Purification and properties of a fructose-1,6-diphosphate activated L-lactate dehydrogenase from Staphylococcus epidermidis.

L-(+)-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 14990 was purified by affinity chromatography. The purified enzyme was specifically activated by fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP). The concentration of FDP required for 50% maximal activity was about 0.15 mM. The enzyme activity was inhibited by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and oxamate. The inhibition by ADP appeared to be competitive with respect to reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). The catalytic activity of the LDH for pyruvate reduction exhibited an optimum at pH 5.6. The enzyme is composed of four, probably identical, subunits. Sephadex gel filtration and sedimentation velocity at pH 5.6 Yielded molecular weights of about 130 000 and 126 000, respectively. The molecular weight at pH 6.5 and 7.0 was found to be only about 68 000. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate and sedimentation velocity at pH 2.0 or 8.5 revealed monomeric subunits with an approximate molecular weight of 36000. The thermostability of the heat labile enzyme was increased in the presence of FDP, NADH and pyruvate. The purified LDH exhibited an anomalous type of kinetic behavior. Plots of initial velocity vs. different concentrations of pyruvate, NADH or FDP led to saturation curves with intermediary plateau regions. As a consequence of these plateau regions the Hill coefficient alternated between lower and higher n-values. Some distinguishing properties of the S. epidermidis LDH and other LDHs activated by FDP are discussed.


Polybase induced lysis of yeast spheroplasts. A new gentle method for preparation of vacuoles.

The polybasic macromolecules DEAE-dextran (diethylaminoethyl-dextran, molecular weight 500000) and poly-DL-lysine (molecular weight 30000-70000) were absorbed with a high affinity by spheroplasts of Candida utilis and subsequently, induced lysis. The extent of lysis of spheroplasts and of the liberated vacuoles was studied under various conditions using alpha-glucosidase activity and soluble arginine as cytoplasmic and vacuolar markers, respectively. Adsorption of polybases was rapidly completed even at 0 degrees C; however, with small doses, lysis was poor at 0-12 degrees C and extensive at temperatures above 12 degrees C. This permitted the completion of adsorption before initiating lysis. The purified vacuoles were also sensitive to polybases though less so than the spheroplasts; however, after lysis of spheroplasts the liberated vacuoles were well protected against the action of polybases. A treatment with polybases which disrupted more than 99% of the spheroplasts left at least 70% of the vacuoles intact. Potassium chloride in high concentrations and calcium chloride in low concentrations inhibited polybase induced lysis of spheroplasts by preventing or even reversing the polybase adsorption. A polyacidic macromolecule, dextran sulfate, could prevent but not reverse the adsorption of polybase and subsequent lysis. Metabolic inhibitors reduced the susceptibility of spheroplasts to polybase induced lysis. Vacuoles isolated from polybase lysed spheroplasts still contained large pools of soluble amino acids, and their ability to transport arginine specifically is a further indication of their functional integrity.


Systematic desensitization of erectile impotence: a controlled study.

Results of a study conducted to assess the therapeutic effectiveness of systematic desensitization of erectile impotence are described. Three groups of eight patients each were formed. They were treated with systematic desensitization or conventional medication and general advice, or put on a waiting list. Therapeutic effects were investigated on the behavioral, subjective, and physiological levels. There were no significant differences among the three groups except on the subjective level. On this level, after therapy the systematic desensitization group rated feelings in sexually arousing situations as associated with significantly less anxiety than the other two groups. Systematic desensitization used alone as a treatment for erectile impotence shows only limited therapeutic effect. The unimproved patients were later treated using a modification of the Masters and Johnson technique. Early results suggest that this technique may be superior to systematic desensitization alone.


The human leukocyte photoreactivating enzyme.

A photoreactivating enzyme from human leukocytes has been isolated and characterized. The enzyme requires DNA irradiated with ultraviolet light (220-300 nm) as substrate, and visible light (300-600 nm) for catalysis. In the reaction, the enzyme converts cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimers in the DNA to monomer pyrimidines. The enzyme has an apparent monomer molecular weight of 40,000 and tends to form aggregates. The pH optimum of 7.2 and absence of a requirement for metal ions are similar to the requirements of the Escherichia coli enzyme; however, the ionic strength optimum of 0.05 is much lower than those for other photoreactivating enzymes. The demonstration that human cells possess photoreactivating enzyme implies that a direct test by photoreactivation may be made of the role of pyrimidine dimers in the induction of abnormal cell growth.


Endonuclease III: an endonuclease from Escherichia coli that introduces single polynucleotide chain scissions in ultraviolet-irradiated DNA.

An endonuclease that makes single polynucleotide chain scissions in UV-irradiated DNA has been purified from Escherichia coli. The activity has the following properties: (1) unirradiated DNA is attacked very little if at all; (2) single-stranded DNA is not attacked, whether irradiated or not; (3) there is no requirement for divalent cations, and the activity is not affected by addition of EDTA; (4) the pH optimum is approximately 7; (5) the activity is inhibited by 1 M NaCl, single-stranded DNA, transfer RNA, and unirradiated double-stranded DNA; (6) the sedimentation coefficient, S20, W, is approximately 2.6; (7) it is a basic protein. The enzyme is tentatively named E. coli endonuclease III. The physiological function of the endonuclease has not yet been established.


Two temperature-sensitive polA mutants: an approach to the role in vivo of  DNA polymerase I.

DNA polymerase I (Pol I) purified from a strain carrying polA12 demonstrates a defect primarily in the polymerase portion of the molecule. The mutant enzyme is altered in its structure and template specificity. Pol I isolated from strains carrying polAexl are primarily defective in 5' in equilibrium 3' exonuclease. The polAexl lesion renders strains conditonally lethal.


Purification of normal human urinary N-acetyl-beta-hexosaminidase A by affinity chromatography.

N-Acetyl-beta-hexosaminidase A was purified 1000-fold from human urine by chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex followed by concanavalin A--Sepharose affinity chromatography. The optimal pH range was 4.4--4.5 for both the N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine derivatives. The Km values were 0.51 mM and 0.28 mM respectively for the N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine derivatives. The glycoprotein nature of the urinary enzyme was established by its affinity towards concanavalin A as well as by the presence of sialic acid, galactose, glucose, mannose and hexosamines in the molecule.


Properties of follicle-stimulating-hormone receptor in cell membranes of bovine testis.

A simple method for preparing plasma membranes from bovine testes is described. Bovine testicular receptor has a high affinity and specificity for 125I-labelled human FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). The specific binding of 125I-labelled human FSH to the plasma membranes is a saturable process with respect to the amounts of receptor protein and FSH added. The association and dissociation of 125I-labelled human FSH are time- and temperature-dependent, and the binding of labelled human FSH to bovine testicular receptor is strong and not readily reversible. Scatchard [Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. (1949) 51, 660-672] analysis indicates a dissociation constant, Kd, of 9.8 X10(-11)M, and 5.9 X 10(-14)mol of binding sites/mg of membrane protein. The testicular membrane receptor is heat-labile. Preheating at 40 degrees C for 15 min destroyed 30% of the binding activity. Specific binding is pH-dependent, with an optimum between pH 7.0 and 7.5. Brief exposure to extremes of pH caused irreversible damage to the receptors. The ionic strength of the incubation medium markedly affects the association of 125I-labelled human FSH with its testicular receptor. Various cations at concentrations of 0.1M inhibit almost completely the binding of 125I-labelled human FSH. Nuclectides and steroid hormones at concentrations of 1mM and 5mu/ml respectively have no effect on the binding of FSH to its receptor. Incubation of membranes with and chymotrypsin resulted in an almost complete loss of binding activity, suggesting that protein moieties are essential for the binding of 125I-labelled human FSH. Binding of 125I-labelled human FSH to bovine testicular receptor does not result in destruction or degradation of the hormone.


Physicochemical properties of two atypical cytochromes c, Crithidia cytochrome c-557 and Euglena cytochrome c-558.

Cytochrome c-557 from Crithidia oncopelti and cytochrome c-558 from Euglena gracilis are mitochondrial cytochromes c that have an atypical haem-binding site. It was of interest to know whether the loss of one thioether bond affected the physicochemical properties of these cytochromes. The thermodynamic parameters of the redox potential were measured. The reaction with imidazole, the kinetics and thermodynamics of the alkaline isomerization and the effect of heating on the visible spectrum are described for the ferricytochromes. The kinetics of the loss of cyanide, the spectral changes occurring on reduction with dithionite at alkaline pH values and the reactivity with CO are described for the ferrocytochromes. In many respects the cytochromes of the two protozoans are very similar to the cytochromes of horse and yeast. The ferricytochromes do, however, undergo a reversible transition to high-spin species on heating, which may be due to the more flexible attachment of the prosthetic group. Similarly the alkaline isomers of cytochromes c-557 and c-558 give rise to high-spin proteins above pH 11. The alkaline isomerization of cytochrome c-558, involves a pKobs. of 10 and kinetics which do not obey the model of Davis et al. [(1974) J. Biol. Chem. 249, 2624-2632] for horse cytochrome c. It is proposed that a model involving two ionizations, followed by a conformation change, may fit the data. Both cytochromes c-557 and c-558 combine slowly with CO at neutral pH values.


Kinetic studies on mammalian cytochrome c modified with 2-hydroxy-5-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide.

The reduction of 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl tryptophyl cytochrome c by the chromous ion was studied by stopped-flow techniques. At pH6.5 the reduction of 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl tryptophyl cytochrome c is complex, showing the presence of three distinct phases. Two chromium concentration-dependent phases are observed (1.1 X 10(5) M-1-S-1, phase 1; 1.25 X 10(4)M-1-S-1, phase 2) and one slow first-order process (0.25S-1, phase 3). A comparison of the static and kinetic difference spectra, along with the data from the reduction of the reoxidized reduced protein, suggests that the slow chromium concentration-independent phase is due to a slow conformational event after fast reduction of the NO2 group. The rates of the chromium concentration-dependent phases show a marked variation with pH above 7.5. The activation energies for the three processes were also measured at 33.2, 38.6 and 69.7 kJ-mol-1 for phases 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The reaction of reduced 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl tryptophyl cytochrome c with CO was foollowed by means of both stopped-flow and flash photolysis. The combination with CO at pH 6.8 as measured in stopped-flow experiments showed two phases, one CO-dependent phase (phase 2, 2.4 X 10(2)M-1-S-1) and one CO-independent phase (phase 1, 0.015S-1). Investigation of the pH-dependence of the phases showed both the rates and amounts of each phase to be pH-invariant. CO recombination, after photolytic removal, was found to be biphasic; a CO-dependent phase (phase 2, 2.4 X 10(2)M-1-S-1) and a CO-independent phase (phase 1, 1.0s-1) were observed. A tentative model which can accommodate these observations is proposed.


The purification and properties of peroxidase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and its possible role in the mechanism of action of isonicotinic acid hydrazide.

Peroxidase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was purified to homogeneity. The homogeneous protein exhibits catalase and Y (Youatt's)-enzyme activities in addition to peroxidase activity. Further confirmation that the three activities are due to a single enzyme was accomplished by other criteria, such as differential thermal inactivation, sensitivity to different inhibitors, and co-purification. The Y enzyme (peroxidase) was separated from NADase (NAD+ glycohydrolase) inhibitor by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. The molecular weights of peroxidase and NADase inhibitor, as determined by gel filtration, are 240000 and 98000 respectively. The Y enzyme shows two Km values for both isoniazid (isonicotinic acid hydrazide) and NAD at low and high concentrations. Analysis of the data by Hill plots revealed that the enzyme has one binding site at lower substrate concentrations and more than one at higher substrate concentration. The enzyme contains 6g-atoms of iron/mol. Highly purified preparations of peroxidases from different sources catalyse the Y-enzyme reaction, suggesting that the nature of the reaction may be a peroxidatic oxidation of isoniazid. Moreover, the Y-enzyme reaction is enhanced by O2. Isoniazid-resistant mutants do not exhibit Y-enzyme, peroxidase or catalase activities, and do not take up isoniazid. The Y-enzyme reaction is therefore implicated in the uptake of the drug.


A comparison of the activity of phosphatidylinositol phosphodiesterase against substrate in dispersions and as monolayers at the air-water interface.

The activity of phosphatidylinositol phosphodiesterase, purified from rat brain, against substrate in three forms, (a) multibilayer liposomes, (b) single bilayer vesicles of phosphatidylinositol and (c) phosphatidylinositol oriented as monolayers at the air-water interface, was examined. The reaction rate was similar against the two substrate dispersions prepared with the same phospholipid concentration, although there was a large difference in substrate surface area available to the enzyme, and this similarity could not be accounted for by any differences in the microviscosity of the hydrocarbon region of the phospholipid bilayers. The reaction showed apparent zero-order reaction kinetics until about 10% of the substrate had been degraded, whereupon the rate decreased. The reaction against monolayers of phosphatidylinositol was linear throughout the entire digestion of the film, provided that more than 0.25 mg of enzyme was present in the subphase. The pH optimum was 6.6. Bivalent ions )Ca2+, Mg2+, Co2+, Ni2+ and Mn2+) facilitated enzyme penetration into substrate monolayers, but the enzyme was only activated by Ca2+ (optimal concentration, 1mM) and to a lesser extent by Mg2+. The reaction rate was independent of initial surface pressures of less than about 22mN-m(-1) but at higher pressures the rate decreased. This decrease could be prevented by the addition of 10mol of octadecylamine/90mol of phosphatidylinositol to the substrate monolayer; the amine did not increase the rate of reaction in films of less than 22mN-m(-1).


The mechanism of C-4 demethylation during cholesterol biosynthesis.

The conversion of 4,4-dimethylcholest-7-enol into 4alpha-methylcholest-7-enol by rat liver microsomal preparations involves the decarboxylation of a sterol 3-oxo-4alpha-carboxylic acid. By using an (18)O-labelled substrate it was shown that this decarboxylation does not involve a Schiff-base intermediate.


Rat haemoglobin heterogeneity. Two structurally distinct alpha chains and functional behaviour of selected components.

Six haemoglobins were separated analytically from haemolysates of adult Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) by cellulose acetate electrophoresis and preparatively by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The globin chains were separated from unfractionated haemolysates by CM-cellulose chromatography by using a non-linear formic acid-pyridine gradient followed by CM-cellulose chromatography in 8M-urea by using a gradient of increasing Na+ concentration in phosphate buffer, pH 6.7. Two alpha chains and three non-alpha chains were identified. Chains isolated from purified haemoglobins were correlated with chains isolated from unfractionated haemolysates by electrophoresis on urea-starch gels to make presumptive assignments of the subunit composition of the six haemoglobin tetramers. Partial amino acid sequences were determined for the major and minor alpha chains. The oxygen equilibria of two of the major haemoglobin components and of the unfractionated haemolysate were examined at pH 7.5 and 8.0. The two purified haemoglobins exhibited similar oxygen affinities; the haemolysate, however, had a lower oxygen affinity than either of the two purified haemoglobins. Both the haemolysate and the two haemoglobins showed an alkaline Bohr effect larger than that of human haemoglobin A.


Biosynthesis of heparin. Solubilization and partial characterization of N- and O-sulphotransferases.

Assay methods were developed enabling separate determination of N- and O-sulphotransferase activities in an enzyme preparation from mouse mastocytoma. N-Desulphoheparin and chemically N-acetylated heparan sulphate were used as specific exogenous sulphate acceptors in the transfer of [35S]sulphate residues from adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-[35S]sulphatophosphate to amino and hydroxyl groups respectively. The resulting 35S-labelled polysaccharides were isolated as their cetylpyridinium complexes on filter paper. Sulphotransferases were solubilized from a mastocytoma microsomal fraction by treatment with detergent-alkali. The pH optimum for both enzymes was about 7.5 Km with regard to adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-sulphatophosphate was estimated to be 2 X 10(-5) M for the N-sulphotransferase and 1 X 10(-4) M for the O-sulphotransferase(s). The enzymes required bivalent cations for maximum activity, Mn2+ stimulating both the N- and O-sulphotransferase four- to five-fold, whereas Ca2+ increased the N- but not the O-sulphotransferase activity. The O-sulphotransferase was found to be more sensitive to heat-inactivation, 60% of the activity being lost after 1 min at 50 degrees C, whereas only 15% of the N-sulphotransferase activity was lost. In contrast, the N-sulphotransferase was selectively inhibited (or inactivated) by NaCl; at 0.125 M-NaCl concentration the O-sulphotransferase activity was essentially unaffected, whereas the N-sulphotransferase activity was depressed by 80%. These results strongly indicate that N- and O-sulphate-transfer reactions should be ascribed to different enzymes, or, alternatively, to separate and independent active sites on the same enzyme molecule.


The binding of lanthanides to non-immune rabbit immunoglobulin G and its fragments.

The binding of Gd(III) to rabbit IgG (immunoglobulin G) and the Fab (N-terminal half of heavy and light chain), (Bab')2 (N-terminal half of heavy and light chains joined by inter-chain disulphide bond), Fc (C-terminal half of heavy-chain dimer)and pFc' (C-terminal quarter of heavy-chain dimer) fragments was demonstrated by measurements of the enhancement of the solvent-water proton relaxation rates in the appropriate Gd(III) solutions. At pH 5.5 there are six specific Gd(III)-binding sites on the IgG. These six sites can be divided into two classes; two very 'tight' sites on the Fc fragment (Kd approx. 5 muM) and two weaker sites on each Fab region (Kd approx. 140 muM). Ca(II) does not apparently compete for these metal-binding sites. The metal-binding parameters for IgG can be explained as the sum of the metal binding to the isolated Fab and Fc fragments, suggesting that there is no apparent interaction between the Fab and Fc regions in the IgG molecule. The binding of Gd(III) to Fab and Fc fragments was also monitored by measuring changes in the electron-spin-resonance spectrum of Gd(III) in the presence of each fragment and also by monitoring the effects of Gd(III) on the protein fluorescence at 340 nm (excitation 295 nm). The fluorescence of Tb(III) solutions of 545 nm (excitation 295 nm) is enhanced slightly on addition of Fab or Fc.


Synergy of penicillin-netilmicin combinations against enterococci including strains highly resistant to streptomycin or kanamycin.

The in vitro activity of combinations of penicillin and netilimicin was determined against 20 clinical isolates of enterococci and compared with that obtained in simultaneous tests with penicillin/sisomicin, penicillin/streptomycin, and penicillin/kanamycin. Synergy between the two drugs in each combination was determined by the use of quantitative kill curves and was defined as a killing by the combination at least 100-fold greater than that produced by the most effective drug alone. Penicillin/netilmicin and penicillin/sisomicin combinations were found to be synergistic against the majority of isolates tested, including strains resistant to penicillin/streptomycin or penicillin/kanamycin combinations. This synergy with penicillin could be demonstrated at a concentration of </=7 mug/ml for either netilmicin or sisomicin. Studies on the kinetics of killing produced by these combinations showed the rate and extent of killing to be directly dependent upon the organism's relative susceptibility to the aminoglycoside alone and the aminoglycoside concentration in the combination. Results also indicated that the interaction between penicillin and netilmicin was true synergy; i.e., rapid and complete killing was produced by combinations containing each drug at concentrations insufficient to produce any killing alone, and the killing observed could not be produced by either drug alone at a concentration equivalent to the total drug concentration in the combination. The potential clinical application of this synergistic interaction should be investigated further, especially in view of recent reports showing netilmicin to be considerably less toxic than gentamicin in experimental animals.


[The Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (author's transl)].

This paper reports 2 cases of the Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome and reviews 70 other cases reported in the literature. Common findings of this syndrome are the recurring painful ophthalmoplegia affecting the 3rd, 4th and 6th cranial nerve, as well as the first branch of the 5th and the optic nerve. No ethiologic factor has so far been found, but is regarded as a non specific inflammation in the area of the sinus cavernosus and adjacent orbital bone. Residual defects in about one third of affected persons is the normal course of the disease. Early diagnosis and initiation of steroid therapy results in quick relief of pain and may influence prognosis.


[Differential diagnosis of malignant and benign lymphomas of the CNS (author's transl)].

The following results were obtained from 37 cases of malignant lymphomas, including 8 eosinophilic granulomas: 1. Localisation: a. Plasmocytomas occur with approximately the same frequency in the spine and skull, but there is an exceptionally high incidence of multiple myelomas in the thoracic spine. Only in a few cases plasmocytomas of the skull lead to neurological symptoms; particularly when they are localised in the base of the skull. b. Lymphogranulomatosis affects only the thoracic vertebral column and leads less frequently to neurological complications compared with the multiple myelomas. c. Eosinophilic granulomas often attack the calvaria, but can also be found in the spine, the base of the cranium and the flat bones of the pelvis and the scapula. d. Leukaemias showed mainly intracerebral and intramedullary alterations: haemorrhages, leukaemic infiltrations and signs of degeneration. 2. a. Whenever the calvarium was affected than repeated complaints of headaches prevailed and only very few neurological signs or symptoms were complained. b. Tumors in the base of the cranium caused eye symptoms and various cranial nerve palsies but less frequently increased intracranial pressure. c. Tumors localised in the region of the spinal cord caused early signs like root-irritations (intercoastal neuralgia), diffuse dorsal pain and/or lumbalgia. Symptoms of spinal compression generally of an ascending character then developed within a few weeks. d. Neurological symptoms were the first to manifest themselves in all cases of plasmocytoma in half of our patients with Hodgkin's disease. 3. History and course: a. Generally in the cases of cranial involvement the previous history was less than half a year (visible changes or clear cut symptoms). Spinal tumors on the average had longer histories as did other extra-medullar spinal new growth. Similar courses were seen in multiple myelomas and granulomas. b. Solitary plasmocytomas were very rare but seem to have a considerably better prognosis than in case of multiple occurrence.


[The combination effect of ampicillin and dicloxacillin on the strains of Bacteriodes fragilis isolated from clinical specimens (author's transl)].

The antimicrobial activities of ampicillin (ABPC) and dicloxacillin (MDIPC) alone were tested in 100 strains of B. fragilis isolated from clinical specimens, and combined activity of ABPC and MDIPC was investigated employing a chequer board titration method (Box method) with agar plates and liquid media. The following results were obtained. 1. Of the 100 strains tested, approximately 33% were shown to have MICs of ABPC greater than 100 mcg/ml, whereas 92% of strains were greater than 100 mcg/ml to MDIPC. 2. In the combination, antimicrobial activities were demonstrated additive or synergistic action in almost strains tested. 3. A combined effect of these drugs was proved by agar dilution method for the strains, for which the same effect was shown by the tube dilution method. 4. For ABPC-resistant strains, no increase in antibacterial activity of these drugs by combination was demonstrated.


The penicillins.

The penicillins as a group are the most frequently and widely used of the antimicrobial agents because they are effective, low in toxicity, and relatively inexpensive. Effectiveness is due to the bactericidal action, the excellent distribution throughout the body spaces, and the wide spectrum of activity. Knowledge of the variation in spectrum of activity of the various types of penicillins is needed for effective use of the proper drug against individual infections. Allergenicity is the most frequent and serious problem associated with the use of penicillins. However, individual penicillin drugs do have other toxic side effects. The older penicillins are so inexpensive that the cost of their use need hardly be considered, whereas the newer penicillins are expensive and should be used only when they are clearly more effective for treatment than are drugs such as penicillin G.


The characterization of phosphoseryl tRNA from lactating bovine mammary gland.

BD-cellulose and RPC-5 chromatography of tRNA isolated from lactating bovine mammary gland showed the presence of four seryl-tRNA isoacceptors. The species, tRNA IV Ser, with the strongest affinity for BD-cellulose (required ethanol in the elution buffer) could be phosphorylated in the presence of serine, [gamma-32 P]-ATP, seryl-tRNA synthetase and phosphotransferase activity from the same tissue. O-Phosphoserine was identified as the 32P-labelled product after mild alkaline hydrolysis of this aminoacylated tRNA. Pancreatic ribonuclease treatment of the aminoacylated tRNA yielded a labelled product which was identified as phosphoseryladenosine. These results indicated there is a specific phosphoseryl tRNA species in lactating bovine mammary gland. It appears that the formation of phosphoseryl-tRNA proceeds by enzymic phosphorylation of seryl-tRNA.


Properties of phenylalanine transfer ribonucleic acid with modified 3'-terminal end in protein biosynthesis using a rabbit reticulocyte cell-free system: effect of the replacement of cytidine residues from the CpCpA end of tRNA by 5-iodocytidine or 2-thiocytidine.

Phe-tRNA Phe from yeast containing 2-thiocytidine or 5-iodocytidine in position 75 of the polynucleotide chain or Phe-tRNA Phe in which both positions 74 and 75 were substituted by 5-iodocytidine were investigated in the poly U-dependent polyphenylalanine synthesis on ribosomes from rabbit reticulocytes. Phe-tRNA Phe-Cps2CpA was nearly as active as the native Phe-tRNA Phe-CpCpA in the overall process. Phe-tRNA Phe-Cpi 5CpA as well as Phe-tRNA Phe-i5Cpi 5CpA were considerably less active than the native species. Investigation of individual steps of protein biosynthesis with these modified substrates revealed that the donor activity of peptidyl-tRNAs which contain 5-iodocytidine in their 3'-terminus is strongly imparied suggesting exacting structural requirements for the interaction of the CpCpA end of tRNA with the ribosomal P-site.


Unusual Pseudomonas corneal ulcers.

Two rare species of Pseudomonas were isolated from corneal ulcers in two patients. In the first case P. acidovorans was isolated and suspected as the primary pathogenic microorganism in human disease. In the second case P. stutzeri was isolated from ocular sources, but this is the first report of its role in causing corneal disease. The patient in the second case had a scarred cornea, possibly caused by a previous herpetic infection, and this may have been a predisposing factor to the development of the infection by P. stutzeri. Susceptibility studies of both organisms revealed sensitivity to a wide range of antibiotics but resistance to carbenicillin, a drug currently used in the treatment of infections from P. aeruginosa.


Resistance to six aminoglycosidic aminocyclitol antibiotics among enterococci: prevalence, evolution, and relationship to synergism with penicillin.

Two hundred and three recent clinical isolates of enterococci were tested for susceptibility to streptomycin, kanamycin, amikacin, gentamicin, sisomicin, and tobramycin. Depending upon the source of the isolate, 36 to 54% of the enterococci demonstrated high-level resistance (minimal inhibitory concentration, >2,000 mug/ml) to streptomycin, 16 to 49% to kanamycin, and 0 to 14% to amikacin. None of the strains was highly resistant to gentamicin, sisomicin, or tobramycin. A comparison with isolates of enterococci obtained in 1968 revealed that there has been a decrease in prevalence of high-level resistance among organisms isolated from wound cultures in 1976. However, no decrease in resistance to streptomycin or kanamycin was demonstrated among blood or urine isolates. Penicillin, combined with gentamicin, sisomicin, or tobramycin, was synergistic against all 10 strains of Streptococcus faecalis subjected to formal testing. For streptomycin and kanamycin, the presence or absence of synergism with penicillin correlated with the absence or presence of high-level aminoglycoside resistance. High-level resistance to amikacin was seen in only 1 of the 10 strains. Nonetheless, combinations of penicillin plus amikacin failed to produce synergistic killing against 6 of the 10 strains. Indeed, the combination was synergistic only against those four strains that were susceptible to high levels of kanamycin.


Kinetic analysis of fraction I protein biosynthesis in young protoplasts of tobacco leaves.

At maximum inhibition chloramphenicol reduced [35S] methionine incorporation into acid-insoluble materials of sterile protoplasts from young tobacco leaves 5-7 cm in length by 30% compared to 70% by cycloheximide, indicating that 30% of the [35S] methionine became incorporated into chloroplast proteins and 70% into cytoplasmic proteins. [35S] Methionine became incorporated into both the large and small subunits of Fraction I protein, the major soluble protein of chloroplasts. Rifampicin and streptolydigin inhibited [3H] uridine incorporation into the 23 and 16 S rRNAs of chloroplasts to a much greater extent than into the 25 and 18 S cytoplasmic rRNAs. Rifampicin inhibited [35S] metionine incorporation into Fraction I protein after the third hour of incubation; streptolydigin after 2 h, the former evidently preventing initiation of mRNA for the large subunit of Fraction I protein and the latter its elongation. About 2.5 h was required between initiation of the large subunit mRNA synthesis, and appearance of the protein. It was estimated that 45 min is required for transcription of the mRNA which has a half-life of 2 h and that 105 min is required for its translation into approximately 350 amino acids constituting the large subunit monomeric polypeptide. The effect of chloramphenicol, cycloheximide and 2-(4-methyl-2,6-dinitroanaline)-N-methyl propionamide, the latter an inhibitor of protein initiation by 80 S ribosomes, on kinetics of Fraction I protein synthesis indicate that protoplasts contain a pool of small subunit polypeptides and that 30 min is required to polymerize the approximately 100 amino acids constituting the primary structure.


[Diarrhea outbreak and bacterial resistance to ampicillin in newborns].

Twenty-eight healthy neonates from the San Juan de Dios Hospital were studied to determine the pattern of antibiotic resistance of indigenous intestinal bacteria. Sixty-eight per cent of infants had enterobacteriaceae resistant to several wide-spectrum antibiotics, including ampicillin; 28 per cent of the cultures had plasmid-mediated ampicillin resistance. In the course of the study, an outbreak of 10 acute cases of diarrhea occurred, not associated to any of the commonly known agents, including the rotaviruses. Enterobacteriaceae multiple resistant were isolated from all cases; ampicillin-resistant strains were found in all; those resistances were mediated by transmissible plasmids. Several sites of the Neonatology Ward were sampled and two yielded E. coli with resistance to 8 drugs transmissible in vitro. The outbreak was controlled after strict hygienic measures were established in the ward. A following sample showed a decrease in indigenous antibiotic-resistant strains, especially E. coli; however, plasmid mediated resistant Klebsiella was still isolated several months later. The need to regulate the use of antibiotics; to educate the medical personnel and the public in general and to modify the hospital norms and regulations are discussed in the paper.


Patterns of drug use among methadone maintenance patients in Los Angeles county.

Any evaluation of the effectiveness of methadone maintenance programmes in rehabilitating heroin addicts is inherently complex and subject to varied interpretations, both scientific and philosophical. From a scientific perspective, it is necessary to accumulate sufficient factual data to validate any hypothetical conclusions. A retrospective survey of drug-use patterns among the methadone maintenance population of Los Angeles County was undertaken in an effort to provide some such information. Over 5,000 urine samples from 730 paitients were analysed for eleven drugs over a two-month period in 1975. Over 23 per cent of these samples were found positive for a drug other than methadone and 80 per cent of these positives were attributed to illicitly used drugs. The opiates (codeine and morphine) comprised almost 74 per cent of the drugs found while barbiturates and amphetamine and/or methamphetamine contributed 16 per cent and 10 per cent to the total, respectively.


Further evidence that elongation factor 1 remains bound to ribosomes during peptide chain elongation.

This paper describes three types of experiments which indicate that the binding sites for elongation factor 1 (EF-1) and elongation factor 2 (EF-2) on ascites cell ribosomes are not identical and perhaps not even overlapping. The experimental evidence presented includes direct competitive binding of labeled elongation factors to ribosomes as well as the influence of pokeweed antiviral protein and Escherichia coli anti L7/L12 proteins on the binding and function of the two factors. It is further shown that EF-1beta from Artemia salina does not function in displacing EF-1 from mouse ascites tumor cell ribosomes. These results also support our recently proposed model that EF-1 remains bound to the ribosome during the peptide chain elongation cycle.


[Prevention and therapy of respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants by means of bromhexine metabolite VIII. Animal experimental studies on the therapeutic efficacy of bromhexine metabolite VIII in premature respiratory distress syndrome].

In preparing a clinical study 14C-labelled bromhexine metabolite VIII was applied intraamnially in animal experiments. The distribution was measured in different maternal and fetal organs by thinlayer chromatography and autoradiography. A complete placental passage was found in both directions. An organspecific accumulation in the fetal lungs could not be demonstrated.


[Prognosis and therapy of sporadic seizures (author's transl)].

Eighty-five patients were admitted to the hospital under the preliminary diagnosis of epileptic seizures. None of them had more than five seizures before admission. Sixty-five of these 85 patients had a neurological and electroencephalographic follow-up examination 5 to 7 years later. Another 8 had been readmitted before. From these 8 the diagnosis of cerebral tumor was made in 3 patients. In almost half of the remaining 70 cases the etiology of seizures remained uncertain. The leading known etiologic factors were chronic alcoholism, head injury and perinatal brain damage. Before admission seizures recurred once or twice a year in most patients. After discharge from the hospital 25 patients were without further seizures, 15 of the seizure-free group never received anti-epileptic treatment. The remaining 10 were without medication for a period of time before the follow-up. All seizure-free patients were given the diagnosis of very rare grand mal seizures or seizures of uncertain origin. Only two of the untreated group (total of 17) had seizures after discharge. These findings show that recurrence of seizures was predictable, when patients were discharged. Predictors of recurrance were "treatment" or "no treatment" given initially. Antiepileptic medication should be given in cases of one seizure or more a year, when epileptic origin is certain. Very rare seizures and seizures of uncertain origin may stay without antiepileptic treatment. Sporadic seizures are benign in most cases - comparable to seizures of late onset. Both groups overlap.


[Cardiovascular side effects of tricyclic psychopharmaca under special consideration of the ECG (author's transl)].

The cardialvascular side effects of tricyclic psychopharmaca.- alteration of blood pressure and heart rate in connection with hemodynamic effects, the "antiarrhythmic activity" and the abnormal ECG-findings - are reviewed. The ECG-changes are discussed in detail. They can be divided in disturbances of rhythm, conduction and repolarisation. After a survey over the usual interpretation of the ECG-findings a hypothesis for better understanding is presented. There is supposed - in close relation to the dosage - a direct affection of the myocardium (by enzyme suppression, disturbance of the membrane permeability?) connected with reflectory vegetative mechanisms which can be modified by factors like kind and severity of the illness, diurnal changes and many external influences, difficult to quantify and objectivate. So the transitory and alternating ECG-findings could be interpretated as a state-depending summation, subtraction or potentiation of the cited single effects.


[A progressive systemic sclerosis like disease due to anticonvulsive therapy? (author's transl)].

Two cases are presented which have been treated anticonvulsively for many years - especially with Phenytoin and Mephenytoin. The clinical syndrom as well as the changes of the connective tissue show transitions of Progressive systemic sklerosis (PSS) to systemic Lupus Erythematodes (SLE) and Dermatomyositis. The correlation with the therapy is reflected in consideration of immunological phenomenons.


[Age-dependent changes of the central part of the lateral ventricle of the brain in children (author's transl)].

In 504 children of different age groups the width of the body region of the lateral ventricles was measured by means of one-dimensional echoencephalography in a cross-sectional study. During the first two months of life, there is in the average a decrease of the width of the body region and afterwards an increase until the age of four. It can be assumed that the phenomenon of the decrease is caused by the rapid growth of brain in this period of life. The one-dimensional echoencephalography can be used as screening test for the diagnosis of neuropaediatric disorders.


Preferential usage of tRNA isoaccepting species in collagen synthesis.

A new double label technique is described for determining the usage of individual isoaccepting tRNA species by in vitro protein-synthesizing systems. Employing this method we show that of four major species of glycyl-tRNA one which is cognate to GGU and GGC is used predominantly in collagen synthesis by polysomes isolated from embryonic chick calvaria. A similar preferential usage was found for one of two alanyl-tRNA species. No preference for any particular isoaccepting tRNA species was observed in the synthesis of noncollagenous proteins by either calvaria or liver polysomes except for the disproportionate usage of one lysyl-tRNA species. Whether such preferential usage permits translational control of collagen synthesis in vivo remains to be determined.


[Basic and clinical studies on AMPC (amoxicillin) in the field of surgery (author's transl)].

In the present study, amoxicillin was compared with other antibiotics with respect to sensitivity, levels achieved in the blood and various organs and clinical results. We would like to make further studies accumulated number of cases.


Evaluation of a pilot school health education program for asthmatic children.

A pilot program was conducted and evaluated as a part of the development of a health education program designed to meet the needs of a specified target population. By focusing on a group of children with a common chronic health problem, it was possible to measure specific variables to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Outcome evaluation together with subjective process information resulted in modification and changes in the program prior to implementation with a larger number of children and schools. The pilot phase conducted with a small number of children was demonstrated to be a critical part of the overall program development.


The effect of nutrition education on dietary habits on fifth-graders.

Two fifth-grade classes of 45 students, a majority in the Mexican-American culture, participated in the five month study. One group was taught a series of eight nutrition education units emphasizing weight control while the other group received no nutrition instruction. Pretests and posttests were given to each group and a 24-hour dietary recall was obtained. Findings from the written pretest and posttest showed that the group receiving nutrition instruction learned a significantly (p less than .01) greater number of nutrition concepts than the control group. Dietary intakes revealed that the diets of the experimental group did not improve after nutrition instruction. A majority of postdietary intakes met less than 50% of the RDA.


Results of school screening for scoliosis in the San Juan Unified School District, Sacramento, California.

Annual routine school examination for scoliosis has been established in the San Juan Unified School District. Additionally, several parochial schools and other schools in the county or nearby towns have expressed interest in such a program. A rapid, effective method, taking no more than 30 seconds per child, has been used to detect spinal curvature. The program is beneficial for those identified with scoliosis, because early detection, followed by proper treatment, can prevent major surgery. The need for careful school nurse follow-up must be emphasized. A standing x-ray and evaluation by a qualified physician are imperative. If scoliosis is diagnosed, the school nurse can be a very effective contact in assisting the students by discussing exercise or brace care and by providing encouragement and general supportive help.


Susceptibility to beta-lactam antibiotics and production of beta-lactamase in Bacteroides fragilis.

Using the agar dilution technique, 231 strains of Bacteroides fragilis, isolated during a 2-year period from human infections, were identified at subspecies level and were tested for susceptibility to 13 beta-lactam antibiotics. The penicillins were benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, carbenicillin, cloxacillin, and the recently described penicillin derivatives cyclacillin, ticarcillin, and PC-904. The following cephalosporin derivatives were tested: cephaloridine, cephalothin, cephalexin, cefamandole and cefuroxime. The cephamycin C derivative cefoxitin was also included in the study. Cefoxitin was the most effective drug tested since more than 80% of the strains were inhibited by 8 microgram/ml or less, and no strain had a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of more than 64 microgram/ml. There was no marked difference in sensitivity among the subspecies with exception of subspecies vulgatus, which was slightly more sensitive to all antibiotics tested. The size of the inoculum was an important factor for obtaining reproducible results in the sensitivity tests. Increased inocula resulted in markedly higher MICs for cephaloridine and cefuroxime. Production of beta-lactamase was performed on all isolates by a chromogenic cephalosporin substrate and about 90% of the strains were found to be beta-lactamase producers.


[Neuropsychological diagnosis and localization of brain lesions: their agreement with other examination visits (author's transl)].

Neuropsychological diagnoses were compared with those of clinical examination and the results of electro- and pneumoencephalography, angiography, brain-scan and with the final diagnoses in a random sample of 319 patients. A significant correspondence between neuropsychological findings and final diagnosis was found. The agreements were closer for the side than for the lobe of damage. The results indicate that the neuropsychological assessment usefully supplements other neurological methods in the diagnosis and localization of brain-damage.


[The value of artificial respiration for patients with myasthenia gravis (author's transl)].

The value of artificial respiration for the bridging of crises in patients with myasthenia gravis is emphasized on some typical cases. Further use, beyond a life-saving indication, for limited periods is described. Such relative indications may exist, when there is not yet complete respiratory failure but when a worsening of myasthenic weakness or cholinergic intoxication may threaten a respiratory crisis. In order to prevent serious complications, early artificial respiration may be indicated in the following situations: deterioration of cardio-pulmonary complications, important changes in therapy, particularly at the start of immuno-suppressive treatment, following tracheobronchial aspiration, in chronic cholinergic intoxication, following operations under general anesthesia, particularly after thymectomy. The importance of careful psychotherapy of myasthenics threatened by respiratory crises and the well-timed information on the chances, intentions and goals of intensive care including artificial respiration is emphasized.


[The two languages of psychiatry (author's transl)].

Psychiatrists still use two languages, that of the "Geisteswissenschaften" (humanities) and that of the sciences. This has often led to a disregard of the differences between understanding and explanation, to a "Sprachverwirrung" (linguistic confusion), or to taking either understanding or explanation as absolute which leads to the formation of closed, ideology-like systems. As a result of the continued necessity for methodological pluralism, it is precisely by observing methodological limitations, that we have the current possibilities for bringing the "Geisteswissenschaften" (humanities) and the sciences, psychology and physiology closer to each other.


[The time-structure of a manic-depressive psychosis (author's transl)].

Some ideas about the desynchronisation and the restabilisation of the diurnal time-structure in the mood-and-drive system are the background for some hypotheses about the determination of the course and the theory of mixed states of manic-depressive psychoses. A model given in graphs is compared with empiric material from a typical casus, which could be shown with its prodrom and some weeks of its course. The structure of dimensionality was studied by factor-analysis, the time structure was studied by autocorrelation technique. A development of the chronobiological theory seems to be of interest.


Dielectric dispersion of DL-alpha-valine in aqueous solution.

The complex permittivity (epsilon = epsilon - jepsilon) of an (0.5 M) aqueous solution of DL-alpha-valine was measured at microwave frequencies over the temperature range 0.3 - 40 degrees C. The magnitude and relaxation time of the dispersions were determined, and the results interpreted in terms of the molecular structure of the valine molecule in solution. The peak in the dielectric loss due to the relaxation of the valine molecules occurs at approximately 2.6 GHz at 37 degrees C.


Modification of repair of X-irradiation damage of hemopoietic system of mice by microwaves.

Microwaves (2450 tmhz, 10e mW/cm2, 300 s) were used to modify X-irradiation damage of the hemopoietic system in the mouse. Compared with X-irradiated controls, microwave-treated mice manifested an increased number of surviving hemopoietic stem cells, heightened erythropoiesis and myelopoiesis and increased rate of survival.


Rat lymphocytes in cell culture exposed to 2450 MHz (CW) microwave radiation.

Rat lymphocytes were exposed to continuous wave microwave radiation at a frequency of 2450 MHz at intensities of 5, 10 and 20 mW/cm2. The corresponding rates of absorption of energy were determined to be 0.7, 1.4 and 2.8 mW/g. The lymphocytes were exposed for 4, 24 or 44 h either with or without the addition of a mitogen (phytohemagglutinin). The transformation of lymphocytes into lyphoblasts was monitored by the addition of tritiated thymidine. No significant differences (P less than .05) were found in the uptake of tritiated thymidine between exposed and control cultures.


Induced EM fields inside human bodies irradiated by EM waves of up to 500 MHz.

In this paper, the internal EM field and the specific absorption rate of EM energy induced inside human bodies by EM waves of up to 500 MHz are theoretically quantified based on a tensor integral equation method. Numerical results for a realistic model of a man of 177 cm high irradiated by EM waves of various frequencies and of vertical and horizontal polarizations are presented. The resonance phenomenon and the effect of body heterogeneity on the induced field are studied. Some theoretical results are compared with existing experimental results.


Adolescent sexuality in the Soviet Union--a personal perspective.

Russian pediatricians, psychiatrists, nurses, and midwives believe that adolescent sex education belongs in the home. Soviet society then has the responsibility of reinforcing the standards and attitudes instilled by the parents. The markedly puritanical sexual standards in Russia are similar to those seen in the United States at the turn of the century.


Preexisting correlates of hospital stress.

More than 450 general medical and surgical patients were surveyed as part of an ongoing study of psychosocial factors in illness. Patients completed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (Holmes and Rahe, 1967) as a measure of life stress prior to hospitalization and a hospital stress rating scale as a measure of hospital stress. Additional data included demographic variables, information about prior hospitalizations, and diagnosis, coded according to the Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale (Wyler et al., 1968). Analysis using multiple regression procedures indicated age (negatively) and life stress (positively) as predictors of hospital stress, for both medical and surgical patients. In addition, for medical patients, recency of previous hospitalization was a significant predictor of hospital stress, those with recent hospitalization reporting more stress than others. For surgical patients, those with serious illnesses reported more stress than others, and women reported more stress than men. Results revealed several preexisting correlates of hospital stress that can be easily identified at the time of hospital admission.


Alcoholic cardiomyopathy: a nursing approach.

When frequent hospital admissions of patients with acute congestive heart failure who also had alcoholic cardiomyopathy were observed at John Cochran Veterans Administration Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, nursing interventions were developed in an effort not only to reduce the frequency of hospitalizations but also to improve the patient's clinical condition. Over an 18-month period, 26 patients with alcoholic cardiomyopathy were followed in a modified bedrest program in the patients' homes. The program was individualized, based on each patient's stage of cardiomyopathy. Agressive nursing interventions reversed significantly (p less than .01) the condition in 14 patients. These patients' recovery prompted a one-year follow-up with continuing close medical and nursing support. Data showed significant (p less than .01) positive findings one year later.


Relationship of perceived empathy to nurses' communication.

Relationship between empathy as perceived by a helpee and the communication of a helper in a therapeutic encounter was investigated in an exploratory, descriptive analysis of verbal and vocal communicative behaviors of nurses. A stimulation was designed whereby a nurse interacted with an actress role playing the part of a patient in a physician's office. Overall verbal and vocal behaviors of high empathizers did not differ from verbal and vocal behaviors of low empathizers. A broad theoretical model of the perception of empathy is suggested, one incorporating all three channels of communication (verbal nonverbal, and vocal) and accounting for the congruency among these channels.


Faculty consensus as a socializing agent in professional education.

To assess the effectiveness of the professional socialization process in a professional school, this study focused on emerging attitueds of nursing students, perceived limits of their role, nursing autonomy, and rights of patients. Student attitudes were compared to attitudes of instructors to determine if socialization was taking place. Consensus among student attitudes was found to increase during the educational program, and attitudes of nursing students did approach those of their instructors. Degree of faculty consensus was suggested as a major determinant of the effectiveness of the socialization process in professional schools.


Predicting infant apgar scores.

This study identified psychologic and sociologic phenomena that affect a woman during pregnancy which, when associated with physical factors, result in poor neonatal outcome for the infant, as measured by the Apgar score at five minutes after birth. The Utah Test Appraising Health (UTAH) was administered to 51 pregnant women during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. Data measuring maternal and infant outcomes were collected postdelivery. A significant correlation was found between maternal stress up to six months before administration of the UTAH questionnaire and the five-minute infant Apgar score (r = -.2787, p less than or equal to .05). The stress score was combined with past pregnancy complications, pregnancy symptoms during the first and third trimesters, and illness-proneness in a regression equation. The total multiple correlation coefficient was .8979, with stress X past pregnancy complications contributing most to the prediction equation. When stress and past pregnancy complications were controlled, the partial correlation value was -.8001. The data were consistent with the hypothesis that stress during pregnancy is an activator of physical illness processes in the mother, and, when combined with these variables, is related to neonatal outcome, as measured by the infant Apgar score at five minutes.


Nurse perceptions of patient characteristics.

To determine whether nurse perceptions of patients are influenced by a patient's socioeconomic class, 78 nurse subjects observed slides and read about a patient and then rated him on a seven-point scale. Nurses were randomly given one of eight written descriptions in which the patient was identified as middle or lower class., with a more or a less serious and a more or a less socially acceptable illness. Results were subjected to 2 X 2 X 2 analysis of variance. Nurses were found to stereotype lower-class patients as dependent, passive, unintelligent, noncomprehending, ummotivated, lazy, forgetful, inaccurate, careless, uninformed, unsuccessful, and unreliable. Patients with less-acceptable illnesses were rated more negatively than those with more-acceptable illnesses and were perceived as sensitive, rigid, bored, and resistant to learning about their illness. Since nurses admitted they would feel embarrassed and would conceal having these less-acceptable illnesses themselves, these negative perceptions of patients may be projections of the nurses' feelings.


Nursing students' attitudes toward death.

This descriptive study tested: 1) whether a change in attitude toward death and the dying was associated with the clinical course. "Nursing of the Adult Patient with Malignant Neoplastic Disease," and 2) the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. Death Attitude Indicator. Data were collected by pre- and posttesting 40 senior nursing students, half of whom had elected to take the course, within the interval of one semester. Results showed no change in attitude in either group conflicting data raised a question of whether the two groups began the study with similar attitudes toward death. Two factors were found to be associated with the respondent's score on the questionnarie: experience with a family death and indication of a belief in a Supreme Being.


Effectiveness of a programmed instruction module on oral contraceptives.

To determine effectiveness of a programmed instruction module (PIM) on oral contraceptives, during their obstetric experience 34 nursing students in the Department of Nursing at the California State University, Long Beach, were assigned to three groups, two experimental groups and one control group. In the first experimental group 12 students worked independently, at their own pace, using a PIM developed by the investigator. In the second experimental group the investigator taught 11 students the same content by the lecture-discussion (LD) method. For comparison purposes, a third group of 11 students (control) received their instruction on the topic via regular classroom teaching. No significant difference was found between the PIM AND LD groups. However, a significant (p less than .01) gain in knowledge regarding oral contraceptives was found when these two groups were compared to the regular classroom instruction group. In addition, over half of the students who used the PIM preferred this method of teaching.


Nurse encounters with dying and nondying patients.

In measuring duration of nurse encounters with dying and nondying patients, 22 staff nurses were observed for a two-hour period; the duration of all encounters was measured with a stop-watch. The prognosis of each patient was classified by the investigators and the observed nurses. Statistical analysis revealed that when the prognosis was classified according to the investigator's definition, nurses spent significantly more time with dying than with nondying patients. The nurse's verbal acknowledgment of the patient's dying status had no effect on the duration of the encounter. The proportion of time the nurse spent in meeting emotional needs was not affected by terminal prognosis as classified by the investigators or the nurses.


A statistical method for development of subconcepts in nursing.

Achievement tests, whether cognitive or performance, often are not analyzed with the intent of detecting subtests within the total test. Subtests should represent unitary concepts. A step-by-step process for detecting subconcepts is proposed and exemplified. Concepts arrived at by the proposed methodology can provide insight to learner strategies for learning and can refine outcome measures to detect effects of the independent variable in teaching-learning investigations.


Thrombophlebitis. Prevention, recognition, and management.

Thrombophlebitis is a common disease entity with characteristic features of edema, inflammation, and tenderness. If the disease process is extensive, the postphlebitic syndrome, which is characterized by persistent edema, pigmentation, dermatitis, ulceration, and varicose veins, invariably occurs.


Appropriate use of psychotropic drugs in physical illness.

Psychotropic drugs have a useful place as an adjunct to the treatment of patients with certain categories of physical illness, but must never substitute for an integrated and coherent approach to the patient.


Urinary tract infections.

Urinary tract infections can be found in either sex at any age. While the majority occur in adult females as acute cystitis, recurrent symptomatic bacteriuria, or asymptomatic bacteriuria, adult males with prostatitis or acute pyelonephritis and children with symptomatic urinary tract infections comprise a considerable portion of patients seen. Management in pregnant females or in males with indwelling catheters or before prostatic surgery presents special problems. The choice of drug and dosage schedule should vary according to the infecting agent and the clinical state of the patient.


Exercise and diabetic control.

Exercise, an important component of good diabetic control, is often associated with hypoglycemia in insulin-treated patients. Understanding the mechanism of exercise-induced hypoglycemia and its relationship to the insulin injection site will be helpful in the management of diabetes.


Pregnancy and diabetes.

Pregnancy in the diabetic is no longer the universal tragedy for mother and child that it once was but avoidable fetal loss wil continue to occur unless gestational diabetes is detected, and unless meticulous control and monitoring of the insulin dependent diabetic is maintained. As Kinch has so succinctly stated "careful composite chemical control oa cooperative patient" is pivotal.


Assessment of psychiatric emergencies in medical practice.

Acute psychiatric emergencies, often encountered in medical practice, demand rapid evaluation and treatment; routine measures are not enough. A scheme for acutely assessing such crises is outlined, and some of the more common emergencies are discussed.


What to expect from a psychiatric consultant.

A psychiatric consultant may clarify a confusing differential diagnosis, help explain and manage difficult psychological symptoms and behavioral problems, and can be useful in specific reactions to physical illness.


Hypoglycemia.

In the present review, we have tried to briefly define the types of hypoglycemia which may be seen most frequently in medicine. Wherever possible, mechanisms and appropriate diagnostic tests have been described. Treatment of hypoglycemia has been purposely avoided, since therapy should be obvious once diagnosis is made and mechanisms are understood. While it is recognized that this review is not exhaustive, it should cover over 95 per cent  of the cases of hypoglycemia encountered by the practicing physician.


Cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis has been regarded as a disease of infants. Yet, with improved management, a high percentage of patients how survive into young adulthood. In addition, mild cases may not be detected until long after infance. The older patient often has minimal symptoms, and the majority are socially active and  productive.


Manifestations of cystic fibrosis.

The diagnosis of cystic fibrosis is usually established by the presence of chronic obstructive lung disease and/or gastrointestinal compromise, together with elevated sweat electrolytes or pathologic changes in tissue. Because of its highly variable genetic penetrance, the disease is characterized by varying degrees of involvement of different exocrine systems.


Benign breast disease. Diagnosis and treatment.

Breast disease is a common problem found in approximately one of four women from puberty to old age. Of greatest importance to the health care provider is identifying the type of breast disorder and its relative seriousness. Precancerous mastopathy is of major concern, as are other significant forms of benign breast disease, both symptomatic and asymptomatic. Awareness of the many facets of benign breast disease on the part of the health care provider and the patient can heighten sensitivity to subtle changes in breast tissue. Identification of precancerous mastopathy has its greatest impact for early diagnosis of breast cancer. The patient with benign breast disease can be offered reassurance, support and symptomatic treatment for the benign breast disorder by the primary health care provider.


Detection of breast cancer. A practitioner's viewpoint.

Ultimate responsibility for the early diagnosis of breast cancer rests upon the front line or primary care physician, just as management decisions following diagnosis fall principally upon the surgeon, radiotherapist, and oncologist. The value of mammography as an effective screening test for the early detection of disease has been enthusiastically endorsed over the past several years on the basis of encouraging results of several studies. Serious reservations regarding the safety of mammography as a screening procedure have subsequently been raised. The practicing physician is faced with a serious problem of time lag in gathering information upon which to base clinical decisions. The purpose of this article is to review the pros and cons in the controversy over mammography so that informed decisions can be made on behalf of patients.


Influenza. The continuing need and justification for immunization.

A review of some of the major questions regarding influenza immunization. New insights in influenza virology and the consequence of epidemic influenza. The reasons for past failure in immunization. The rationale for continuing immunization efforts in the "post Swine-influenza" era.


The mitotic activity of blood monocytes cultured in autologous wound fluid.

Wound fluid was obtained from the subcutaneous tissue of sheep by implanting a perforated Teflon sampling chamber. A catheter from this chamber was brought to the surface. The types and numbers of cells in this fluid were recorded. Cell free fluid was used at either 100% concentration, or 25% concentration in plasma, as a medium for the culture of autologous blood monocytes. Its ability to support mitosis was compared with that of 100% autologous plasma. Wound fluids taken upon consecutive post-implantation days were compared. Cultured monocytes survived in small numbers in wound fluid collected on the days immediately following operation. When mitosis occurred the mitotic indices remained low. The wound fluid did not exhibit that mitogenicity which is apparent in autologous plasma taken on the third or fourth days following implantation. The results suggest that, following the implantation of Teflon, the wound fluid contains a component which is toxic for blood monocytes cultured upon glass.


The role of the autonomic nervous system in the depression of parotid salivary secretion during hyperkalaemia in conscious sheep.

The rate of flow and electrolyte concentration of parotid saliva were measured before, during and after intravenous and contralateral intracarotid infusion of KCl (0.5 mol.1(-1)) and NaCl (0.5 mol.1(-1)) at 385-625 mumol. min(-1) for 40 min into 5 sheep. In intact conscious sheep contralateral intracarotid infusion of KCl caused marked depression of salivary secretion in all experiments whereas infusion of NaCl had no consistent effect on flow. Intravenous infusion of KCl into the intact conscious sheep caused a slight depression of salivary secretion but minimum flow was significantly higher than that during intracarotid infusion. When the sheep were anaesthetized salivary flow rates were low and contralateral intracarotid infusion of KCl either had no effect on flow or caused an increase in flow. After ipsilateral cervical sympathectomy contralateral intracarotid infusion of KCl into the conscious sheep caused a marked depression of salivary flow similar to that occurring when the sheep were intact. After section of the secretomotor nerve of the gland salivary flow rates were low and contralateral intracarotid infusion of KC1 had no effect on flow. The salivary flow responses of the sheep were consistent, regardless of whether the KCl infusions were given within 24 h or 1-2 weeks after cervical sympathectomy or secretomotor nerve section. Salivary sodium concentration was negatively correlated with salivary flow in all experiments. It was concluded that potassium acted at a site located in the head but by direct action on the salivary gland. The depression of salivary secretion by hyperkalaemia resulted from a decline in neural activity in the parasympathetic secretomotor innervation of the parotid gland.


Influence of level of habitual activity on physical working capacity and body composition of post-puberal school boys.

The relationships between level of habitual activity, physical working capacity at a heart rate of 170 beats per minute (PWC170), % fat and body size, have been investigated in 85 post-puberal males aged 16 to 18. Percentage of fat was estimated from the sum of four skinfold thickness and body size characterized by: height and weight; arm, chest, calf and thigh circumferences; bicromial and bi-iliac diameters. PWC170 was found to be significantly related to level of habitual activity and to most measures of body size; multiple regression analysis indicates that level of habitual activity and size respectively account for 34% and 37% of the variance in PWC170. When differences in the body weight of the subjects were statistically removed, % fat was related positively to arm circumference, and negatively to height and bi-iliac diameter. There was no relationship between % fat and level of habitual activity. The significance of these results is discussed.


The energy cost of locomotion on the level and on gradients for the red deer (Cervus elaphus).

The oxygen consumption (Vo2) of three castrated male red deer was measured while they walked on a treadmill at 7 degree and 14 degree slopes and on the level at speeds varying from 44.3 to 172.9 m.min(-1). The energy cost of horizontal locomotion in excess of standing was 2.6 J kg(-1).m(-1). The cost of maintenance of posture when walking was the same as that of standing. The energy cost of walking up gradients was 21.5 J kg(-1).vertical m(-1). These results are discussed in relation to values reported for other species.


The effect of secretin and cholecystokinin-pancreozymin on the secretion of bile in the anaesthetized rabbit.

Effects of secretin and Cholecystokinin-Pancreozymin (CCK-PZ) on the secretion of bile in anaesthetized rabbits have been studied. Single injections of secretin (5.0 u.kg(-1) significantly increased the flow of bile irrespectively of whether the cystic duct was free or had been tied. A sustained increase in bile flow could be obtained by the continuous infusion of secretin. Cholecystokinin-Pancreozymin was effective in increasing the bile flow in doses of 1.0 u.kg(-1). Much of the effect could be attributed to contraction of the gallbladder but a significant increase in flow could still be elicited after ligation of the cystic duct. Our findings strongly suggest that the biliary secretion in rabbits is not as different from the general pattern as has previously been suggested.


Effects of Ro 4-1284 on electrically-induced spinal cord seizures and on spinal cord norepinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine levels.

The time course effects of the benzoquinolizine Ro 4-1284 on spinal cord norepinephrine (NE) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels were compared to the effects of this same drug on electrically-induced spinal cord seizures. The data show that a significant decrease in spinal cord NE levels and a facilitating effect on spinal cord seizures are apparent 15 minutes after Ro 4-1284 (10 mg/kg s.c.) and that both of these effects persist for at least 24 hours. Forty-eight hours after injection, the effects of Ro 4-1284 on seizure and on NE levels are completely dissipated. A significant decrease in 5-HT levels is not apparent until 1 hour after Ro 4-1284. These data suggest that noradrenergic neurons of the spinal cord act as attenuators of seizure activity. The possibility that spinal cord 5-HT also subserves a seizure attenuating function is not precluded.


The dynamics of trends in drug use in Australia.

Drug use tends to follow cycles. Monitoring may be used to establish the trends over time and to analyse their dynamics. An approach is described which establishes the stage of adoption or discontinuance of drug use in the community and a method for the prediction of future trends. Monitoring in New South Wales from 1971 to 1973 provided data which are analysed to show that alcohol was in the phase of majority adoption and tobacco had reached a plateau, but with the worrying anomaly that heavy use among young people continued to rise. Sedatives and analgesics had also reached a plateau stage of use. The data on marijuana are subject to more than one interpretation, but in any case point to a continuing rapid increase in use; predictions are made about future trends. Hallucinogens seemed to be in the phase of late adoption and stimulants to have entered a phase that is of particular interest, discontinuance. Narcotics seemed to be in the phase of late majority adoption.


The human urinary excretion pattern of morphine and codeine following the consumption of morphine, opium, codeine and heroin.

The urinary excretion patterns of morphine and codeine in a number of individuals following consumption of morphine-based narcotic drugs have been studied. From the data collected the relative amounts of codeine and morphine in urine specimens were compared and certain trends, consistencies and irregularities were revealed. To a certain extent, the ratio of the proportion of codeine to morphine excretion in urine may be used to determine the nature of the drugs consumed. This correlation is useful in the interpretation of the results of urine analysis which is the basis of effective control and rehabilitation of drug addiction.


Flail chest as a complication of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Records of all patients who developed flail chest after cardiopulmonary resuscitation at Rochester Methodist Hospital between January, 1966 and March 1976 were reviewed. Also, for comparison, records of patients with flail chest resulting from motor vehicle accidents and those of a matched group of patients who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation without developing flail chest were reviewed. The incidence of flail chest after cardiopulmonary resuscitation was about 5.6 per 100 survivors. The groups who did and did not have flail chest after cardiopulmonary resuscitation were alike in age and in frequency and duration of the resuscitation. Stabilization of the flail chest required mechanical ventilation for 1 to 24 days (mean, 10.7). Flail chest did not significantly lengthen the hospitalization of patients who survived after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The occurrence of flail chest after cardiopulmonary resuscitation did not seem to increase the mortality rate.


Masking of exercise-induced ST-segment depression by rate-dependent left-axis deviation.

An unexpected high incidence of false negative ST-segment responses to exercise was previously reported for patients with coronary artery disease and abnormal left-axis deviation on their resting electrocardiograms. In the case presented, an exercise-induced, "ischemia" ST-segment depression was masked with the onset of rate-dependent left-axis deviation. The state of the base-line electrocardiogram is an important but often overlooked factor in assessing the incidence of false negative and false positive ST-segment responses to exercise.


Arterial blood gases in the coronary care unit. Part IV.

An acute MI complicating advanced COPD is an unusual clinical occurrence. Nevertheless, when these diseases coexist the appropriate use of blood gas analysis and the appreciation of their inherent problems will improve the prognosis. This vignette attempts to point out these problems and their management.


Streptomycin and sulfisoxazole for treatment of Haemophilus influenzae meningitis.

The increasing number of ampicillin-resistant Haemophilus influenzae recoveries have required a change in the treatment of meningitis due to this organism. Chloramphenicol has been recommended and is an effective though toxic substitute. Streptomycin combined with sulfisoxazole has been as effective as ampicillin in treating H influenzae meningitis. The results of treating 61 children with ampicillin were compared with results of those given streptomycin intramuscularly, in three intrathecal doses with sulfisoxazole intravenously, and by mouth to 50 children. Permanent neurological sequelae, including deafness, mental retardation, and persisting seizures, developed in the six given ampicillin; communic-ting hydrocephalus occurred in one who had been treated with streptomycin and sulfisoxazole. There was no phlebitis, buttocks abscess, or drug eruptions, and treatment was better tolerated in the streptomycin and sulfisoxazole group. This combination is suggested as an effective alternative to ampicillin.


Trauma and the child.

Despite better prevention programs and emergency medical care, trauma continues to be the leading cause of death in children. Children present very special anatomic, physiologic, and psychological problems to the emergency room physician, and the spectrum of injury in these young patients may be significantly different from that seen in adult trauma victims. These factors make immediate diagnosis and early appropriate therapy for these young patients imperative to a successful outcome. A few unique forms of injury have been reviewed in this article and their diagnosis and management discussed.


Low-level treadmill testing of 41 patients with acute myocardial infarction prior to discharge from the hospital.

It is recommended that patients with acute myocardial infarction be able to perform activities of daily living at approximately 3 METs at the time of hospital discharge. Implementation of this recommendation requires that the hemodynamic responses at the 3 METs level be assessed prior to discharge. Symptoms, blood pressures, heart rates, and electrocardiographic responses of 41 AMI patients (eight women and 33 men, mean age, 60 years) during a low-level treadmill test were studied 11 days after acute myocardial infarction. Twenty-nine of 41 patients (71 per cent) completed the test. Fatigue was the most common reason for stopping the test early. Between rest and maximum exercise there were increases of 13 per cent in systolic blood pressure, 25 per cent in heart rate, and 40 per cent in pressure-rate product. The resting systolic blood pressures, heart rates, and pressure-rate products were significantly higher (p less than or equal to 0.05) in the patients who were unable to finish the test. ST-segment elevation or depression larger than or equal to 1 mm. was seen in 14 patients. This low-level treadmill test was safe under well supervised conditions; it provided objective information about the patient's readiness for discharge. This type of information can be used for patient teaching and discharge planning.


Continuous in vivo measurement of arterial oxygen saturation by oximetry.

A new device for continuous measurement of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2), the Hewlett-Packard Model 47201A ear oximeter, was evaluated. The oximeter calculates saturation as a function of light transmittance through the patient's arterialized pinna. Oximeter SaO2 was compared with SaO2 calculated from 133 simultaneously obtained measurements of arterial blood pH and arterial oxygen tension in 19 subjects. The coefficient of correlation between these two is 0.9884 over a wide range of SaO2 (47 to 99 per cent) with a mean error of 1.09 per cent saturation. The line of regression with 95 per cent confidence bands is SaO2 (oximeter) = 6.51 + 0.93 (+/-0.02) SaO2 (arterial blood). The device permits continuous accurate measurement of SaO2 in vivo and is invaluable for indicating trends in clinical studies and appropriate times to do arterial blood studies.


The differential diagnosis of bigeminal rhythms.

Bigeminal rhythms may arise from ectopic firing or from failure of impulse generation or conduction. In atrial bigeminy a premature atrial beat beat follows each sinus beat. If the PAC is not conducted bradycardia may result; if it is symptomatic treatment with digitalis or quinidine is indicated. Junctional bigeminy may be coupled to sinus beats or may accompany atrial fibrillation. Ventricular bigeminy, the most common type of bigeminy involving ectopic firing, usually requires treatment with suppressive drugs. Concealed bigeminy manifested as PVCs separated by an odd number of sinus beats has the same clinical implications as ventricular bigeminy. Re-entrant premature beats may also be triggered by an artificial ventricular pacemaker. Bigeminy associated with delayed impulse conduction is most often caused by a 3:2 Wenckebach block at the A-V junction but the block may also be at the S-A node or around an ectopic pacemaker. Conduction or production delay may produce "escape-capture" bigeminy in which successive beats are produced by the dominant pacemaker and an alternate one. Implantation of an artificial pacemaker may be appropriate. It is important for the observer to be able to identify the mechanism of any bigeminal rhythm since crucial clinical decisions may attend such identification.


The high school nurse practitioner.

Better problem identification and improved access to community health care were the result of changes made during the past three years in a traditional urban high school health service. The first change included training the nurse to become a pediatric nurse practitioner and adding a full-time health aide. The other change included the use of clinic management forms developed by the nurse practitioner/health aide team to be used for three common student complaints: headache, stomachach and upper respiratory symptoms. Our experience indicates that out-of-school referrals for medical care doubled, and more students referred received care after these changes were instituted. The high school pediatric nurse practitioner counsels students in understanding their health problems and in making decisions about their health care. She also coordinates educational and health resources and provides psychosocial support for students.


Seeking clinic care for veneral disease: a study of teenagers.

Seventy-three male and 68 female teenagers attending a VD clinic sponsored by Chicago Department of Health were surveyed to identify their reasons for visiting the clinic, symptoms experienced, and sources of VD information and referrals. Sex, previous VD history, and presenting symptoms were factors examined in the data analysis. More t han 75% of subjects visited the clinic without a previous VD history. The most frequently cited reason for seeking care for males was a suspected symptom of VD; whereas females' reasons were diversified. Unusual discharge and burning urination were common symptoms reported for both sexes. The chief source of VD information for all teenagers was friends. Mass media was reported as an important source of information for males, while females frequently cited health care personnel. Verereal disease symptoms, location of clinics, and awareness of the importance of early treatment emerged as important elements of VD education. The study suggested that the dissemination of VD information was more effective when a personal approach was utilized for both males and females. For early casefinding and treatment of VD, a personal approach seemed to play a key role in motivating the teenagers to seek health care.


Quality assurance in ambulatory care.

This article is one example of how a more simplified audit system for evaluating patient outcomes can be implemented and can be applied to an ambulatory care setting.  Quality assurance activities are here to stay, either as a result of our feeling a professional obligation to monitor our own practice in relationship to the public we serve, or as a result of pressure from consumers and third-party payers. I prefer to believe that as professionals, we do recognize our obligation to be accountable for our actions, and that only we can set the standards of practice to which we will be held accountable. Through the development of criteria for care, we are able to establish these standards of practice. In complex care settings such as our Ambulatory Care Service, the CMA/CHA audit process is a reasonable approach to assuring quality by looking at patient outcomes. This process supports the team approach to patient care, is a less expensive method because less time is required to orient personnel to the audit process, and meets JCAH requirements for accreditation.


Patient education in ambulatory care.

Quality patient education is being demanded both by consumers and by health professionals. Nursing must meet this challenge by updating the attitudes of nurses and by improving their abilities and skills in developing and implementing planned patient education programs. Application to patient education of educational theory and of teaching-learning principles improves the quality and effectiveness of the programs. This can be demonstrated by improved compliance rates, decrease in number of hospital re-admissions, and decreased morbidity. A hospital or agency committee set up to organize and coordinate the various educational programs can help to stimulate development of programs, control quality, and avoid duplication of effort.


Assessing the pain experience in children.

A paucity of literature exists on the experience of children in pain: however, its study is most relevant to the pediatric nurse who must care for the child. It is necessary for the nurse to understand the influential factors that affect the perceptions and expressions of children who have pain before she can intervene in a comfort-producing and health-promoting manner.


Providing optimal oral health.

Oral health is achieved with adequate nutrition, a properly functioning masticatory apparatus, a flow of saliva, and mechanical cleaning of the oral cavity by artificial means. Interruption of one or more of these factors produces significant changes in the oral cavity, leading to collection of debris and formation of plaque, tartar, dental caries, and periodontal disease. The astute nurse will consider these factors in her overall assessment of the client and will institute in the total plan of care specific nursing measures to prevent, minimize, or reverse changes in the oral cavity. The choice of agents to be used for oral hygiene should be based on a knowledge of their characteristics and function rather than on their convenience of preparation or tradition. The method of implementation should be determined by the client's status mentally and physically, and the frequency of care should be determined by a continued evaluation of the results achieved. Too often in nursing we accept into use agents or methods introduced for care with little or no evidence of their effectiveness, and tend to perpetuate their use because of their convenience or our assumptions that they are beneficial. A review of the literature regarding oral hygiene has helped focus on the areas of agreement as well as on the areas of question regarding the efficacy of the components of oral care: the criteria for assessment, the agents selected, the methods used, and the frequency required. Further scientific inquiry should be done by nurses to build on the knowledge and criteria enumerated--specifically, to define further criteria for assessing changes in the condition of the oral cavity--and to study the effects of various agents on the pH of the mouth.


Spontaneous and bile salt stimulated bile secretion in the Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae).

The flow rate and ionic composition of bile during spontaneous secretion were measured in anaesthetized penguins in which the enterohepatic circulation had been interrupted and with i.v. injection of saline to replace secretory loss. During the first two hours the rate of flow increased, and then remained relatively constant for a further two and a half hours. During this time the concentration of bile salt fell, but the concentrations of other ions showed small fluctuations only. Sodium taurocholate increased the rate of bile flow and the excretion of ions, except that of bicarbonate. Sodium taurolithocholate initially produced cholestasis but later apparently increased bile flow and had an overall choleretic effect. It is suggested that the active excretion of bicarbonate ions by the bile ducts is the predominant regulator of bile secretion in the penguin.


Prolonged effects of a post-synaptic blocking fraction of Naja siamensis venom of skeletal muscle of the mouse.

A sublethal dose of a post-synaptic blocking fraction of Naja siamensis venom was injected into the soleus muscle of the mouse inhibiting neuromuscular transmission for 2-3 days. The paralysed soleus muscle behaved as if denervated, developing extra-junctional sensitivity to acetylcholine and accepting innervation by an implanted foreign nerve. Since the only known action of the post-synaptic blocking fraction of this venom is due to its affinity to acetylcholine receptors, the results suggest that the spread in the sensitivity of muscle fibres to acetylcholine and their ability to accept a foreign nerve is a consequence of neuromuscular blockade.


Vagally induced gastric antral contractions and gastric emptying of a liquid test meal.

The emptying of a liquid test meal from the stomach was studied during, and in the absence of, electrical stimulation of cut ends of a thoracic branch of the vagus in anaesthetized cats. The test meal (154 mmol.1-1 NaCl and 30 mg.1-1 phenol red) was measured by collecting effluent from a duodenal fistula over a 30 min period. The stomach emptied about 60% of the meal under control conditions compared with over 90% during efferent stimulation of the vagus. The increased volumes emptied during efferent stimulation were not accounted for by secretion of gastric acid. Coincident with the vagally evoked antral contractions there was a gush of liquid from the duodenal cannula. Afferent vagal stimulation resulted in an initial marked delay of emptying followed by an acceleration so that the volume emptied after 30 min was similar to that in control experiments. Antral contractions, evoked by efferent vagal stimulation, accelerated the emptying of a liquid test meal from the stomach.


Secretory, motor and vascular effects in the sublingual gland of the rat caused by autonomic nerve stimulation.

The influence of the autonomic nerves on sublingual glands of rats was studied. Stimulation of the chorda-lingual nerve evoked a lively flow of saliva and was also thought to contract the myoepithelial cells in the gland. Sympathetic nerve stimulation, on the other hand, usually evoked no secretion and did not cause any motor responses in the sublingual gland. The glandular blood flow was increased by chorda-lingual nerve stimulation, and this vasodilatation persisted also when atropine had been administered. Sympathetic nerve stimulation decreased the sublingual blood flow; this vasoconstrictor effect was mediated via activation of alpha-adrenoceptors.


The effects of reducing dietary nitrogen and of increasing sodium chloride intake on urea excretion and reabsorption and on urine osmolality in sheep.

Renal responses to reducing dietary nitrogen were studied in four ewes during intravenous infusion of arginine vasopressin. The fall in urea excretion and in plasma urea concentration was accompanied by significant reduction in GFR and in urine osmolality. The fraction of filtered urea reabsorbed increased despite reduction in the urea U/P concentration ratio and this increase was sustained when the urea U/P ratio was further reduced at higher urine flows observed when the drinking water was replaced with saline. This procedure also sustained the RPF which in the absence of additional salt was significantly reduced on the low protein diet. It is suggested that the fall in GFR and the increase in the fraction of filtered urea reabsorbsed may contribute to nitrogen economy and that the increase in fractional reabsorption and the reduction in urine osmolality on the low protein diet provided evidence of active reabsorption of urea by renal tubules.


The effects of urea infusion on glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow in sheep fed low and high protein diets.

Reducing the dietary N intake of sheep resulted in a significant fall in GFR with no change in RPF. Intravenous of urea for 19-46 h had no effect on the high protein diet but on the low protein diet GFR and FF were increased to values approaching those observed on the high protein diet. On the low protein diet GFR was unaffected by infusion of urea for 4 h or of saline alone for 30 h. It is suggested that the observed changes in GFR are associated with changes in the quantity of protein passing to the abomasum and small intestine.


Effect of high fluoride intake on haematological aspects of the mouse.

The effect of feeding adult Swiss albino mice of both sexes a diet supplemented with 0, 125, 250 and 500 parts/10(6) of fluoride for four and eight week periods on haemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was investigated. Values of the three parameters were significantly lowered at both periods in the treated groups as compared with the controls. The extent of reduction in these values was, in general, dependent on the dose of supplemented dietary fluoride. Clinical symptoms were not observed before the end of the sixth week. However, appearance of the symptoms did not change the trend of variations in Hb, PCV and MCHC values. The reduced values could be the result of lowered haemoglobin synthesis and erythropoiesis. It was suggested that these haematological indices could serve to detect preclinical effects of high fluoride intake with an added dose of as low as 125 parts/10(6), or even less, for a period of four weeks or probably earlier.


Effect of sub-diaphragmatic vagotomy on gastric mucosal mast cell population in pylorus ligated rats.

Gastric mucosal mast cell population was studied following sub-diaphragmatic vagotomy in albino rats, 6 and 12 h after pylorus ligation. Sub-diaphragmatic vagotomy significantly increased the gastric mucosal mast cell population in both 6 and 12 h groups, the increase being more in the latter. The results suggest that the vagal impulses act on the gastric mucosal mast cells causing their degranulation. Following vagotomy the contents stay bound within the mast cells. Increase in mast cell population with the longer experimental situation was possibly due to the continuation of normal turnover of the mast cells in the gastric mucosa. The present study, however, does not lead to a conclusion that the vagal influence on mast cell population is similar throughout the gastro-intestinal tract.


The absorptive viability of isolated intestine prepared from dead animals.

Glucose and water absorption rates are much lower (50%) in isolated perfused rat small intestine when the animals are killed by stunning or ether before removal of the intestine than when the animal is maintained alive under light ether anaesthesia throughout the setting-up procedure.


Use of 1alpha-hydroxycholecalciferol in the prevention of bovine parturient paresis.

A synthetic biologically active derivative of vitamin D (350 microgram of 1alpha-hydroxycholecalciferol [1alpha(OH)CC]) was injected into 2 nonlactating 7-year-old Israeli-Friesian cows. Plasma calcium values increased after 24 hours, peaked at 48 hours, and returned to base-line values 120 hours after injection. An injection of 350 microgram of 1alpha(OH)CC was given to 23 parturient-paresis-prone Israeli-Friesian cows from 7 days to 6 hours prepartum; 13 cows were injected once, 6 were injected twice, and 4 were injected 3 times, all at 48-hour intervals. Parturient-paresis-prone cows (n = 23) of the same breed were used as controls. Within 0 to 36 hours postpartum, plasma calcium concentrations were found to be higher in cows injected with 1alpha(OH)CC than in the control cows. The increase was highly significant (P less than 0.01) in cows injected at least twice. None of the cows injected with 1alpha(OH)CC, within 72 to 24 hours prior to calving developed parturient paresis; but 9 of 23 control cows developed parturient paresis. Prior to calving, none of the injected cows developed hypercalcemia and there was no local or systemic clinically detectable signs of toxiosis. When given at the right time prepartum, 1alpha(OH)CC is considered to be an improvement over previous methods of preventing bovine parturient paresis.


A brush-border-bound peptidase and amino acid transport.

Aminopeptidase when in its integral form interacts with lecithin to form a stable lipoprotein complex. The reconstituted system is a single-bilayer vesicle about 30 nm in diameter. The hydrophobic part of the amphipathic hydrolase is incorporated in the lecithin bilayer with the portion carrying enzymic activity oriented towards the external aqueous phase. This part can be detached by proteases.