in HAPE. The weaning test demonstrates that IPPB influenced PCWP in all patients. Therefore, PCWP cannot be assumed to represent the left ventricle filling pressure. The weaning test allows differentiation of IPCPE from HAPE. In the event of over-infusion or hypovolemia, PCWP measured under IPPB can lead to misinterpretation if not followed up by a second measurement off the respirator.


[Hypoglycemia in 2 patients treated with perhexiline maleate]. Hypoglycaemia occurred in two patients treated with perhexiline maleate. The responsibility of the medication is discussed in each case. Blood insulin levels were increased. Blood perhexiline levels decreased very rapidly in the first patient, though much more slowly in the second.


[Results of surgical treatment of aorto-cardiac fistulas]. The authors report their experience in the surgical correction of aorto-cardiac fistulae. The long term results emphasise the good prognosis in coronaro-cardiac fistulae (13 cases), the problems posed by residual aortic insufficiency in the case of ruptured aneurysms of the sinus of Valsalva (37 cases), the difficulties in diagnosis in the presence of an interventricular communication in association and, finally, the rarity of communications between the aorta and left ventricle (4 cases).


[Etiological diagnosis of acute pneumopathies. Evaluative study. 100 cases in a pneumologic center]. This study involved 100 patients with acute pneumonia and hospitalised in a specialised service: 12 bacterial pneumonia, 40 viral pneumonia (i.e. 52% of the total). Only precise viral and bactérial studies could improve these results. Given the poor results obtained using the microbiological techniques available here, the authors suggest the inclusion in all subsequent studies of aetiological diagnosis of a quantitative examination of sputum bacterial flora and examination for the detection of bacterial exoantigens.


The effect of H1 histone on the action of DNA-relaxing enzyme. The action of DNA-relaxing enzyme on H1-DNA complexes was investigated. Complexes of superhelical and relaxed closed circular duplex DNA with H1 were treated with mammalian relaxing enzyme, deproteinized, and electrophoresed on agarose gels. At relatively low ratios of H1 to superhelical DNA, molecules of superhelical density intermediate between those of the starting material and relaxed DNA, the normal product, were generated. At relatively high H1 histone concentrations (H1:DNA greater than 0.4 w/w), the superhelical DNA was not relaxed. Further, no superhelical turns were introduced into relaxed closed duplex DNA at any concentration of H1 tested. Thus, the binding of H1 histone to DNA prevents the action of the relaxing enzyme. Moreover, H1 histone does not appear to unwind the DNA duplex upon binding. The implications of these observations and the previously demonstrated specificity of H1 histone for superhelical DNA are discussed in relation to the structure of chromatin.


Levels of DNA polymerase-alpha and beta in normal and xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts. We have determined the levels of DNA-polymerases-alpha and-beta in fibroblasts obtained from normal subjects and from patients with Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) belonging to three different complementation groups and to the variant form. The assays have been performed in crude extracts and after fractionation on sucrose gradients. The levels of alpha and beta-polymerases in the different cases of XP were found to lie within the same range as the control values, and no correlation was found with the severity of the symptoms. The sedimentation coefficients of the two polymerases from all the pathological lines were identical to those of the normal fibroblasts.


Phosphorylated protamines. II. Circular dichroism of complexes with DNA, dependency on ionic strength. The influence of protamine phosphorylation upon the conformation of nucleoprotamine complexes was studied at different ionic strengths using circular dichroism. The sharp onset of CD spectral changes upon decreasing the NaC1 concentrationwas correlated with the beginning of complex formation and can be used to determine apparent binding affinities in terms of a critical ionic strength. It is show that phosphorylation strongly reduces the binding strength of protamines towards DNA. Directly mixed and reconstituted complexes reveal differences in their CD spectra, which decrease with increasing ionic strength. Spectra of complexes between threefold phosphorylated clupeine Z and DNA obtained by reconstitution or direct mixing at higher ionic strength resemble the phi-type spectra of DNA and are unique for the phosphorylated species. The implications of protamine phosphorylation for chromatin or DNA condensation havebeen discussed.


Conformation of viroids.

Conformation of viroids. Viroids are uncoated infectious RNA molecules (MW 107 000-127 000) known as pathogens of certain higher plants. Thermodynamic and kinetic studies were carried out on highly purified viroid preparations by applying UV-absorption melting analysis and temperature jump methods. The thermal denaturation of viroids is characterized by high thermal stability, high cooperativity and a high degree of base pairing. Two relaxation processes could be resolved; a process in the sec range could be evaluated as an independent all-or-none-transition with the following properties: reaction enthalpy= 550 kcal/mol, activation enthalpy of the dissociation = 470 kcal/mol; G : C content = 72 %. These data indicate the existence of an uninterrupted double helix of 52 base pairs. A process in the msec range involves 15 - 25 base pairs which are most probably distributed over several short double helical stretches. A tentative model for the secondary structure of viroids isproposed and the possible functional implications of their physicochemical properties are discussed.


5' Terminal noncoding sequence heterogeneity in reovirus mRNA. The nucleotide sequences of the mRNAs of reovirus appear to diverge near the 5' termini. Ribonuclease T1 digestion of methylated mRNA synthesized in vitro yielded seven different 5' terminal fragments of the form m7G5'pp5' GmpCpUp(Np)nGp. Chain length analysis showed that the parameter "n" in this structural formula assumes the values 3, 4 and 5.


Removal of RNase activity from DNase by affinity chromatography on agarose coupled aminophenylphosphoryl-uridine-2' (3')-phosphate. Severe degradation of high molecular weight RNA was shown to occur during incubation with commercially purified DNase. Most of the RNase activity could be removed by passage of the DNase through a column of agarose-coupled amino phenylphosphoryl-uridine-2' (3')-phosphate. Incubation with the treated DNase caused only minimal alteration of the sedimentation pattern of high molecular weight nuclear RNA, determined under partially denturing conditions. No impairment of DNase activity was detected.


Characterization of foldback sequences in hamster DNA using electron microsocpy. Foldback sequences in nuclear DNA from cultured Hamster fibroblasts (BHK-21/C13 cells) have been characterized by electron microscopy. One half of the structures observed when denatured hamster DNA is allowed to anneal in the range O less than Cot1 less than 1 x 10(-4) M sec result from the annealing of inverted sequences forming foldback DNA. The remainder have a probable bimolecular origin.  arising from rapidly-annealing sequences of satellite-like complexity. The average length of the inverted sequences in the foldback molecules is about 0.9 kilobases. There  is estimated to be about 42,000 such sequences (21,000 pairs) in the hamster genome, approximately 45% of which form looped structures with a mean loop length of 1.74 kilobases. Contrary to previous reports, binding of the renatured duplex molecules to hydroxyapatite results in a poor recovery of structures containing identifiable foldback sequences, due to preferential enrichment of the bound fraction with duplexes formed by intermolecular annealing.


Content of N-6 methyl adenylic acid in heterogeneous nuclear and messenger RNA of HeLa cells. With the aid of a suitable thin layer chromatographic procedure, the N-6 methyl adenylic acid (m6A), content of a variety of 32P labeled RNA species from HeLa cells has been measured. Poly(A)-containing (poly(A)+) cytoplasmic RNA has on the average one m6Ap per 800 to 900 nucleotides. This value is independent of the length of the molecules. The proportion of  m6Ap in poly(A)+ cytoplasmic RNA does not change between 4 and 18 hours of labeling with 32P, suggesting that the majority of the messenger RNA molecules may have a similar level of internal methylation regardless of their half-life. The non-polyadenylated, non-ribosomal cytoplasmic RNA fraction sedimenting from 10S TO 28S is less methylated with approximately one m6A per 2,700 nucleotides. Heterogeneous nuclear RNA molecules (DMSO treated) which sediment from 28S to 45S have approximately one m6Ap per 3,000 nucleotides. The hnRNA molecules sedimenting from 10S to 28S have one m6Ap per 1,800 nucleotides. Poly(A)+ nuclear RNA is enriched in m6A, containing 1 residue of m6A per 700 to 800 nucleotides, a value close to that obtained for the polyadenylated cytoplasmic RNA.


Isolation of specific messenger RNA by adsorption of polysomes to matrix-bound antibody. A procedure is presented for the purification of specific mRNAs, which exploits the ability of antibodies prepared against a native protein to bind to the nascent polypeptide on the polysome. Rather than precipitating these soluble antibody-polysome complexes with anti-antibody, which can lead to nonspecific trapping of polysomes, we have linked the anti-antibody to an insoluble matrix. Thus, the antibody-polysome complex binds to the anti-antibody support and nonspecific polysomes can easily be removed by several washes. We have found para-aminobenzyl cellulose (PAB cellulose), to be a suitable matrix for this purpose. This support can bind large quantities of anti-antibody and it displayed no detectable nonspecific affinity for polysomes or RNA. Using this procedure, we have obtained an apparently homogeneous preparation of ovalbumin mRNA.


Theoretical study on the proton chemical shifts of hydrogen bonded nucleic acid bases. The variation of the proton chemical shifts due to the formation intermolecular hydrogen bonds is computed for a number of complexes which can be formed between the bases of the nucleic acids. The shifts expected for the isolated base pairs, in particular for the G-N1 H, T(or U)-N3H protons and the protons of the amino groups of A, G c, when combined with previous computations on the shifts to be expected upon base stacking, may enable a refined analysis of the high resolution NMR spectra of self complementary polynucleotides or tRNAs. Two examples are presented of a direct computation of proton shits associated with helix-coil transitions, helpful for deducing the helical structure in solution.


Proflavine sensitivity of RNA processing in isolated nuclei. The intercalating agent proflavine inhibits the processing and subsequent release of preformed messenger RNA and ribosomal RNA from isolated liver nuclei to surrogate cytoplasm. The direct effect of proflavine on these processes, as monitored in a reconstituted cell-free system, supports the theory that base-paired segments (i.e. hairpin loops) in the precursor RNA's are involved as recognition sites in nuclear RNA processing.


Lac repressor purification without inactivation of DNA binding activity. A procedure has been developed which eliminates the commonly observed inactivation of the DNA binding activity of the lac repressor during purification. The operator binding activity of the repressor obtained by this method is 100 +/- 10%. The repressor can be stored frozen indefinitely without losing its affinity for DNA.


Messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes of cryptobiotic embryos of Artemia salina. Poly(A)-containing ribonucleoprotein (poly(A)+-RNP) particles in the post-mitochondrial supernatant of cryptobiotic embryos of Artemia salina were characterized by hybridization to [3H]-poly(U). By sucrose isopycnic centrifugation, approximately 2/3 of poly(A)+-RNPs was found to band at 1.27-1.30 (g/cm3) and the rest 1+/3 at 1.20-1.23 (g/cm3) and below 1.20 (g/cm3). The 1.27-1.30 RNPs could be separated into two density classes, 1.27-1.28 and 1.30 (g/cm3) respectively. The latter RNP class was apparently complexed with ribosomal components because they were completely converted to the former RNP class (free RNPs) by 25 mM EDTA treatment. Further, the 1.30 (g/cm3) RNPs were resolved into several RNP species having sedimentation coefficients above 50 S. which were transformed mostly to 20-30 S rnps in the presence of 25 mM EDTA. The free 20-30 S RNPs contained 8-14 S poly(A)+-RNAs, having the highest template activity in a wheat embryo cell-free system, whereas the 1.20-1.23 poly(A)+-RNPs consisted of 10 S and 16 S RNPs, both of which contained 4 S poly(A)-containing sequences without any template activity.


Endogenous DNA-directed DNA synthesising system in a microsomal fraction of embryonic chick brain. A DNA polymerising complex directed by endogenous DNA has been partially purified from 11-day-old embryonic chick brain microsomes by DEAE-cellulose and phosphocellulose column chromatography. The active fractions are eluted together with an exogenous DNA-directed DNA polymerase; after Sephadex gel filtration, the endogenous activity remains associated with a high molecular weight DNA-directed DNA polymerase. The endogenous activity of the complex has been shown to be RNase-resistant and actinomycin-sensitive. It requires potassium, an ATP-regenerating system and all four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates for full activity. The significance of this activity with regard to the protovirus hypothesis is discussed.


Isolation of a chromatin fraction from calf endometrium highly enriched in estradiol binding sites. The intranuclear distribution of [3H]-estradiol binding sites was studied in highly purified nuclei isolated from calf endometrial tissue pre-incubated with the labeled hormone. The major part (approximately 85%) of the receptor bound estradiol was found associated with the extranucleolar chromatin; only a negligible amount of [3H]-estradiol (approximately 8%) sedimented with the nucleolar fraction. [3H]-estradiol labeled chromatin was then fragmented by sonication and fractionated by sucrose density gradient sedimentation under different conditions of centrifugation. The vast majority of the [3H]-estradiol was invariably found to be associated with a fast sedimenting fraction which contained only 5 to 10% of the nuclear DNA. The concentration of estradiol receptors (per weight of DNA) in this fraction was 25- to 50-fold higher than that found in the slow sedimenting major chromatin component. Chemical analysis showed this fraction to have a high protein/DNA ratio but no phospholipids were detected.


Wheat embryo mitochondrial 18S ribosomal RNA: evidence for its prokaryotic nature. We present a catalog of sequences of oligonucleotides produced by T1 ribonuclease digestion of 32P-labeled small-ribosomal-subunit RNA ("18S rRNA) isolated from purified wheat embryo mitochondria. This catalog is compared to catalogs published for prokaryotic and chloroplast 16S rRNAs and to preliminary results for wheat cytosol 18S rRNA. These comparisons indicate that: (1) wheat mitochondrial 18S rRNA is clearly prokaryotic in nature, showing significantly more sequence homology with 16S rRNAs than can be expected to arise by chance (p less than 0.000001); (2) shared oligonucleotide sequences include an especially high proportion of those identified as conserved in the evolution of prokaryotic rRNAs; and (3) wheat embryo mitochondrial and cytosol 18S rRNAs retain no more, and perhaps less, than the minimum sequence homology detectable by this sensitive method. These results argue in favor of an endosymbiotic origin for mitochondria.


Studies of gene control regions. III. Binding of synthetic and modified synthetic lac operator DNAs to lactose repressor. Chemically synthesized lactose operator DNA was tested for binding with lactose repressor protein. These operator DNAs were found to (1) bind specifically to lactose SQ repressor as measured by release of binding with the inducing ligand isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside, (2) have dissociation half-lives of 37 seconds (21 base-paired duplex) and 46 seconds (26 base-paired duplex) and (3) have dissociation half-lives with x86 repressor of 9 minutes (21 base-paired duplex) and 18 minutes (26 base paired duplex). Modified operators containing 5-bromodeoxyuridine and deoxyuridine at specific sites were also prepared. These analogs bound both repressors about as tightly as the wild type sequence.


Preliminary morphological and X-ray diffraction studies of the crystals of the DNA cetyltrimethylammonium salt. Double-stranded DNA molecules (molecular weight 2.5 X 10(5) - 5 X 10(5) daltons) have been crystallized from water-salt solutions as cetyltrimethylammonium salts (CTA-DNA). Variation of crystallization conditions results in a production of different types of CTA-DNA crystals: spherulits, dendrites, needle-shaped and faceted rhombic crystals, the latter beeing up to 0.3 mm on a side. X-ray diffraction data indicate that DNA molecules in the crystals form a hexagonal lattice which parameters vary slightly with the morphological type of the crystal. Comparison of the melting curves of the DNA preparation before and after crystallization suggests that DNA molecules are partially fractionated in the course of crystallization. Crystals of the CTA-DNA-proflavine complex have also been obtained.


Rapid synthesis of oligodeoxyribonucleotides: a new solid-phase method. A method is described that makes use of a new polyamide resin for the rapid synthesis of short oligodeoxyribonucleotides. The method is illustrated by the preparation of two heptadeoxyribonucleotides, d(pT6-C) and d(pC-A-G-T-G-A-T) using a phosphodiester approach. A further development involved use of phenyl isocyanate as an in situ drying agent, which obviated the need for solvent co-evaporation prior tothe internucleotidic coupling steps. Improved fractionation of thymidyl oligonucleotides was obtained by use of a new microparticulate, silica-based anion-exchanger.


Structural repeat units of Chinese hamster ovary chromatin. Evidence for variations in repeat unit DNA size in higher eukaryotes. DNA lengths in the structural repeat units of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and chicken erythrocyte chromatin were compared by analyzing the sizes of DNA fragments produced after treatment of nuclei with staphylococcal nuclease. The repeat length of CHO chromatin (173 +- 4 BP) is about 20 base pairs (BP) smaller than that of chicken erythrocyte chromatin (194 +- 8 BP). Repeat lengths of rat liver and calf thymus chromatin were found to be about 10 BP shorter than that of chicken erythrocyte chromatin. Thus significant variations occur in repeat units of chromatin of higher eukaryotes. These variations occur in the lengths of "spacer" (or "internucleosomal") DNA segments, not in "core particle" (or "nucleosomal") DNA lengths. The concept of spacer regions and the possible influence of H1 histones is discussed.


Polylysine titration of rat liver chromatin fractions after DNase II digestion. The concentration of free phosphate groups is measured in rat liver chromatin after DNase II digestion using polylysine titration. The unsheared chromatin completely precipitates at lysine/DNA phosphate ratios of 0.5 to 0.6. Digestion of the chromatin reduces the lysine/DNA phosphate ratio of complete precipitation by about 0.2 units suggesting  the removal of free phosphate groups. The two chromatin fractions: MgC12 insoluble (template-inactive) and Mg12 soluble (template-active) chromatins precipitate at about the same lysine/DNA phosphate ratio. Some 15% of the MgC12 soluble chromatin remains in solution at any polylysine concentration. The removal of histone H 1 FROM THE MgC12 insoluble chromatin increases the lysine/DNA phosphate ratio by about 0.2 units suggesting that 20% of the DNA phosphate groups in nucleosomes are masked by histone H 1.


Histone mRNA in Xenopus laevis ovaries: identification of the H4 messenger. RNA extracted from ovaries of adult Xenopus laevis and introduced into a wheat germ cell-free system, directs the synthesis of polypeptides co-electrophoresing with all five histones. By frationation of total ovary RNA through Sephadex G-200 and polyacrylamide gel, RNA was isolated that is translated into histones 4 (H4) only. In addition, this RNA labelled in vitro with [I125] hybridizes to a restriction fragment of cloned sea urchin DNA known to contain the H4 gene.


Monocistronic translation of alfalfa mosaic virus RNAs. The four alfalfa mosaic virus RNAs (respectively 24 S, 20 S, 17 S and 12 S) have been used separately as messengers in two in vitro protein synthesizing systems: wheat germ and rabbit reticulocyte lysate. In both systems a polypeptide corresponding to the translation of the entire length of the RNA can be found for RNAs 24 S, 20 S and 12 S, but not for 17 S RNA, the translation product of which is only 35,000 daltons. The number of initiation sites has been determined for each RNA by analyzing the initiation peptides synthesized in the presence of spasomycin and show that there is only one initiation or binding site perRNA. We thus conclude that each AMV RNA behaves as a monocistronic messenger in in vitro translating systems.


CD studies on ribonuclease A - oligonucleotides interactions. The interaction of ApU, Aps4U, Aps4Up, ApAps4Up and Gps4U with RNase A was studied by CD difference spectroscopy. The use of 4-thiouridine (s4U) containing oligonucleotides enables to distinguish between the interaction of the different components of the ligand with the enzyme. The mode of binding of the oligonucleotides to the enzyme is described. From this mode of binding it is explained why Aps4U, for example, inhibits RNase A, while s4UpA serves as a substrate.


Salt-induced structural changes in nucleosomes. Nucleosomes and oligonucleosomes were prepared by digestion of human placental nuclei with staphlococcal nuclease and fractionated by gel filtration chromatography. The effect of increasing salt on the structure of nucleosomes was examined in the presence and absence of 10 mM MgCl2. Nucleosomes and oligonucleosomes are insoluble over a broad range of salt concentration. Nucleosomes are insoluble in larger than or equal to 120 mM (NH4)2SO4 containing 10 mM MgCl2 allowing analyses of changes in nucleosomal DNA by C.D. spectroscopy. Nucleosomes are insoluble in less than or equal to 120 mM (NH4)2SO4 containing 10 mM MgCl2 as demonstrated by turbidity measurements. We conclude that the insolubility of nucleosomes accompanies salt-induced structural changes possibly due to individual particle condensation. As the salt concentration is increased the nucleosomes condense and then relax at higher salt concentrations.


Renaturation kinetics of cDNA complementary to cytoplamic polyadenylated RNA from rainbow trout testis. Accessibility of transcribed genes to pancreatic DNase. We have determined the fraction of polyadenylated cytoplasmic RNA from trout testis complementary to unique and repetitive DNA. Some 21% of the cDNA probe representative of this RNA population renatures with rapid kinetics, characteristics of repetitive sequences. The major proportion of the cDNA renatures with unique sequence DNA. Experiments with fractionated cDNA probes allow us to conclude that, in trout testis, the most abundant polyadenylated mRNAs are not preferentially transcribed from repetitive DNA, as it has shown to be the case in two eukaryotic cell lines. Treatment of trout testis nuclei with DNase I, under conditions in which 10% of the total DNA is digested, preferentially depletes the DNA of sequences being transcribed into polyadenylated mRNA. These data confirm the results of H. Weintraub and M. Groundine [(1976) Science 193, 848-856] and those of A. Garel and R. Axel [(1976) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 73, 3966-3970] and suggest that the conformation of DNA in the active genes of chromatin is such that it is more susceptible to digestion by DNaseI.


Characterization of mRNA-protein complexes from mammalian cells. In a previous report we described the use of oligo(dT)-cellulose for the isolation of mRNA-protein complexes from EDTA-dissociated polysomes extracted from normally growing or adenovirus infected KB-cells (I). Experiments presented here provide evidence that proteins involved in these complexes bind specifically to mRNA since: a) the proteins and mRNA cosediment through sucrose gradients, b) they adsorb and elute from oligo(dT)-cellulose together, and c) analysis of the products from ribonuclease digestion experiments show that the poly (A) end and a separate small fraction of the mRNA are resistant to the enzymes and attached to protein.


Effect of homopolyribonucleotides on messenger ribonucleoprotein particles. A discrete set of polypeptides copurify with and appear to be specifically attached to mRNA from polysomes of eukaryotic cells. This report describes the effect of homopolyribonucleotides on mRNA-protein complexes separated from ribosome subunits by oligo(dT)-cellulose chromatography. It is shown that poly (U) and poly (A) can release mRNA-protein complexes adsorbed to oligo(dT)-cellulose, whereas poly (C) and poly(I) are much less effective in this process. Analysis of polyribonucleotide released material showed that poly(U) effectively dissociated the mRNA-protein complexes while poly(A) caused no or only partial derangement of these particles. The specificities seen in the polyribonucleotide effects in turn suggest a high degree of specificity in the interaction between the proteins and mRNA.


5-Nitrouridine-monohydrate: crystal structure and conformation. The crystal structure of 5-nitrouridine was determined by X-ray analysis. The pyrimidine ring is slightly non-planar, showing a shallow boat conformation. The nitro group has no influence on the C4 - O4 bond length as compared to uridine. The ribose shows the C3'-endo conformation and the base is in the anti orientation to the sugar with a torsion angle of 25.6 degrees. This conformation is stabilized by a hydrogen bond from the base to the ribosyl moiety (H6 ... 05'). Stacking interactions between neighboring bases are almost negligible in the crystal. A water molecule is involved in a bifurcated donating hydrogen bond to 04 and to 052 of the nitro group of the one base and an accepting bond from the H3 of the other base. Two more hydrogen bonds are formed between the water molecule and the ribose. The structural aspects of 5-nitrouridine are discussed with respect to the special stacking features found for 5-nitro-1-(beta-D-ribosyluronic acid)-uracil monohydrate in the crystal (1).


The photochemistry of purine components of nucleic acids. II. Photolysis of deoxyguanosine. UV-irradiation (lambda = 254 nm) of liquid aqueous solutions of deoxyguanosine in the presence of oxygen at pH less than 7 causes an intensive degradation of nucleoside. The quantum yield estimated from A254 decrease for the reaction mixture was found to be 1.5X10(-4) at doses to 150 E/mole. The rate of A254 decrease was found to grow with increasing doses. The structures of the products isolated from the reaction mixture after irradiation suggest that one of the ways of deoxyguanosine degradation is a breakdown of a purine cycle without splitting of N-glycoside bond. Simultaneously another type of photoinduced modification of guanine nucleus takes place, which is followed by appearance of free 2-deoxyribose. Deoxyguanosine degradation in both directions is kinetically one-step process proceeding with comparable quantum yields of approximately 1X10(-4).


Selective breakage of DNA alongside 5-bromodeoxyuridine nucleotide residues by high temperature hydrolysis. The substitution of thymine mucleotides (pT) in oligodeoxynucleotides by bromouracil nucleotides (pBU) changes the properties of the oligonucleotides in two ways: (1) It alters their mobility during DEAE-Cellulose homochromatography1. (2) It substantially enhances their sensitivity to high temperature hydrolysis under mildly alkaline conditions (pH 8.9). The resultant breaks occur adjacent to pBU residues and leave terminal phosphates on the breakage products. With more extreme conditions some loss of terminal phosphates can occur. Heating at 100 degrees for 16 hr at pH 8.9 produces cleavage at about half of the pBU residues with minimal loss of terminal phosphates. The properties described here may explain the thermal sensitivity of bacteria grown in 5BU2 and may have a use in DNA sequencing technology.


Interdigital athlete's foot: new concepts in pathogenesis. In our view, interdigital athlete's foot usually begins with invasion of the horny layer by dermatophytes. Because of hot weather, sweating, exercise, or tight shoes, enough moisture accumulates to stimulate an overgrowth of bacteria. Large numbers of normally resident aerobic diphtheroids cause the common wet, macerated type of athlete's foot, while an overgrowth of Gram-negative organisms, such as Pseudomonas and Proteus, is responsible for the more serious cases. The dry, scaly type (dermatophytosis simplex) often alternates with the wet, macerated type (dermatophytosis complex). Flare-ups are common in summer and can be experimentally induced by occlusion of fungus-infected feet. Suppression of bacteria is essential in treating symptomatic athlete's foot. This can be accomplished by exposing the feet to air (eg, wearing sandals) to enhance evaporation of water and prevent the accumulation of excess moisture that stimulates bacterial overgrowth. Topical antibiotics are another approach, with the ideal perhaps being an agent with both broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activity. The newer imidazoles are broad-spectrum compounds but have limited activity against Gram-negative organisms. Our agent of choice, aluminum chloride, combines broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity with chemical drying, a two-pronged attack. We view drying as the decisive element. We doubt that any local treatment can permanently eradicate athlete's foot. Potent antifungal agents can virtually exterminate interdigital dermatophytes, but the inevitable presence of infection in the nails or on the soles assures reinfection. In shoe-wearing populations living in temperate climates, interdigital athlete's foot is mainly a seasonal disease. The various therapies discussed provide a variety of approaches to prevent or ameliorate hot-weather exacerbations.


Dermatoses: common in blacks.

Dermatoses: common in blacks. Some skin disorders are more common in blacks than in whites or are so rare in whites as to be almost peculiar to blacks. Pigmentary abnormalities, either dark or light spots, often occur in association with inflammatory skin diseases. Curvature of the hair follicle is thought to be at the root of two other painful conditions, pseudofolliculitis of the beard and keloidal folliculitis. Certain hairstyles and treatments are damaging and can even cause alopecia if continued.


Normocytic normochromic anemia.

Normocytic normochromic anemia. The first steps in managing a patient with suspected anemia are to confirm the diagnosis and to determine the morphologic type. The normocytic normochromic type has many causes, two of the most common being chronic disease and drug therapy. The anemia of chronic disease is often mistaken for iron-deficiency anemia and treated with iron supplements.


Microcytic hypochromic anemias.

Microcytic hypochromic anemias. Iron deficiency, by far the most common cause of microcytic anemia, may be traced to abnormal bleeding, rapid growth, or rarely, inadequate diet. A search for the source of abnormal bleeding is particularly important because it may lead to detection of an ulcer or cancer. Orally administered iron supplements usually are effective; parenteral therapy is rarely needed.


Macrocytic anemias.

Macrocytic anemias. Macrocytic anemias are not uncommon in clinical practice, and precise etiologic diagnosis is mandatory for proper management. Measurement of serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid may obviate the need for extensive diagnostic studies.


Hyperbaric oxygen treatment of refractory osteomyelitis. Of 70 patients with refractory osteomyelitis who received treatment with hyperbaric oxygen, all improved and 63% have remained free of disease. Treatment is supplemental to properly timed surgery and antibiotic therapy.


Melanoma: value of early detection and treatment. Recent studies confirm that the prognosis in patients with melanoma depends on the level of invasion by the tumor at diagnosis. Superficial spreading melanomas usually are detected during the initial radial growth phase, when simple excision usually effects a cure. Nodular melanomas extend vertically from inception and often are not detected until they have penetrated to relatively deep levels. Because the possibility of recurrence is higher with deeper tumors, lymph node dissection may also be necessary. Fortunately, superficial spreading melanomas are considerably more common than the nodular type. Therefore, increased efforts at earlier detection and diagnosis of melanoma will be rewarded by increased cure rates.


[Role of ammonium nitrogen in the biogenesis of vitamin B12 by Propionibacterium shermanii]. The effect of different nitrogen sources on the biosynthesis of vitamin B12 ano porphyrins by suspensions of resting cells of Propionibacterium shermanii was investigated. In the absence of ammonium nitrogen vitamin B12 was not accumulated by the bacterial cell. This was also the case when its nitrogen containing precursor--delta-aminolevulinic acid was added to the incubation medium. The porphyrins biosynthesis was not changed. When amino acids and their amides were used as the sole nitrogen source, an intensive formation of vitamin B12 developed, if the medium contained aspartic acid, asparagine and cystein subjected to distinct deamination, and glutamine. The study of the composition of extracellular tetrapyrrole compounds showed an accumulation of corrinoil with free carboxyl groups in the incubation medium in the absence of ammonium salts. This corrinoid was identical to cobyrinic acid with respect to its spectral characteristics and behaviour during electrophoresis in phosphate buffer. Possible pathways of the involvement of ammonium nitrogen and glutamine in the biosynthesis of vitamin B12 and the role of amide groups in the binding of corrinoids with cell proteins are discussed.


[Effect of cyanocobalamin, cobamide coenzyme and the cytostatic hispen on changes in cobalamin levels in healthy rats and rats with transplanted sarcoma M-1]. The influence of cyanocobalamine (CN-B12), cobamide coenzyme (5'-deoxyadenosyl-B12, DBC) and the cytostatic hisphen on the level of cobalamines in the blood serum, liver, kidney, heart and in the tumor of healthy and sarcoma M-1 implanted rats was studied. In the above organs and tissues cobalamines were found to occur in the free and protein-bound state (cobalamine-protein complexes). The complexes were of different stability. The ratio of free to protein-bound cobalamines varied. The content of cobalamine-protein complexes in healthy and tumorous tissues was different. CN-B12, DBC and hisphen influenced specifically the redistribution of cobalamine and protein-bound complexes.


[Fungiotoxic properties of steroid saponins from the rhizomes of deltoid dioscorea]. Experiments were carried to test the fungitoxic effect of steroid glycosides--deltoside and deltonine--(representatives of spiro and furostanol saponins) on the growth of conidia F. solani and zoospores Ph. infestans. Both saponins inhibited the growth of test-objects in a different degree. A correlation between the membranolytic effect of the tested compounds on the mobile envelope-free zoospores of F. solani and their capacity to form cholesterol complexes was established. There was no direct relationship between the degree of fungal toxicity and membranolytic activity of the compounds.


[Gas chromatographic determination of S-methylmethionine (vitamin U) in plants]. A quantitative gas-chromatographic method to assay S-methyl methionine (vitamin U) in plants has been developed. The method is based on the disintegration of S-methyl methionine in the alkaline medium to form equimolecular quantities of dimethyl sulphide and homoserine. Dimethyl sulphide is distilled in the flow of an inert gas (nitrogen) and trapped in the toluene trap cooled to--78 degrees. The toluene solution containing dimethyl sulphide and carbon tetrachloride as an inner reference is analyzed in a gas chromatograph. Optimal conditions for the reaction to form 91.1% dimethyl sulphide from S-methyl methionine sulphonium chloirde at concentrations ranging from 0.1--5.0 mg% have been established. The standard error of measurements is +/- 1.5%.


[Hydroxylation of indolyl-3-acetic acid by the fungus aspergillus niger IBFM-F-12]. Physiological and biochemical properties of the culture of Aspergillus niger IBPM F 12 carrying out hydroxylation IAA in the 4-, 5-, 6-positions of the indole nucleus were studied. The optimal composition of the medium for the cultivation was established. The transformation was performed by the washed fungal mycelium taken in the middle of the growth log-phase at a substrate concentration of I g/l. The correlation between the hydroxylase activity and pH, temperaure and biomass quantity was shown. The method of isolating 4-, 5- and 6-hydroxyindolyl-3-acetic acids in preparative amounts was developed.


Synthesis of some 3.4.5-trimethoxybenzyl derivatives of certain amino compounds likely to posses cns activity. The condensation of 3.4.5-trimethoxybenzyl chloride with certain amines is described. Reacting the aralkyl chloride with 4-aminophenazone, 2-aminopyridine, piperidine, N-methylpiperazine, pyrrolidine and morpholine yielded the corresponding trimethoxybenzyl derivatives la--f. On the other hand, alpha-[3.4.5-trimethoxybenzamido]-glutarimide (2) was synthesized via the acylation of glutamic acid with trimethoxybenzoyl chloride, dehydration of the N-acyl derivative and finally imidation of the inner anhydride thus formed.


Synthesis of some quinoline derivatives of potential antiamebic activity. New compounds derived from cinchoninic acid esters and amides were prepared. The esters are those derived from p-hydroxy-N-methyldichloroacetanilide (diloxanide) whereas the amides are from piperazine whose hydrogen is substituted by a dichloroacetyl group. The dichloroacetamido group is responsible for the amebicidal activity in several related compounds.


Methadone salts. Part 1: preparation and identification. The preparation of two methadone salts, namely: methadone-alpha-naphthalenesulfonate and methadone-o-benzoyl-benzoate is described. The prepared compounds were confirmed by t.l.c. and IR spectroscopic studies.


Triiodothyronine in rat submaxillary salivary gland: effects of altered adrenergic function. To determine whether changes in adrenergic nerve terminal activity may influence tissue metabolism of iodothyronines, sympathetic nervous function of the rat submaxillary salivary gland was altered, and effects on salivary gland triiodothyronine (T3) uptake and retention measured. Following unilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy, denervated salivary gland contained 24% less (p less than 0.02) radioimmunoassayable T3/mg and took up 20% less (p less than 0.001) intravenously administered 125I-T3/mg than the contralateral innervated gland. Effects were similar at 7, 14 and 56 days following ganglionectomy and could not be accounted for by post-denervation changes in the delivery of the isotope, in total salivary gland water, in vascular volume or in extracellular or intracellular fluid spaces. When reserpine was administered to unilaterally ganglionectomized animals, uptake of 125I-T3/mg in the innvervated gland was reduced by 10% (p less than 0.005), relative to the denervated gland. The results suggest that loss or diminution of peripheral adrenergic nerve terminal activity reduces tissue uptake and retention of T3.


Analysis of the mechanism of the protective activity of some sympathomimetic amines in experimental ulcers. Apomorphine administered in reserpine-induced as well as in restraint ulcers in rats, failed to afford protection. Pimozide, moperone, trifluperidol and chlorpromazine fail to influence the development of the experimental ulcers. Pimozide and moperone although antagonizing the behavioral changes of amphetamine, maintained its antiulcer activity. Amitryptiline, cocaine and morphine had a protective activity. L-Dopa afforded a significant protection which was abolished if this compound was administered together with FLA-63, a specific dopamine-beta-hydroxilase inhibitor. These results were explained by admitting that not dopamine, but noradrenaline was responsible for the antiulcer activity. alpha-Methyl-dopa produced a significant protection in both experimental models.


Influence of some sympathomimetic amines on the experimental gastric ulcers in rats. In reserpine-induced ulcers in rats, the centrally acting sympathomimetic ámines (amphetamine, mephentermine and ephedrine) produced a significant protection. Only amphetamine had a beneficial effect in restraint ulcers. Tyramine, a preponderant peripherally acting sympathominetic amine, was inefficient in both experimental models. It is suggested that the protective activity is due to the influence of these amines on the adrenergic structures, mainly at central level.


Effects of sammarium on the contractile response of the isolated guinea pig ileum to acetylcholine, histamine, potassium and barium. The effects of sammarium (Sm3+) on drug responsiveness of the isolated guinea pig ileum were studied. The lanthanid at the concentration of 2x10(-4) M reduced responsiveness to acetylcholine, histamine and submaximal concentrations of potassium. The maximum response to potassium and the responsiveness to barium remained unaffected. 2x10(-3) M Sm3+ reduced barium-induced contractions and smooth muscle response to potassium Ringer. Equipotent submaximal concentration of acetylcholine, histamine, potassium and barium were analysed in order to try to establish a Sm3+-induced differential reduction in smooth muscle responvisiveness. The lanthanid imparied tissue responsiveness to acetylcholine, histamine and potassium, but did not alter reponsiveness to barium. The results seem to be consistent with the hypothesis that in the guinea pig ileum responsivenesses to acetylcholine, histamine and potassium are, probably, supported by a calcium store(s) located at the cell membrane. The persistence of responsiveness to barium could indicated that this agonist acts upon a cellular calcium store(s) insensitive to Sm3+.


Effect of cocaine and desmethylimipramine on the uptake, retention and metabolism of 3H-5-hydroxytryptamine in rat brain slices. Uptake and metabolism of 3H-5-dydroxytryptamine (3H-5-HT) in slices of hypothalamus, brain stem caudate nucleus and parietal cortex were examined in vitro. The results indicate that 3H-5-HT taken up by neurons is firmly retained and that there are regional differences in the uptake and retention of 3H-5-HT. For example, the caudate had a significantly greater maximum rate of uptake and binding (Vmax) than the other brain areas tested, particularly the cortex. In contrast the caudate appeared to have the lowest apparent for 3H-5-HT uptake (Km). Uptake and retention of 3H-5-HT by four brain areas were markedly inhibited by cocaine and desmethylimipramine (DMI) in vitro. The inhibitory effect of both drugs was noncompetitive in nature, with exception of thct that cocaine and DMI failed to reduce the formation of 3H-5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid despite ther potent blocking action of 3H-5-HT uptake suggests that a significant amount of 3H-5-HT is oxidatively deaminated at extraneouronal sites. This extraneuronal metabolism of 5-hydroxytryptamine may play an play an important role in regulating the action of this neurotransmitter.


Morphine and brain growth retardation in the rat. Fetal and infant rats were maternally exposed to morphine sulfate during gestation and lactation. Drug was administered twice daily by i.p. injection, with dosages gradually increased from 10 mg/kg/injection to a maintenance level of 40 mg/kg/injection. Offspring during the preweaning period had a reduction in body, brain and cerebellar weights, as well as in brain length and cerebral and cerebellar widths. Deficits persisted in young rats observed 51/2 weeks after cessation of drug exposure and in animals continuing to receive twice daily i.p. injections of 20 mg/kg/injection. These results indicate that maternal morphine treatment retards the growth of young rats and impairs brain development.


Binding of mescaline with subcellular fractions upon incubation of brain cortex slices with [14C] mescaline. Incubation of brain cortex slices in the presence of glucose resulted in the permeation of about 65% of [14C] mescaline into slices. Of this, about one-third radioactivity was bound with nuclei, mitochondria, microsomes, and ribosomes. Dialysis of subcellular fractions did not markedly reduce the amounts of radioactivity bound to the fractions. The permeation into slices and the binding of mescaline to subcellular fractions were fairly time-dependent, but were inhibited by the presence of potassium cyanide, or by the absence of glucose and by heating to 80 degrees C for 1 min.


The effects of split dose radiations on the mechanical properties of the skin. A series of split dose experiments in which the interval between doses was varied from 1 to 7 d is reported. In vitro measurements of the mechanical properties of skin are made 50 and 120 d after the first irradiation. The variation of the skin thickness, load at rupture, extension at rupture, stress at rupture and skin stiffness with dose and with time interval between doses is examined. The results suggest that after the highest doses of irradiation the skin is matted in structure and the fractionation pattern is insignificant. Different fractionation patterns only influence the radiation effects at lower doses where the skin retains an open mesh structure. The experiments indicate that a maximum skin sparing effect is obtained with a two day interval between the split doses.


Kinetics of protein adsorption and immunological reactions at a liquid/solid interface by ellipsometry. The adsorption of bovine serum albumin and the subsequent reaction with it of rabbit anti-bovine serum albumin at a saline solution/gold interface are observed in vitro by ellipsometry. By suitable choice of protein concentrations, the processes of adsorption and immunological reaction can be followed in detail by an ordinary null ellipsometer. A simple kinetic model for the formation of a monolayer of protein at the saline solution/gold interface provides adequate explanation for the experimental results. It is shown that ellipsometry is capable of providing information on molecular dimensions, molecular diffusion velocities and adsorption rates.


Echo structure in medical ultrasonic pulse-echo scanning. The factors contributing to the structure (i.e. amplitude and shape) of echoes from major reflecting boundaries in tissues are reviewed. It is shown that the pulsed nature of a scanner's emitted sound field introduces complex variations in echo shape which are not usually taken into account. Moreover, echo structure is strongly modified by the geometry of the interface and not only by the physical composition of the adjacent materials. These effects are shown to be characteristic of the basic reflection process with pulsed fields. The influence of some receiver transfer properties on the displayed echo is also indicated. It is suggested that the analysis of sound fields scattered from small-scale internal structures (echo ensemble analysis) is a preferred method of tissue characterization.


A constant-flow calorimeter for the measurement of acoustic power at megahertz frequencies. The calorimeter absorbs, in a flow of castor oil, a fraction of the acoustic power output of an ultrasound transducer. It has been used to measure powere of between 1 mW and 10 W at frequencies from 1-5 to 3 MHz. Examples are given of results obtained for an ultrasound therapy unit and an ultrasonic pulse--echo scanner. Sources of inaccuracy are defined. It appears that constant-flow calorimetry offers a potentially very sensitive method for the absolute measurement of acoustic power.


Dose and LET distributions due to neutrons and photons emitted from stopped negative pions. Computer calculations are made of the dose and LET distributions due to neutrons and photons produced when negative pions are stopped in a phantom. When negative pions are stopped in a material they undergo nuclear capture, resulting in the disintegration of the nucleus and the emission of short range charged particles and longer range neutrons and photons. The uncharged radiation constitutes a potentially large source of dose outside the treatment volume. A simple phantom consisting of a 0-25 m cube of either tissue or bone-equivalent material is set up with a 0-05 m cube in the centre to represent the treatment volume. Neutrons and photons are started in this central volume and transported across the phantom using Monte Carlo transport codes. Several different initial energy spectra for the neutrons are used, taken from experimental and theoretical data. These different spectra are found to give significant differences in dose, though the distance to the 80% dose level is always about 0-015 m. Order of magnitude differences in some LET regions are also found. The dose deposited by neutrons in bone is about 24% less than in soft tissue, the photon dose being small compared with the neutron dose.


Determination of some parameters for pion radiobiology studies. An experimental investigation of the central axis depth-dose and stopping rate distribution of the SIN biomedical pion beam is reported. The pion stopping rate in a thin disc of tissue-equivalent plastic was determined using a counter telescope. The dose rate at the position of this dic 'target' was measured using a specially designed parallel-plate tissue-equivalent ionization chamber. Both dose rate and pion stopping rate are given as a function of depth for beams of two different momenta spread. The energy deposition required per pion stop to fit the measured dose rate curves was calculated and found to be between 37 and 40 MeV. From the stopping rate measurements the depth-dose distribution of pion interaction dose (star-dose) and the dose due to the pion slowing down have been evaluated. The maximum star-dose is found at a depth of about 2 g cm-2 beyound the maximum of the ionization dose.


Measurement of the fast neutron sensitivities of Geiger-Mueller counter gamma dosemeters. An associated-particle coincidence technique was used to measure the sensitivity of 14-7 MeV neutrons of three types of energy-compensated Geiger--Mueller counters used in mixed field dosimetry. These were then used to measure the gamma-dose component of a 14-7 MeV neutron flux. The thermal neutron sensitivities were also measured.


Lyoluminescence dosimetry with some saccharides. Lyoluminescent properties of mannose, glucose monohydrate, sucrose and trehalose dihydrate were investigated from the point of view of suitability as dosimetric materials in a new system of solid state dosimetry. Distilled water was used as a solvent. With a reader equipped with an uncooled PM tube it was possible to measure doses of X- and gamma-rays in the range from a few rad to about 100 krad. Various experimental factors which could affect the dose measurements using lyoluminescence are discussed, including the energy response for X-rays. Some preliminary information on the response of saccharides to fast neutrons is also included.


An approach to an analysis of the energy response of LiF-TLD to high energy electrons. Responses of LiF-TLD to high energy electrons relative to 60Co gamma-rays were investigated experimentally and theoretically. The Burlin et al. theory, its modified version by Almond and McCray and the Holt et al. semi-empirical theory were examined in comparison with each experiment. An approximate approach to theoretical analysis of energy response of LiF-TLD was attempted and compared with some experimental results.


Thermoluminescence in CaF2:Dy and CaF2:Mn induced by monoenergetic, parallel beam, 81-0 meV diffracted neutrons. The thermal neutron thermoluminescent response of CaF2 : Dy (TLD-200, 0-35% wt Dy) and CaF2 : mn (TLD-400, 2% wt Mn) has been measured by exposure to a monoenergetic, parallel beam of 81-0 meV neutrons from a Kandi-II diffractometer. The TL dosemeters were rectangular and of 0-165 X 0-165 X 0-83 cm dimensions. The measured integral TLD-200 response for a neutron fluence of 10(10) n cm-2 was 0-21 +/- 0-013 R of 60Co which translates to 0-33 +/- 0-021 R 60Co for a Maxwellian neutron energy distribution at T = 293-6 K. The measured integral TLD-400 response for a neutron fluence of 10(10) n cm-2 was 0-09 +/- 0-006 R 60Co which similarly translates to 0-14 +/- 0-010 R 60Co for a Maxwellian neutron energy distribution at T = 293-6 K. The thermoluminescent response of both materials is both theoretically and experimentally shown to be composed of a thermal neutron induced prompt gamma component (approximately 20%) as well as the major component due to the thermal neutron induced beta decay of 165Dy and 56Mn. It is pointed out that the thermal neutron thermoluminescent response of both materials is size and geometry dependent.


The effects of a finite number of projection angles and finite lateral sampling of projections on the propagation of statistical errors in transverse section reconstruction. The dependence of noise amplification on the nuber of projection angles and on the lateral sampling interval of projections is presented. It is shown that about 1-5D/d angles and a sampling interval of about 0-5d are required in order that the data be efficiently utilized. D is the linear dimension of the reconstruction region and d is the linear dimension of the cells into which the reconstruction region is subdivided (resolution length). Values for noise amplification are given for various combinations of projection angles and lateral sampling intervals.


Maximum isometric knee flexor and extensor muscle contractions: normal patterns of torque versus time. Isometric torque of the knee flexor and extensor muscles were recorded for 5 seconds at three knee joint positions. The subjects included healthy men in age groups from 20 to 35 and 45 to 65 years of age. The amplitudes and duration of peak torque and the time to peak torque were measured for each contraction. Peak torque was usually maintaned less than 0.1 second and never longer than 0.9 second. At each of the three angles, the mean extensor muscle torque was higher than the mean flexor muscle torque in both age groups, and the mean torque for both muscle group was higher among the younger than among the older man. The highest average torque was recorded at the knee angle of 60 degrees for the extensor muscles and 45 degrees for the flexor muscles, but this was not always a stereotyped response either for a given individual or among individuals.


Empathy: can it be learned and retained? The effects of a one-semester course aimed at empathic discrimination and communication was measured 18 months after its completion. An experimental group of physical therapy students who had participated in the course and a control group who had not were given the Allied Health Professions Empathy Discrimination index and the Cartoon Listening Test. The results indicate that students who participated in the course were better able to respond empathically. Formal preparation in communication skills as described was both effective and lasting.


Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation specialization: survey and suggested curriculum. Findings exploring further educational commitment and job potential in the carciopulmonary rehabilitation area are presented based on a nationwide survey to 100 physical therapy departments. Results show 1) 99 percent of the sample population believed postgraduate work was necessary; 2) 72 percent indicated that caridac and plumonary rehabilitation techniques should be offered together; 3) 51 percent idinicated willingness to complete a clinical internship; and 4) 79 percent indicated that this specialty training could be utilized effectively in their respective hospital settings, with 20 percent indicating that hospital administrators would willingly pay salary differentials for this clinical specialty. A clinical Master of Arts degree curriculum design is presented with brief course descriptions currently in progess in the Department of Physical Therapy, New York University School of Education, Health, Nursing, and the Arts, Professions.


Load cell: a device to monitor weight bearing for lower extremity amputees. The PRS-Moore Load Cell for use in immediate postoperative prosthetic fitting for above- and below-knee amputees is described. The design incorporates an audible warning device which will sound whenever the wearer applies more than the predetermined weight on the affected limb. The device is easy to use in a clinical setting and can be incorporated into any endoskeletal pylon. The cost per unit is approximately $125, and the cell can be reused for successive patients.


[76 cases of thromboangitis obliterans]. In a group of 156 patients with arteriopathy, 87 (aged between 10 and 40 years) exhibited thromboangiitis obliterans and 9 (aged 40 to 50 years) arteritis of middle age, according to Van der Stricht's classification. The lesions of thromboangiitis obliterans have their onset in the distal arteries of the extremities and are frequently associated with hyperhidrosis and hypersympathicotonia. Marked clinical improvement may be obtained after treatment by lumbar sympathectomy combined with adrenalectomy and cessation of smoking. Tobacco appears to be a more important etiological factor than race : none of the patients in this group was a Jew. "Middle-age arteritis" involves primarily the femoral arteries and affects smokers in the first place. The same type of treatment has given less convincing results in these cases, owing possibly to a lack of sufficient experience with such techniques as endarteriectomy and grafting.


[2 recent cases of ambulatory phlebitis]. The author describes two cases of ambulatory iliac phlebitis occurring in young women, one pregnant, the other taking synthetic oestrogen-progestogen drugs. Anti-coagulants were contraindicated because of the pregnancy in the first case, and because of practical obstacles to their correct use in the second. In consequence both cases were treated as outpatients by physical compression (Nard's method), without any anticoagulant medication : the results were striking and lasting.


[On "VOT": the case of Bourouchaski (author's transl)]. Our phonetic study of Bourouchaski shows that the homorganic plosives of this language cannot be distinguished by a specific difference in voice onset time (VOT). This finding leads us to the question whether this phonetic feature is of real interest not only for the phonological description of a language, but also in a more general sense for the theory of phonology.


[Phlebitis of effort of the lower limb]. Effort phlebitis of the lower extremity is rare but does occur : a patient was seen who suffered sudden swelling of the left leg when he had almost finished unloading a lorry. Phlebography, which was carried out five months later, revealed lesions of the deep veins of the lower leg and of the thigh, in which vascular permeability was in the process of being restored. The hypothesis is advanced that a sudden pronounced rise of the venous pressure had led to the rupture of a valvular perforating vein with secondary formation of a clot.


[Ambulatory recurring or migrating phlebitis of subacute appearance (analysis of 30 cases)]. An analysis was made of 30 cases of recurrent migrating phlebitis, mostly of the subacute type, some of them superficial, others deep-seated; the various, well-known predisposing causes could be identified, as well as in some cases the precipitating causes, which might be single or multiple. If these causes were definite or secondary, this pathology was only rarely a malignant tumor but more often, listed in the order of their frequency : a post-phlebitic conditions, arteritis (often with concomitant polyglobulia or hyperuricemia), hernia of the diaphragm, gout, venous anomalies (Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome or avalvularity), polycythemia and periarteritis nodosa. Another possibility is nodular vasculitis.