[Myoglobin concentration and the state of myocardial organelles following myocardial infarction].

A study was made of the quantitative changes in myoglobin and the subcellular organization of the myocardium at early periods of experimental infarction of the heart in dogs. There proved to be a correlative relationship between the myoglobin content and the state of subcellular organization of the cardiomyocytes in the ischemic area and the so-called intact portions of the right and the left ventricles.


[Myocardial ultrastructure in the presence of assisted circulation].

Experiments were conducted on dogs; a study was made of the influence of a method of assisted circulation--contrapulsation, on the myocardial ultrastructure. A sharp glycogen accumulation in the muscle cells of the heart, the presence of mitochondria with a marked osmophilic microgranular matrix, and also a high pinocytic activity of the capillary endothelial cells were revealed by electron microscopy. The data obtained pointed to the metabolic reconstruction in the myocardium, and primarily to the reduction of the energy level of the myocardial muscle cell function. The changes in the myocardial ultrastructure revealed apparently provided the positive therapeutic effect.


[Histopathology of the dentomaxillary system in experimental fluorosis].

Dynamics of experimental dental fluorosis and regress of the process were studied on albino rats. Fluorine produced a selective toxic action on the tissues of the permanently growing incisors causing disturbances of the dentine- and amelogenesis, and also derangement of the pulp circulation. Changes in the bone tissue of the jaws were characterized by the progressive porosity phenomena. It appeared that regress of the process required a definite duration of the restorative period.


[Psychotherapeutic function of the South American medicine man].

Observing the medicine man system in South America from a psychological point of view, the function of the medicine man can be characterized as psychohygienic or psychotherapeutic; that is to say he employs many methods similar to modern psychotherapeutic ones. We know from many ethnological field research reports that the medicine man employs in his healing procedures - among other things - dream interpretation, (auto-) hynosis, and healing suggestion, advises the sick, uses imaginative techniques, and initiates group catharsis, i.e. he treats his patients by psychological means. The psychic disturbances which he treats concern less the individual but much more often the whole group. Here the medicine man must work as a regulator and valve for the group and try to equalize, to prevent and to heal all disturbances within the collective.


[Irony and cynicism as forms of defense].

Irony and Cynicism are understood to be defense mechanisms. The principle of opposites explains Irony best:  it serves the purpose of avoiding the negative affect of a state by maintaining its dialectic opposite. Irony can thus be attributed to counter-cathexis. Cynicism has already been shown in its historical development to be a form of denial with the purpose to minimize the importance of the object. Sarcasm is not a defense but a form of aggressive discharge.


A female case of Kallmann's syndrome.

A case of 20-year-old woman with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and anosmia is reported, since very few female cases of Kallmann's syndrome have been reported so far in Japan. Three uncles on the father's side had no children. Height was 168 cm, and arm span 165 cm. The olfactory test revealed complete anosmia. Bone age was 13 year. Chromosome was 46 XX and normal karyotype. Basal levels of serum FSH, LH and estrogens (E1, E2 and E3) were low. Serum FSH and LH levels rose slightly only after LH-RH administration, and did not increase in clomiphene test. Plasma estrogens did not increase after daily injection of 150 IU of HMG for 3 successive days. The response of serum GH to arginine infusion was normal, while that to insulin-induced hypoglycemia was poor.


A transient increase in renal clearance of phosphate in response to continuous infusion of salmon calcitonin in rats.

The effects of intravenous carrier-free salmon calcitonin on renal clearances of phosphate, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium were studied in male parathyroid-ectomized (PTX) and intact rats. Both natural and synthetic hormone, when infused at constant rates (0.005 approximately 0.5 MRC U/hr), produced a rapid increase (peaking at about 60-90 min) in phosphate clearance. However, the maximal increase was transient in nature in PTX rats. In intact rats, the phosphaturic response was somewhat more pronounced and the decline after the peak was rather modest. When a large amount (4 MRC U) of calcitonin was given in divided doses, the second dose produced a lesser extent of phosphaturia in both intact and PTX rats. The phosphaturic response was accompanied by an increase in sodium and potassium clearances in PTX rats and by an increase in potassium clearance in intact rats. A fall in the apparent clearance values for calcium and magnesium occurred and was maintained throughout the infusion period of hormone in both intact and PTX rats. In conclusion, PTX rats respond to the intravenous administration of salmon calcitonin with a transient phosphaturic response which is accompanied by parallel diuresis of sodium and potassium along with sustained retention of calcium and magnesium by the kidney.


Occurrence of permanent changes in vaginal and uterine epithelia in mice treated neonatally with progestin, estrogen and aromatizable or non-aromatizable androgens.

Female mice of the C57 Black/Tw strain were injected daily with 100 microng testosterone, 50 microng testosterone propionate (TP), 100 microng 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or 50 microng 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP), for 10 days from the day of birth. Two other groups of female mice were given neonatal injections with 20 microng estradiol-17 beta and 100 microng progesterone for 10 days, respectively. All mice were ovariectomized at 60 days of age and killed at 90 days. In 100% of neonatally estrogenized or androgenized, ovariectomized mice, the cranial part of the vagina was lined with stratified epithelium with either cornification or parakeratosis or mucification. Stratification only or stratification with superficial squamous metaplasia or cornification took place in the uterine epithelia of 18% of the TP-treated, 75% of the DHT-treated and 50% of the DHTP-treated, ovariectomized mice. In contrast, neonatally estrogenized, ovariectomized mice did not show the estrogen-independent, persistent uterine changes. Neonatal progesterone treatment failed to induce the permanent changes in the vaginal and uterine epithelia.


Development of the vaginal epithelium showing estrogen-independent proliferation and cornification in neonatally androgenized mice.

Female mice of the C57 Black/Tw strain given 5 daily injections with 100 microng testosterone (T) or 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from the day of birth showed estrogen-independent persistent proliferation and cornification of the vaginal epithelium in adulthood. The vaginal epithelium of the mice was essentially similar to that of the controls in histological structure during or shortly after neonatal injections of the androgens. In T- and DHT-mice aged over 20 days, however, a marked proliferation with or without superficial cornification took place in the epithelium lining the proximal and middle parts of the vagina (Müllerian vagina), while neither proliferation nor cornification occurred in the epithelium of the distal vagina (urogenital sinus vagina). On the second day of postnatal life in mice given a single injection with T on the day of birth, the mitotic activity in the epithelium of the middle vagina was heightened, but it dropped to the control level on the third day and remained low until 20 days. By contrast, the mitotic rates in the epithelium of the rest of the vagina in T-mice and of all parts of the vagina in DHT-mice were approximately the same as in the controls until 20 or 30 days. The mitotic rates in the epithelium of the Müllerian vagina were markedly elevated in T-mice at 20 days of age and DHT-mice at 30 days, and thereafter remained almost unchanged until 60 days of age. These results were different from the findings in mice given neonatal injections with the dose of estradiol-17 beta (E) capable of estrogen-independent vaginal cornification (Iguchi et al., 1976). The present finding seem to indicate that the mechanism involved in the induction of estrogen-independent vaginal changes by neonatal administration of androgen (T, DHT) is different from that following neonatal treatment with estrogen (E), although androgen and estrogen act directly on the vaginal epithelium of neonates.


Ultrastructural characteristics of the vaginal epithelium of neonatally estrogenized mice in response to subsequent estrogen treatment.

Adult mice which had received 10 daily injections of 20 microng estradiol beginning with the day of birth were in a "persistent-estrous" state, showing ovary-independent proliferation and cornification of the vaginal epithelium. Ultrastructural changes of the vaginal epithelium in neonatally estrogenized mice was examined after a single postpuberal injection of 10 microng estradiol and compared with those seen in normal mice to estrogen. In ovariectomized normal mice, the basal cells were round. The nucleus was polygonal and contained peripheral condensed chromatin. After estradiol treatment, the basal cells became columnar. The nucleus was round to oval, containing dispersed chromatin. In neonatally estrogenized ovariectomized mice, the basal layer of vaginal epithelium consisted of round cells with polygonal nuclei, much as in normal ovariectomized mice. The nucleus occupied a large area of the cytoplasm and contained prominent nucleoli. Intercellular spaces were moderately distended. Late estradiol treatment resulted in distended intercellular spaces and in the appearance of the other cell type along with round cells in the basal layers: the columnar cells containing an oval nucleus with dispersed chromatin, resembled the basal cells in normal ovariectomized mice receiving postpuberal estrogen injection. The intercellular spaces between the columnar cells were narrow compared with those between round cells. However, the nuclei of round cells still had prominent nucleoli and peripheral condensed chromatin regardless of subsequent estrogen treatment. This fact suggests that these nuclei do not respond to estrogen. These results clearly show that the vaginal epithelium of neonatally estrogenized mice with ovary-independent persistent cornification consists of a mixed population of cells.


Clinical study on early changes in thyroid function of hyperthyroidism treated with propylthiouracil and a relatively small dose of iodide.

In order to compare the acute effects of three kinds of antithyroid agents of iodide (I-), propylthiouracil (PTU) and PTU combined with iodide (PTU+I-) on thyroid function in hyperthyroid patients with diffuse goiter, serum concentrations of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), T3-resin sponge uptake (T3-RU) and free thyroxine index (FT4I) were employed as thyroid function parameters. In the group given iodine (1 mg/day) as iodinated-lecithine, the initial values of T4, T3, T3-RU and FT4I were 20.9 +/- 1.6 microng/100 ml (T4), greater than 740 ng/100 ml (T3), 49.5 +/- 2.3% (T3-RU) and 14.7 +/- 1.8 (FT4I). At the end of one week of therapy, they decreased clearly to 15.6 +/- 2.2 microng/100 ml, 457 +/- 87 ng/100 ml, 42.2 +/- 4.0% and 9.7 +/- 2.4. The so-called "escape phenomenon" from iodide inhibition was observed in serum T4, T3-RU and FT4I values at the end of two weeks of iodide therapy, while serum T3 continued to decrease but the value of T3 was far outside of the normal range. In the PTU group (300 mg/day), thyroid function parameters were 22.5 +/- 0.8 microng/100 ml (T4), greater than 592 ng/100 ml (T3), 54.9 +/- 1.0% (T3-RU) and 18.7 +/- 1.0 (FT4I) before treatment. They decreased continually week by week. At the end of four-week treatment with PTU, the value of each thyroid function parameter was 11.1 +/- 1.9 microng/100 ml, 229 +/- 56 ng/100 ml, 36.6 +/- 4.4% and 5.7 +/- 1.7. In the group of hyperthyroidism simultaneously given both PTU and iodide (300 mg/PTU and 1 mg/iodine), these thyroid function parameters decreased as well as in the group treated with PTU alone for more than two weeks. More rapid or significant decrease of T4, T3, T3-RU and ft4i in PTU+I- group than in PTU group was observed in the present study. These results suggested strongly that iodide alone was not an adequate therapy for hyperthyroidism as well known and they were also compatible with the idea that the concomitant administration of PTU and iodide was more effective in the early phase of therapy of hyperthyroidism than PTU alone.


Radioimmunoassay for 11-deoxycortisol using iodine-labeled tracer.

A simple and sensitive radioimmunoassay for 11-deoxycortisol was developed. The antiserum produced in rabbits by immunizing with a complex of 11-deoxycortisol-3-oxime and bovine serum albumin (BSA) has little cross-reactivity with other endogenous steroids. The immunoassay procedure requires only one-step ethanol denaturation of binding proteins in plasma and extraction by an organic solvent can be omitted. Furthermore, use of 125I-labeled tracer significantly simplify the counting procedure. The method is sensitive enough to detect 1 microng/100 ml of 11-deoxycortisol. Plasma 11-deoxycortisol levels measured by this method after the administration of a single dose of metyrapone ranged from 5.0 to 19.2 microng/100 ml, whereas they were 0 to 4.0 microng/100 ml in hypopituitary patients. It is concluded that this simple method is useful for the routine assay of plasma 11-deoxycortisol as a parameter of the metyrapone tests.


Aims, organization, and initial studies of the Cross-National Project.

The US-UK Cross-National Project is conducting a series of trans-Atlanti comparisons of psychiatric practice and psychiatric disorders. The inital studies investigated the large US-UK cross-national differences reported in the public mental hospital statistics on adult admission rates of schizophrenia and the manic-depressive disorders. Three general strategies were adopted: (1) semi-structured interviews with hospitalized patients aged 20-59 years; (2) rating of videotapes by samples of psychiatrists; and (3) systematic examination of case records. The results showed that routine hospital diagnoses were based on differing criteria in the two countries and it was this that accounted for the reported cross-national differences in admission rates. A method of making internationally reliable diagnoses was demonstrated.


Assessment of the older psychiatric inpatient.

Instruments, whether used in psychometrics or in other fields, must have a practical application if they are to repay the care spent in their use and development. The Geriatric Mental State schedule was developed in response to the need to answer the question whether functional psychiatric disorders were being misdiagnosed as organic brain syndrome and, if so, to what extent this influenced treatment and outcome. In the hospitals studied it was found that American psychiatrists were more likely to diagnose organic brain syndrome than British psychiatrists. Although elderly patients with affective disorder were less likely to be given American patients was as good, if not better, than the outcome in the British patients.


The geriatric mental status interview (GMS).

The Geriatric Mental Status interview (GMS) is a semi-structured interview technique for assessing psychopathology in elderly patients. It is administered by a trained interviewer in a session of less than one hour. Between 100 and 200 question are asked and almost 500 items are rated. Twenty-one factor scores have been identified and the reliability of the ratings has been established. The interview is acceptable to the patient and is useful for making diagnostic distinctions and evaluation progress


Reliability of psychiatric assessment in older patients.

A number of the causes of psychiatric diagnostic disagreement are discussed in this paper. The use of the Geriatric Mental Status interview to achieve diagnostic reliability is examined in three studies in which U.S.--U.K. Cross-National Project psychiatrists rated and diagnosed thirty-two British and twenty-one American patients. There were no systematic differences between U.S. and U.K. team members in their diagnoses; and agreement on six principal diagnostic categories was achieved in about three-quarters of the cases. The reliability fo the ratings of psychopathology that formed the basis for the diagnoses was satisfactory and is reported in detail.


Distinctions between organic brain syndrome and functional psychiatric disorders: based on the geriatric mental state interview.

Discriminant function analysis was employed to study the ability of the Geriatric Mental Status interview to distinguish between patients diagnosed by the project as having an organic brain syndrome or a functional psychiatric disorder. In both New York and London, patients with organic brain syndrome scored significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than those with functional disorders on the factors of impaired memory, disorientation and incomprehensibility and significantly lower on the factors of depression and somatic concerns. Discriminant functions calculated from data on the New York and London patients separately significantly distinguished not only the patients on whom the functions were based but the patients in the other sample as well.


The usefulness of a psychological test battery.

This paper discusses the usefulness of a battery of psychological tests administered to a group of psychiatric geriatric patients in New York and London, as an assessment of cognitive impairment. Two of the tests, the Paired Associate Learning Test, and the Digit Copying Test, were highly related to the diagnosis of organic brain syndrome or functional disorder made independently by a psychiatrist in a clinical interview. Prognostic predictions in disagreement cases were no better or no worse by psychiatric diagnosis than by psychological tests. Compared to a simple clinical test of disorientation derived from the psychiatric interview, psychological tests were more highly correlated to independent measures of patients' self-care capacity and duration of hospitalization, but equally related to psychiatric diagnosis. The verbal subtest proved to be the more useful of the psychological tests given. The logistics and difficulties of administering psychological tests to this specialized population are discussed, e.g. patients' physical limitations, communication problems; as well as efforts in this study to minimize these problems.


The performance test of activities of daily living.

A structured-performance test requiring patients to demonstrate selected activities of daily living was designed to objectively measure the self-care capacity of geriatric psychiatric patients. The background, rational, usefulness, and specific administration and scoring procedures are presented. The test is simple to administer and promises to be a useful diagnostic and prognostic tool.


A measure of the fulfillment of health needs.

Female patients, sixty-five of age and over, admitted to acute medical and psychiatric wards of a municipal hospital were observed directly and unobtrusively for a three hour time period every other day during the first two weeks of hospitalization. The behaviors of the patients and of those who interacted with them were recorded and later categorized according to fifteen activities defined as representing basic health needs. Behaviors were compared according to the outcome of hospitalization, discharge, transfer to another ward or institution, or death. Differences which distinguished patients who were discharged from those who died were found in the activities of movement, comunication, and learning. Behaviors observed at different points in time during hospitalization also were compared. This study is the first step in the development of an instrument to measure the perceived satisfaction of health needs of geriatric patients in institutions.


Axial deviations of the knee with secondary arthrosis. Correction by high osteotomy of the tibia and fibula.

The authors describe a surgical technique for high tibio-fibular osteotomy used eighty seven times to correct varus or valgus deviations causing arthrosis of the knee. Osteotomy of the tibia is carried out above the tibial tuberosity. Fixation is by two nails with a compression device. This allows immediate movement of the knee, thereby preventing stiffness. After forty five days the osteotomy is usually consolidated. Of the complications, only the neuro-muscular type is of importance and the possible causes of this are discussed. The overall results are good and the technique described has proved to be effective in the treatment of mechanical arthrosis of the knee.


Surgical treatment of poliomyelitic scoliosis.

Between 1968 and 1973 forty nine patients suffering from poliomyelitic scoliosis were treated surgically at the Rizzoli Institute. They were due to asymmetrical paralysis and contracture in the muscles of the trunk and limbs. Associated pathological conditions were found, such as pelvic obliquity, and vascular and trophic changes due to ganglionic lesions. The differing incidence and combination of these factors gave rise to various clinical types of spinal deformity. The average severity of curve was 39 degrees, the localisation was predominantly central, the average extent was ten vertebrae, and there was a marked predominance of right convexity (twenty nine out of thirty six). The rate of progression was maximum during puberty and almost negligible after bony maturity. It was greater in males and was unfavourably affected by the severity and asymmetrical distribution of the paralysis, by the early appearance of the disease, by high localisation of the deformity, and by the erect posture in patients who were ambulant. The most frequent visceral complications were in the respiratory system (ten patients with a deficit over 50%), followed by cardiac changes. Surgical treatment was adopted in patients with progressive curves over 60 degrees, because of the inevitable deterioration in their general condition and the tendency of the deformity to become fixed. Pre-operative correction by Halo-traction results (52% correction) than Risser plasters (38%). Posterior arthrodesis by Harrington's method was carried out in all the more recent cases (forty four). Post-operative plaster was maintained for eight months and then replaced by an orthopaedic corset. At bony maturity there was an averaged improvement of 35% in the angle of curvature, and an average improvement of 6% in vital capacity. The best corrections were obtained in patients under fourteen (42%), in dorso-lumbar scoliosis (40%) and in patients with curves above 100 degrees (38%). There was an average increase in height of 9.1 cms and a reduction in the gibbus of 3.4 cms. The complications included one traumatic pneumothorax, eight pseudarthroses, and breakage of the distraction rod in two cases resulting in complete relapse of the deformity. In six cases the upper hooks became loos and there were two cases of postoperative staphylococcal infection. In the distally sited curves our present policy is towards combining posterior arthrodesis with Dwyer's anterior interbody fusion.


A new total knee prosthesis: the "total-condylar".

We have described the instrumentation and surgical technique of a new total knee prosthesis, the Total-Condylar, designed at the Hospital for Special Surgery (New York) and which we are the first to use in Italy. This prosthesis has evolved from the "sliding" prosthesis and seems to us to constitute a real step forward. The femoro-patellar compartment is completely substituted. The cruciate ligaments are removed, which markedly increases the possibility of correcting even severe deformities. The fixation of the tibial component is improved by the adoption of a short stem. The prosthesis has a certain intrinsic stability on weightbearing. The surgical technique is characterised by bone sections perpendicular to each other by the use of aligning instruments which simplify the operation. Our experience is just beginning (five cases) but our results so far are very encouraging and correspond to those reported in a very much larger series in the United States.


Osteofibrous dysplasia of long bones a new clinical entity.

A new clinico-pathologic entity is described. It is defined as osteofibrous dysplasia of long bones, and is based on twenty two personal observations to which are added seventeen cases from the literature. This dysplasic congenital lesion is clearly differentiated from fibrous dysplasia by clinical, radiographic and histological characteristics and by its clinical course. These features may be summarised as follows: 1) Slight predominance of the male sex. 2) Very early age of onset either at birth or in the first years of life. 3) Site almost exclusively tibial, sometimes also in the fibula. Localisation predominantly in the middle third of the tibial diaphysis, but sometimes in the distal or proximal third. In the fibula, it is always at the distal third. 4) The lesion is painless and generally causes bony enlargement. There is often slight anterior bowling and more rarely, slight varus of valgus bowing. Pathological fracture may occur; rarely there is a pseudarthrosis. 5) The radiographic appearances are very characteristic, with enlargement of the bone, intracortical osteolytic lesions with thinning or disappearance of the external cortex, sclerotic reaction on the medullary aspect, and narrowing of the medullary canal. 6) The histological features are also typical, consisting of fibrous tissue enclosing bone trabeculae lined by osteoblasts and a "zonal" architectural pattern. 7) Sometimes the lesion tends to heal spontaneously in the very early years of life; in other cases it is moderatley progressive. It relapses frequently after curettage, but such recurrences are generally non-progressive. In some cases slight anterior bowing persists permanently. 8) Surgery should be restricted to patients over the age of five in whom the lesion is extensive, with imminent or actual pathological fracture, and to the rare cases of pseudarthrosis. The results are good even in cases of relapse or pseudarthrosis. The correction of residual bowing, if indicated, can safely be carried out with one or more osteotomies at the age of ten to twelve years.


Gluteal fibrosis.

After reviewing the literature the authors discuss the aetiology and pathogenesis of gluteal fibrosis. We believe that the condition occurs more frequently than is thought. If this is borne in mind when dealing with children from four to six years old, presenting with abnormal gaits, an early diagnosis can be made. As regards treatment, we agree with those authors who maintain that if diagnosed early the lesion can be treated successfully by physiotherapy alone. In more advanced cases, Z lengthening of the tendon is indicated.


Respiratory function in severe scoliosis before and after treatment (a review of 76 cases).

The authors carried out a study of respiratory function in seventy six patients suffering from severe scoliosis of different types; forty five idiopathic, sixteen poliemyelitic, ten congenital, and five neurofibromatosic. The age incidence was from a minimum of eleven years to a maximum of thirty three, with the average around fifteen years. The site of the deformity was predominantly dorsal (fifty cases), though there were also lumbar and dorso-lumbar types. The average angle of curvature (Cobb) before treatment was 110 degrees. Arthrodesis by the Harrington technique was carried out on all patients after correction with a Risser-type plaster in sixty nine cases, and Halo-traction in seven cases. The post operative period in plaster was about eight months. Spirometric tests were carried out before treatment, after preoperative correction, and two to three years after operation, always with the chest out of plaster. The results of these tests are expressed as percentage reductions in the maximum ventilation compared with the average normal values in the tables reported by Baldwin et al. (1948). The values obtained before commencing treatment showed that lumbar scoliosis even if very severe, never leads to severe respiratory deficits. There is no linear relationship between the severity of the curve and the respiratory deficit, though there is a general connection between them. Tests of respiratory function were carried out after corrective treatment, both before and after operation and at a two year follow up. There was an overall average improvement of 10% in the respiratory deficit, with a maximum of about 20% in a group of twenty two patients with the most severe deficit before commencing treatment. Follow-up three years after operation showed the improvement in respiratory fimction had been maintained. The authors conclude that arthrodesis by the Harrington technique does not diminish the respiratory gain achieved by pre-operative correction. On the contrary, it stabilises it and maintains it over the three year follow-up period of the present survey.


Reappraisal of the treatment of fractures of the calcaneus involving the subtalar joint.

From our findings it appears that no one method of treatment is infallible and that functional and anatomical restitutio ad integrum of the fractured heel cannot be obtained. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages and these are not only inherent in the method itself, but also depend on how it is applied. The treatment must be chosen according to the lesion and cannot be standardised because of the variable and complex nature of these fractures. Other factors to be considered are whether it is bilateral, whether there are multiple injuries, and the general condition of the patient etc. In fractures with depressions of the mixed horizontal type the Stulz method of treatment seems to be the best.


Classification and treatment of intercondyloid fractures of the humerus.

The authors describe the satisfactory results obtained in sixteen intercondyloid fractures of the humerus, thirteen of which were treated surgically. The preference for surgical treatment in such fractures is based in the assumption that, as in all articular fractures, a good functional result can only be achieved if there is the most perfect possible reconstruction of the fragments and the joint surface. A classification is therefore suggested which is based not purely on anatomical criteria, but is also related to treatment and prognosis. The slendor nature of the distal end of the humerus and the danger of metal reaction call for the use of fixation devices that are efficient but slender, such as fine screws and crossed wires. The precise method of fixation is conditioned above all by the direction of the fracture lines. More solid fixation with early mobilisation can be achieved by compression screws, and less solid fixation with longer immobilisation is achieved by fixation with crossed Kirschner wires. Consequently, the more oblique types of fracture with fragments with long beaks that allow more stable fixation with compression screws have the more favourable prognosis. In the evaluation of results, the authors emphasize the importance of using parameters which take into account the functionally useful range of joint movement.


Intraosseus lipoma.

The authors present a case of intraosseus lipoma seen at the Orthopaedic Clinic of the University of Bari, bringing the total in the world literature to thirty cases. The tumour is a benign primary neoplasm of bone, made up of mature adipose tissue containing atrophic bone trabeculae. This affection is a definite entity quite distinct from parosteal lipomas arising in periosteum, fasciae and muscles which only affect the bone secondarily by compression or direct invasion. Emphasizing the extreme rarity of the tumour, the authors discuss its clinical, radiological, anatomical and pathological features. The differential diagnosis is with certain dysplasic and neoplastic lesions of bone such as: bone cyst, non-ossifying fibroma, aneurismal cyst, monostotic fibrous dysplasia, and solitary myeloma. Complete removal is followed by cure.


Use of an ultrasonic blood flow monitor for determining fetal viability in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). A preliminary study.

Ultrasonic stethoscopy proved to be a reliable and convenient technique for determing fetal viability in Macaca mulatta. Examinations, begun at day 150 of gestation in 33 monkeys and between days 32 and 58 in four other animals, were repeated at intervals of one to seven days. The earliest time of detecting blood flow in the fetal placenta was 42 days of gestation, fetal heart sounds geing discerned later. Three types of fetal cardiac rhythms were recognized: (1) a constant rate during most of pregnancy, (2) fluctuations associated with uterine contractions during labor, and (3) sudden transient bradycardia during violent rotations of the cephalically presented fetus.


Antenal sex determination using amniotic fluid of the baboon (Papio sp.).

Antenatal determination of sex in the baboon was performed by evaluating the percentage of sex chromatin bodies present in the epithelial cells of amniotic fluid obtained during or immediately following cesarean section. Female sex chromatin patterns revealed a mean of 39.2% positive sex chromatin; the mean in males was less than 5%. This procedure is accurate and simple to perform.


Nature and origin of patterns of changes in cell shape in embryos.

Spatial patterns of the future elongation of cells exist in the early embryo. In the newt, such a pattern of changes of cell shape contributes to the formation of the neural plate. Regardless of where neural plate cells are transplanted, they change shape as prescribed by the pattern. Embryonic induction has a role in establishing this pattern.


Surface architecture of the plant cell: biogenesis of the cell wall, with special emphasis on the role of the plasma membrane in cellulose biosynthesis.

Cell wall structure and biogenesis in the unicellular green alga, Oocystis apiculata, is described. The wall consists of an outer amorphous primary layer and an inner secondary layer of highly organized cellulosic microfibrils. The primary wall is deposited immediately after cytokinesis. Golgi-derived products contribute to this layer. Cortical microtubules underlie the plasma membrane immediately before and during primary wall formation. They function in maintaining the elliptical cell shape. Following primary wall synthesis, Golgi-derived materials accumulate on the cell surface to form the periplasmic layer. This layer functions in the deposition of coating and cross-linking substances which associate with cellulosic microfibrils of the incipient secondary wall. Secondary wall microfibrils are assembled in association with the plasma membrane. Freeze-etch preparations of untreated, living cells reveal linear terminal complexes in association with growing cellulosic microfibrils. These complexes are embedded in the EF fracture face of the plasma membrane. The newly synthesized microfibril lies in a groove of the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane. The groove is decorated on the EF fracture face by perpendicular structures termed "ridges". The ridges interlink with definitive rows of particles associated withe PF fracture face of the innter leaflet of the plasma membrane. These particles are termed "granule bands", and they function in the orientation of the newly synthesized microfibrils. Microfibril development in relation to a coordinated multienzyme complex is discussed. The process of cell wall biogenesis in Oocystis is compared to that in higher plants.


Interactions of neurotoxins with the action potential NA + ionophore.

Four neurotoxins that activate the action potential Na+ionophore of electrically excitable neuroblastoma cells interact with two distinct classes of sites, one specific for the alkaloids veratridine, batrachotoxin, and aconitine, and the second specific for scorpion toxin. Positive heterotropic cooperativity is observed between toxins bound at these two classes of sites. Tetrodotoxin, a specific inhibitor of the action potential Na+ current, inhibits activation by each of these toxins in a noncompetitive manner (KI=4-8 nM). These results suggest the existence of three functionally separable components of the action potential Na+ionophore: two regulatory components which bind activating neurotoxins and interact allosterically in controlling the activity of a third ion-transport component, which binds tetrodotoxin. The dissociation constant for scorpion toxin binding is increased 10-fold by depolarization of the cells with K+, suggesting that the scorpion toxin binding site is located on a voltage-sensitive regulatory component of the ionophore.


Interaction of charged lipid vesicles with planar bilayer lipid membranes: detection by antibiotic membrane probes.

A technique has been developed for monitoring the interaction of charged phospholipid vesicles with planar bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) by use of the antibiotics Valinomycin, Nonactin, and Monazomycin as surface-charge probes. Anionic phosphatidylserine vesicles, when added to one aqueous compartment of a BLM, are shown to impart negative surface charge to zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine bilayers. The surface charge is distributed asymmetrically, mainly on the vesicular side of the BLM, and is not removed by exchange of the vesicular aqueous solution. Possible mechanisms for the vesicle-BLM interactions are  discussed.


Clinical uses of frozen-thawed erythrocytes in pediatrics.

Frozen red cells have a definite place in the mangement of a transfusion service even if one does not include its originally intended use -- inventory control. Undoubtedly, the benefits achieved from frozen red cells can be accomplished in less expensive ways. However the growth in transsplantion and intensive chemotherapy with its concommiatant uses of granulocyte and platelet support predict a greater upsurge in the use of frozen red cells in the very near future.


Comparative cytogenetic and cytologic study in malignant lymphomas.

The possibility of a cytogenetic-cytologic correlation with implications in the diagnosis, evolutivity and prognosis of malignant lymphomas was studied. Cytogenetic investigations were carried out comparatively in the lymph node and spleen lymphoid cells from 25 patients with malignant lymphomas and in normal subjects or patients with malignant tumors. The dominant malignant cellular type was found to correspond genotypically to the abnormal clone. In lymphomas with more differentiated cells the chormosomal abnormalities were limited to a single chromosomal group, while in those with less differentiated cells there were many clonal chromozomal abnormalities. The pathogenic significance of an extra-chromosome in the C-group (observed in most of the cases) is discussed.


Results obtained with the weight reducing regimens by varying the dietary caloric values.

Eleven grossely obese females were placed successively on a 4 day total fasting diet, a 4-5 day hypocaloric diet of 220 calories consisting exclusively of proteins and finally a 450 mixed calorie diet consisting of 15 g carbohydrates, 30 g proteins and 30 g lipids. At the beginning of the study and at the end of every dietary period, the weight free fatty acids, plasma glycerol, insulinemia, and growth hormone were measured and estimated. The nonsignificant changes of the biologic parameters investigated have led the authors to the conclusion that the 450 mixed calorie diet suggested by them is more favourable being better accepted by the patients and therefore more easy to maintain for a longer period of time even by out patients.


Angiotensin II. Vascular reactivity and humoral effects.

The vasopressor response to angiotensin II was found useful in the differential diagnosis of arterial hypertension and for a better understanding of its pathogenesis. Sodium supply was proved to influence significantly the pressor response to angiotensin II and not that to noradrenaline thus implying the presence of arterial receptors which bind angiotensin specifically. Angiotensin caused an increase of the urinary excretion of electrolytes in hypertensive patients and a decreased electrolyte excretion in normotensives. In most hypertensive patients angiotensin was found to decrease the plasma angiotensinogen and to activate the bradykinin-bradykininogen and fibrinolytic systems. In the presence of urinary infection angiotensin increased the platelet adhesiveness and the thrombelastographic changes proved that in this condition angiotensin increases the tendency to thrombosis.


Is rehabilitation of patients with chronic bronchial asthma possible.

Based on his own experience and on the data in the literature the author considers that rehabilitation of adults with chronic bronchial asthma is possible at any stage of disease if there are no complications or morbid associations to prevent it. Rehabilitation of chronic asthmatic patients requires the close collaboration of several specialists such as allergologists, chest physicians, psychologists, physical therapists, balneologists, etc. Rehabilitation in asthmatic patients may only be considered successful if they resume full-time work (in case they had been in receipt of compensation), if the medical leaves are fewer and shorter and if the drug therapy is reduced or null. The author considers that since bronchial asthma in the whole population of Romania has an incidence of 2.3-2.9% rehabilitation, though costly and sometimes "desperate", is still worth while trying for its medical, economical and psychological implications.


Breathlessness and blood oxygen tension in patients with chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

The dyspnea grade (MRC scale) was confronted with the arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) measured at rest in a group of 51 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease with moderate or severe impairment of ventilatory function (FEV 1.0 less than 1.5 1). For the group as a whole no correlation was found, but in the "bronchitic" subgroup (clinical-roentgenologic and biologic criteria) a tendency of PaO2 to decrease with the increase in dyspnea severity was apparent. The linear correlation coefficient did not attain the significance threshold owing to the limited number of observations (r = 0.46; p greater than 0.05).


Transfer factor for the lung, airway obstruction and hyperinflation in chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

The interrelationships of breath holding lung transfer factor (TCO) and transfer coefficient (KCO) with ventilatory obstruction (FEV1.0) and FEV1.0/VC) and hyperinflation (RV and RV/TLC) were studied in 37 patients with chronic nonspecific lung disease with a FEV1.0 of 1.5 litre or less classified as "bronchitic", "emphysematous" or "intermediate" according to Nash, Briscoe and Cournand (1965). No relationships could be found between TCO and airway obstruction or hyperinflation. KCO tended to decrease as RV increased (r=-0.26) and was weakly related to the FEV1.0/VC ratio in "intermediate" (r=0.34) and "emphysema" (r=0.29) patients but these relationships were nonsignificant.


Spontaneous aorta and coronary lesions in mountain mammals. I. The Carpathian deer (Cervus elaphus).

Arterial lesions were investigated in 48 adult wild Carpathian deers (Cervus elaphus). Aortas from 36 animals and fragments from the main coronary trunks of all the animals were studied histologically and histochemically. In 44.4% of the animals the specimens studied presented gross intimal lesions in the aorta consisting histologically of fibrous plaques (especially situated in the thoracic segment) and/or intimal musculo-elastic thickenings with lipid deposits or fatty streaks (especially in the abdominal segments). In only 5 of the 48 animals the coronary arteries presented slight intimal thickenings, free of lipids. The results obtained are discussed in relation with the possible effect of natural nutrition.


The monophasic action potentials of the intact canine heart.

Monophasic action potentials were recorded in 7 mongrel dogs, endocavitarily, from heart in situ and from the epicardial surface with open chest thus revealing the characteristic configuration of the different chambers. The duration of the monophasic action potential showed a good correlation with the cycle length, demonstrated during endocavitary electrostimulation.


Disturbances of cellular immunity in rheumatic fever.

The alteration of cellular reactivity was investigated in 20 patients with rheumatic fever at the first rheumatic attack or in relapse with confirmed heart damage. The results obtained by studying in parallel ESR, the ASLO titer, IDR to streptococci and the degree of leukocyte migration inhibition proved that the onset of rheumatic attack was preceded by a deep disturbance of the cellular immunity. The migration inhibition values were between 50 and 60% (as compared with 10% in the normal controls) in over 85% of the patients investigated. It is emphasized that the selection of cases of streptococcal angina should be made very carefully and that sometimes it is necessary to use a more specific method for the detection of rheumatic fever in its preclinical stage.


Electrocardiographic diagnosis of experimentally-induced myocardial infarction during cardiac electrostimulation.

The sequential ECG changes were studied by the Sodi-Pallares' method in 10 dogs before and after experimentally induced myocardial infarction of the left ventricle during right and left artificial stimulation. Right ventricular endocardial stimulation produced patterns of left bundle branch block in 9 dogs and of right bundle branch block in one, while left ventricular stimulation caused right bundle branche block patterns in 9 animals. Records during right ventricular stimulation after myocardial infarction showed in the peripheral leads myocardial necrosis only in two animals, while in the epicardial leads necrosis was certain in 2 animals (Q wave) probable in 6 (S-T segment elevation) and suggestive in 2 (T wave negativity). Myocardial necrosis during left ventricular stimulation was evident in the peripheral leads in 2 animals, probable in 6 and suggestive in one. The experimental data suggest that myocardial necrosis can be diagnosed in some cases during right and left ventricular artificial stimulation.


[Isolation of carotenoid-containing subcellular structures from mollusk nerve tissue].

A subcellular fraction with a high share of carotenoids (about 150 mkg/mg of protein) was obtained from the nerve tissue of Lymnaea stagnalis, the fractionation being made by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The quantity of carotenoids extracted from fractions was estimated spectrophotometrically. The electron microscope observations demonstrated the presence of structures analogous to fraction components in the mollusc neurones and similar to some kinds of plant chromplasts (carotenoidplasts).


[Disruption of myofibrils during spreading degeneration. I. Increased Ca2+ concentration].

The breakdown of sarcomeres of frog's twitch skeletal muscles during Zenker's (spreading) degeneration has been studied. The speed of propagation of the destruction process was accelerated by increasing CaCl2 concentration in Ringer's solution up to 8mM. An hour after local injury, the fibres were fixed just before separation of the next retraction clot or at the stage of granular destruction (Fig. 1). The dominating features of the ultrastructure of a fibre at the necrotic boundary are the coagulation of small bundles of supercontracted myofibrils and breakdown of uncontracted sarcomeres into separate A- and I-bands and then into small bundles of A- and I-protofibrils (Fig. 2,3). The same breakdown of sarcomers is observed in several small regions at a distance of about 100 micron from the necrotic boundary (Fig. 5). Besides this, fusion of a few myofibrils followed by the disappearence of M- and Z-bands occurs in the same region of the fibre (Fig. 4, 6). The diameter of the majority of myofibrils decreases towards the necrotic boundary due to longitudinal splitting and loss of peripheral protofibrils, presumably, as a result of lysis (Fig. 7).


[Modeling changes in the muscle fiber T-system during direct current flow].

Quantitative calculations of the dynamics of changes in K+, Na+, and Cl- concentrations in the T-system (TS) with changeable volume have been made using the computer "Dniepr-24". It was assumed that the current is transferred throught the TS membrane by K+ and in the lumen of the TS by K+, Na+ and Cl- ions in accordance with their mobilities and concentrations. The model predicts the accumulation of salt and water in the TS at the site of outgoing current. The swelling of TS due to DC effect according to the model was found to be about 9 and 18% for the current densities of 0.39 X 10(-8) a- cm-2 and 2.34 X 10(-8) a-cm-2, resp. The model shows that changes in the ion concentration and in the TS volume with current densities used experimentally reach a steady-state level. The increase of the current by almost 4 times, according to the model, suggests some disturbance in the steady-state and in the TS swelling comparable with experimental observations of vacuole formation.


[Effect of weak doses of ethyl alcohol on the resistance of the frog sartorius to injurious concentrations of that substance].

A study was made of the effect of preliminary maintenance of m. sartorius of the grass frog in 0.87 M and 1.09 M ethyl alcohol on their resistance to 3.48 M ethyl alcohol. The maintenance of muscle tissue in 0.87 M and 1.09 M ethyl alcohol for periods, ranging from 15 min. to 2 hours, in different series of experiments led to the increase in its resistance to 3.48 M alcohol by 11--24% as compared with the initial one. The value of increase in resistance depended on the concentration of the agent studied, the duration of maintenance, and of the season. A study of non-specificity of the adaptive effect of low alcohol decreased their resistance to 0.12 M NaF by 33.3% (P less than 0.05) The same concentration of ethyl alcohol applied for periods from 15 mintes to 2 hours either caused no change or decreased significantly the resistance of muscle tissue to the temperature 36 degrees C. This effect of decrease in resistance was even more significant when the resistance to 38 degrees C was challenged. The range of individual variability of resistance of muscles to 3.48 M alcohol and 36 degrees showns that its values in the control and in the experiment are similar.


[Ovum lipids of placental mammals].

Morphocytochemical peculiarities of lipids from oocytes of some mammals and man were studied. The human oocytes, according to the structure and content of yolk, bear a close relation to a hare and a rabbit much differing from gametes of predatory animals (dog, cat), artiodactyla (sow), rodents (golden hamster). By thin layer chromatography on silicagel, a detailed lipid composition was established in the rabbit's oocytes, with neutral lipid and phospholipids (kefalin, lecitin, sfingomyelin) dominating. In addition, cholesterin was found.


[DNA synthesis and mitotic activity in cells of regenerating rat liver following x-irradiation in stages GO and Gl].

Effect of X-rays on DNA synthesis and mitotic activity of regenerating liver cells has been studied. The irradiation was performed at a dose of 630 rad before hepatectomy and 2.5 and 6 hours after the stimulation of liver. With the stimulated liver being irradiated, the number of cells synthetizing DNA and entering into mitosis was seen reduced almost twice, whereas DNA synthesis and entering into mitosis were delayed, resp., by 4 and 6 hours. Irradiation of liver before the stimulation brings about a delay in DNA synthesis and in start of mitosis by 2 and 4 hours, resp., without reducing the numbers of cells capable to synthesize DNA and to enter mitosis.


[Mechanism of functional adaptation of intestinal epithelial cells].

Using preparations of exogenous DNA and products of its in complete degradation, the causes leading to the compensatory changes of the share of membrane hydrolysus in the total invertase activity of the irradiated rat's intestinal epithelial were analysed experimentally. It is shown that the factor stimulating the enzyme redistribution towards the brush border zone is not the amount of mature villous cells, but the level of mitotic activity in crypts.


[Metabolic features of the liver and spleen and antibody formation in animals following hyperimmunization with viral antigens].

Hyperimmunization with the tick encephalitis and Western horse encephalomyelitis viruses reproduced in the brain of albino mice, intensified the protein synthesis in the splenic tissue during the productive phase of the immunogenesis (the 7th day). An accumalation of protein, activation of aniuno-acyl-t-RNA-ligases, a reduction of the concehtration of some amino acids was noted, An analogous reaction was distinct in the tissue of the liver only when an intact brain suspension was used as an antigen. Formation of specific antibodies coursed more intensively after the administration of a more pathogenic virusof Western equine encephalomyelitis.


[Several physiologic features of the body and their role in the process of vaccination against measles].

The work was carried out under conditions of mass measles immunization at the polyclincs of Moscow and Dushanbe. The role of the macroorganism at the time of vaccination on the measles vaccination process was investigated. A thorough study of the anamnesis, its allergic predisposition was conducted; blood and C-RB were examined, and the content of serum immunoglobulins was determined by Macini's method. The results obtained pointed to the insufficiently complete detection of children with an altered reactivity by a simple examination by the physician alone. It was revealed that children suffering from various forms of allergy having in the anamnesis hypotrophy rickets and frequent acute respiratory diseases and chronic foci of infections had decreased indice of nonsecific immunological reactivity even at the period of clinical well-being, and could be detected only by means of laboratory methods of study. To the administration of measles vaccine such children responded not only by the development of clinical reactions of different intensity, but also by a significant reduction of antibody formation. All the aforesaid indicates a necessity of further study of the mechanism of establishment of postvaccinal measles immunity with consideration to the individual reactivity of the child organism.


[Role of the lysozyme-like enzyme of staphylococci in their pathogenicity].

Observations of the authors of the present work permit to put forward the following suppositions on the biological significance of the lysozyme sign included into the number of sign-of the staphylococcus pathogenicity: 1) the action of the lysozyme-like enzyme (LLE) as a facs for increasing the permeability of the cell wall and thus promoting the exit of the "pathogenicity enzymes"; 2) its participation in the growth and division of staphylococci, pointing to the differences in the rate of the growth of the cultures forming and nonforming the LLE; 3) participation of the LLE in the microbial antagonism processes--crude LLE (in the form of lipoproteid complex) stipulated the antimicrobial effect against a number of nonpathogenic microbes. None of these hypotheses can be accepted without further investigations, particularly with the purified enzyme.


[Production of extracellular plasmocoagulase in staphylococcus aureus exposed to 3,6-diaminoacridines].

A modified quantitative nephelometric method was used. It was shown that production of extracellular plasmocoagulase was depressed in the development of acridine-sensitive and acridine-resistant cultures of Staph. aureus in the fluid nutrient medium containing 3,6-diaminoacridines: acriflavine, proflavine, acridine yellow, acridine orange, acridine No. 40 and acridine No. 56; 3,6-diaminoacridines failed to lead to noncompetitive inhibition of staphylococcus plasmocoagulase. A disturbance of the regulation of the enzyme exit into the external environment can serve as the cause of depression of the extracellular plasmocoagulase production by Staph. aureus.


[Histopathology and histochemistry of a focus of staphylococcal infection in a sensitized body (material concerning pathogenesis)].

Rabbits were sensitized with a killed St. aureus culture (alpha-toxigenic 0-15 strain); one week later the  were infected intradermally with a virulent leukocidin-active St. aureus V8 or with the 0-15 strain. A hyperegic inflammation with the signs of reaction observed in hypersensitivity of delayed type was revealed at the site of infection in 24 hours. On the seond day this process was supervened by an intensive leukocytic infiltration characteristic of this infection, with the subsequent suppuration. Beginning from the earliest stages of the process and up to its decline the inflammatory exudate displayed hyaluronic and sialic acids; they could perform functions of the nonspecific immunity factors in the focus. It was revealed at the terminal stage of the process that the organism did not react by the inflammatory reaction to the presence of the microbes remaining near the focus. Consequently, the tolerance of the organism to the microbe was revealed; this tolerance was possibly conditioned by the presence of sialic acids in the focus. Leukocytes with the phagocytized microbes appeared in the veins nearest to the focus. Histochemical shifts in the focus can be the cause of the incompleteness of phagocytosis. The tropism of staphylococci of the V8 strain to the collagen fibers was revealed.


[Experimental cholera in guinea pigs. II. Pathogenesis of experimental infection].

It was found by bacteriological, anatomo-pathological and histological studies that intrapulmonary administration to guinea pigs of a suspension of the cholera causative agent containing colloidal substances (peptone, gelatine, agar-agar) caused primary reproduction of vibrios in the pulmonary tissue and the pleural exudate. From the lungs the microbes penetrated by hematogenic route into the liver and the bile system and with the flow of the infected bile entered the small intestine. Intestinal affection by the type of specific enteritis developed as a result of intensive vibrio reproduction in the submucous layer.


[Long-term survival of E1 Tor cholera vibrios in naturally contaminated sewage].

El Tor cholera vibrios of Ogava serological type were revealed in the sewage of the locomotive shed for 15 months. In experiment with an oil catcher in naturally infected sewage El Tor vibrios survived 36 days, in storage of this sewage at the laboratory--39 days, in the artificially infected sewage of a settlement and of a milk plant--2 and 11 days, respectively, in the oil and disel fuel--14 months. Consequently, El Tor vibrio can survive in the sewage with a high oil product content for a long time.


[Phage typing of cholera vibrios with different sets of phages].

A comparative study was made of two sets of Mukerjee and Drozhevkina-Arutyunova's bacteriophages in typing 514 strains of the El Tor vibrios and 45 strains of clasic biotype. It was shown that the Mukerjee or Drozhevkina-Arutyunova's phages could be used for the typing of cholera vibrios. The phages of the latter set prove to detect more phage types (18 against 11); they determine both the phage type and the biotype at the same time. The typing of cholera vibrios of both biotypes is possible, and the percentage of nontyping strains left is comparatively low (5.2 against 23.5 after Mukerjee). A table of the phage correspondence was made; it permits to obtain comparable data in using any set of the typing phages.


[Synthesis of messenger-like RNA in plasma cels producing different clases of immunoglobulins].

Electrophoretic analysis of the nuclear poly A RNA cells of the MOPC 21, MOPC 406 and MOPC 41 plasmocytomas demonstrated a similarity in their distribution by the mol wt. Kinetics of the label accumulation in the nuclear poly A RNA of different plasma cells was unitypical. Individual peculiarities of the distribution of the cytoplasmic poly A RNA were expressed for each individual line of the myeloma cells. The majority of the molecules of the heterogenous RNA in the plasma cells were subjected to posttranscription polyadenylation.


[Relationship between blocking the erythrocyte surface and the quantity of IgG molecules bound in the process of hemosensitization].

Under different conditions of the IgG-sensitization of the tannin-treated erythrocytes a determination was made of the degree of blocking the cell surface. There was shown a reverse relationship between the amount of the bound IgG molecules and their portions bound by the surface with the maximal cross-section. Fixation of the IgG by means of CH2O at the end of sensitization led to the additional blocking of the erythrocyte surface. The limit of the erythrocyte saturation with the IgG molecules was controlled by the greatest possible density of the globulin molecules localization.


[Reactogenicity and immunologic effectiveness of cholerogen-anatoxin. Feasibility of revaccination with cholerogen-anatoxin, determination of optimal doses and times for administration].

The authors discussed the results of study of the titre of vibration antibodies and antitoxins one, three and five months after the vaccination of adults with an optimal vaccination dose of cholerogen toxoid (24OO BU). Comparison of the immunological information obtained at the above mentioned periods showed the expediency of revaccination three months after the vaccination. Immunogenicity of the three doses of the cholerogen-toxoid tested (1200, 2400, 3600 BU) displayed no statistically significant difference in revaccination. Taking into consideration that the least reactogenic dose was 1200 BU this dose is recommended as the optimal revaccination dose for adults.


Participation of the thymus in the mechanism of bacterial discharge in carriers of typhoid bacteria.

Typhoid carrier state was reproduced in 54 rabbits by the injection of typhoid bacilli into the bone marrow of the femoral bone. The animals were divided into 3 groups. Those in the 1st and 2nd group were hydrocortisone and ATC before the infection, respectively, whereas the 3rd group served as control. The data obtained pointed to the great incidence of prolonged persistence of typhoid bacilli in the bone marrow. A much greater vital disharge of the causative agent with the feces was noted in the animals which before the infection were given hydrocortisone and ATC preparations depressing the functional activity of the thymus. In the second experimental series it was shown that ATC administration to rabbits on the 85th day after their intraosseous infection with typhoid bacilli promoted vital discharge of the causative agent with the feces. Problem of participation of the thymus in the mechanism of bacterial discharge in the carriers of typhoid bacilli are discussed.


A simple, cheap, effective and safe procedure for general anesthesia.

A simplified, safe and flexible technique of anesthesia, based on a limited number of relatively cheap drugs, and allowing ventilation with air, was applied to 60 patients undergoing operations of at least 60 minutes' duration. The required depth of hypnosis was produced by intravenous diazepam or gamma-OH, whilst droperidol and fentanyl provided a satisfactory degree of sedation and analgesia. Pancuronium bromide was used for muscle relaxation. Spontaneous respiration was resumed immediately after postoperative use of nalorphine and neostigmine. The anesthetic course was smooth and predictable, with cardiovascular stability and an uneventful postoperative recovery. Emphasis is laid on the suitability of this procedure on the Battle Field or in Developing Countries, and on its safety (no toxic volatile liquids). (Acta anaesth. belg., 1976, 27, 25-34).


Central anticholinergic syndrome in anesthetic practice.

Anticholinergic agents may lead to a syndrome described by Longo as the Central Anticholinergic Syndrome (CAS). Patients with this syndrome exhibit one or more of the following: though impairement, disturbance of recent memory, hallucinations, ataxia, excitement, drowsiness of coma. We have reviewed our use of anticholinergics and tried to correlate it with the occurrence of the above symptomatology and have treated 200 cases in which the CAS was diagnosed with physostigmine salicylate (0.04 mg/kg). We also successfully treated 2 cases of apparently central anticholinergic hyperpyrexia in the same way. We would suggest that physostigmine be included in the armamentarium of every anesthetist to combat anticholinergic poisoning by the wide range of presently used anticholinergic drugs. (Act anaesth. belg., 1976, 27, 45-60).


[Genetic study of mani-depressive psychoses].

The aim of the present work is to investigate the heredity of manic-depressive syndromes, in particular to test the hypothesis of a dominant X-linked transmission in these disorders. The Maximum Likelihood Estimate method was applied to linkage analysis between several X-linked genetic markers and bipolar manic-depressive illness, as well as to a control population of unipolar depressive patients. The genetic markers studied were deuteranopia and protanopia (two X-linked recessive markers) and the Xg blood group (X-linked dominant marker). The sampling methods were identical for both groups of patients and the family studies were performed "blind" (i,e. without knowledge of the proband's diagnosis). The results demonstrate the presence of strong linkage between manic-depressive (bipolar) illness, deuteranopia and protanopia. Linkage (although less strong) was also shown for bipolar illness and the Xg blood group. The genetic data are based on mathematical analysis of 36 informative kindreds ascertained from a sample of 134 manic-depressive patients. The results are concordant and demonstrate that, in this sample, manic-depressive (biopolar) psychosis is genetically transmitted through a X-linked dominant factor. We have also demonstrated the absence of linkage between unipolar depressive illness and the studied genetic markers in 16 informative kndreds ascertained from a sample of 71 unipolar patients. The genetic analyses described in this study demonstrate the existence of a manic-depressive syndrome which phenotype is dominant and determined by a gene located on the short arm of the Xchromosome. Apart from some forms of mental deficiency, manic-depressive psychosis represents the first known instance of a mendelian heredity machanism in psychiatric disorder;


Respiratory neurons of the ventral respiratory nucleus of the rabbit and their vagal connections.

The pattern of firing and responses to electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral vagus nerve were studied in respiratory neurons near the nucleus ambiguus (NA) in the region called "ventral respiratory nucleus". In 41 (out of 77) respiratory neurons orthodromic responses were recorded; the remaining neurons did not respond to stimulation. It is concluded that the NA neurons of the rabbit are not laryngeal motoneurons. Moreover, the short-latency excitatory response of some of these neurons, and long-latency inhibition of the other, suggest that NA neurons may be involved in the processing of vagal information.


Significance of cranial circulation for the brain homeothermia in rabbits. I. The brain-arterial blood temperature gradient.

The hypothalamic-arterial blood temperature gradient (THpr-TAC difference) was studied on 10 freely moving rabbits at ambient temperatures between 0 and 42 degrees Celsius. In cold environment, below 10 degrees Celsius the THpt-TAC gradient varied considerably, but some distinct correlations were found between vasomotor responses of the nasal mucosa and fluctuations of brain temperature, as well as between vasomotor responses of the ear pinnas and changes of the arterial blood temperature. Vasodilatation of the nasal mucosa or the ear pinna caused respectively a drop in brain temperature or in arterial blood temperature. Opposite changes were induced by vasoconstriction in those areas. Variations in THpt-TAC gradient resulted from oppositely directed vasomotor responses in the nasal mucosa and in the ear pinnas. At high ambient temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius thermal panting was accompanied by selective brain cooling with respect to the arterial blood. Blocking the heat loss from the nasal mucosa caused an increase of the THpt-TAC difference, and under these conditions brain temperature was determined solely by arterial blood temperature. The assumed mechanism of the selective brain cooling in rabbits is the exchange of heat through the neurocranial bottom, between the ventral brain and the spacious splanchnocranial venous lakes supplied with blood from the nasal mucosa.


Significance of cranial circulation for the brain homeothermia in rabbits. II. The role of the cranial venous lakes in the defence against hyperthermia.

Chronic experiments were conducted on five freely moving rabbits at ambient temperatures of 0-42 degrees Celsius. The influence of nasal mucosal thermal changes on the venous blood temperature inside the pterygoid plexus and on the temperatures at three intracerebral sites were investigated against the background of the carotid arterial blood temperature shifts. A correlation was found between: (i) the fluctuations in the nasal mucosal temperature reflecting its vasomotor responses, (ii) temperature shifts of the pterygoid plexus venous blood, and (iii) of the ventral brain. Mucosal vasodilatation caused parallel drops in both the plexal blood and brain temperatures. However, mucosal vasoconstriction was accompanied by increases in temperatures at those sites. Intracranial thermal shifts were independent of the arterial blood temperature changes. During motor activity in normothermia nasal mucosal vasoconstriction was present, and in that case brain temperatures exceeded arterial blood temperature. During rest, mucosal vasodilatation appeared and brain base cooled below the arterial blood temperature. During panting in dry heat, the brain base was cooler than the arterial blood by as much as 0.5 degree Celsius. The intensity of the selective brain cooling was directly proportional to deep body temperature. The blockade of the respiratory evaporation in heat elicited an increase of the plexal venous blood as well as brain temperatures above the arterial blood temperature. We conclude that the venous blood outflowing from the nasal mucosa exerts a cooling influence on the brain through the pterygoid plexus.


Electrical stimulation of the hippocampus and acquisition of the conditioned avoidance response in shuttle-box in cats.

The effects of electrical stimulation and electrolytic lesions of the posterior part of the hippocampus on acquisition of the active avoidance response (AAR) in shuttle-box were studied in 35 cats. Both weak or strong hippocampal stimulation applied simultaneously with conditioned stimulus (CS) facilitated the acquisition of AAR. After discontinuation of stimulation the level of AAR performance in response to CS alone decreased in cats trained with the use of strong stimulation. However, if the stimulation was applied before each experimental session the level of AAR performance did not differ from that observed during the final phase of training. These changes of AAR were not observed in cats trained with the use of weak stimulation. The application of hippocampal stimulation alone did not evoke AAR in shuttle-box after training independently of stimulation parameters. There were no differences in the speed of AAR acquisition between unoperated cats, implanted controls and cats with lesions in the posterior part of the hippocampus.


Effects of electrical hippocampal stimulation on acquisition and performance of unidirectional active avoidance response in cats.

The influence of electrical stimulation of the posterior part of the hippocampus on acquisition and performance of the conditioned, unidirectional avoidance response was investigated in 26 cats. No significant differences in the speed of learning between stimulated and control animals were observed. However, electrical hippocampal stimulation with parameters 7/s, 100 microamps, 7/s, 200 microamps and 50/s, 100 microamps (1 ms square pulses of negative polarity) facilitated the performance of the avoidance response. Strong hippocampal stimulation (50/s, 200 microamps) caused inhibitory effects. Application of hippocampal stimulation before experimental sessions increased the performance level in comparison to sessions not preceded by hippocampal stimulation.


Instrumental reactions and food and water intake in medial amygdala rats.

Rats were trained preoperatively to perform instrumental reactions for food and water reward on a continuous reinforcement schedule. Two levers on two opposite sides of the Skinner box were available. Each press of the first lever delivered one drop of water and each press of the second lever - one pellet of solid food. After the electrolytic lesions of the medial part of the amygdaloid complex, rats were hypophagic and hypodipsic. Most of the animals showed, however, only small decreases of total unconditioned daily water and food intake. On the other hand, the instrumental performance was markedly impaired, in particular for water reinforcement. Histological verification showed that lesions were restricted to the amygdaloid complex and involved mainly the ventral part of medial nucleus.


Effects of binocular deprivation of pattern vision on single unit responses in the cat superior colliculus.

Single unit responses in the superior colliculus of cats deprived of pattern vision from birth and of normally reared cats were studied in unanesthetized pretrigeminal preparations. Collicular units of deprived cats showed a diminished direction-selectivity but a somewhat better speed-selectivity compared to normals; they also preferred lowspeed stimuli, and reacted less frequently to diffuse flash. The impairment of direction-selectivity of collicular neurons may be partly responsible for the impairment of the pursuit eye movements in visually deprived cats.


Hemispheric differences in the visual analysis of the verbal and non-verbal material in children.

Five years old children, who could not read, and the same children at the aged of 7, who already knew letters, were used as subjects. A visual procedure involved presentation of single letters or a pair of letters randomly to the left or right of a central fixation point. Reaction time and number of correct identifications, showed by pressing a key, were indicators of the perception of letters. The children of five identified the letters with equal correctness, whether they were addressed to the right or to the left hemisphere, whereas the children of seven showed left hemisphere superiority.


Experiences with dopamine in patients operated with the aid of extracorporeal circulation.

In ten patients dopamine was used for counteracting low cardiac output during and after operations performed with aid of extracorporeal circulation. The changes of arterial and venous pressure, heart rate and one-hour diuresis were measured. In 8 cases the results of treatment were good. Particularly striking was the improvement of diuresis and lowering of the central venous pressure. The authors regard dopamine as a very effective inotropic agent.


[Primary carcinomas and carcinomatous disease].

The occurence rate of multiple primary tumours is assessed differently by different authors (from 0.3 to 8%). Simultaneous plurality is seen essentially in a system of the same structure. It is nevertheless often difficult to distinguish a new and second or third tumour from metastases of the first. The articel analyses the statistics obtained in a series of 288 cases of malignant "primo plural" neoplasms appearing successively.


Enflurane in anaesthesiological practice.

Enflurane was given as the principal inhalatory agent in general anaesthesia in 75 patients aged from 17 to 55 years for gynaecological operations. Anaesthesia was conducted with muscle relaxation administering the drug in concentration of 0.2-1% vol. (mean maintenance concentration 0.6%). No cardiovascular, hepatic and renal disturbances were observed. The serum glucose level increased by a mean value of 64.8% during enflurance anaesthesia, however, it did not cross the renal threshold. Enflurane failed to ensure postoperative analgesia. The drug may be used as a valuable supplement to the presently used anaesthetic agents.


Certain parameters of pulmonary circulation dynamics and gas exchange in the lungs and morphotic changes in lung tissue in dogs during cardiac arrest and immediately after resuscitation.

The experiments were carried out in 33 dogs 60 min. to 12 hours after cardiac arrest was induced for 3-5 min by ventricular fibrillation. In 11 dogs closed chest cardiac massage was performed 30 min. and in 222 dogs defibrillation was used to restore heart function. The pulmonary and peripheral circulation was assessed on the basis of changes in arterial and venous blood pressure, cardiac output, vascular resistance, pulmonary shunting and capnographic determinations. The values of VA, VA/Vmin, V/Q, VDph, VD/VT, DuO2 and DuCO2, Pa-E'CO2, PaO2 were determined. Measurements of acid base balance, lactate and pyruvate levels and certain elements of blood clotting and fibrinolysis systems were performed. Moreover, lung biopsy was examined by light and electron microscopes. Functional determinations confirmed the presence of disturbances of lung perfusion and alveolar ventilation as well as disturbances in oxygen exchange at cellular level. The author suggests the term Resuscitation Lung Syndrome for these disturbances.


[An audiometric method for use with children. The cochleo-palpebral reflex can be improved by visual conditioning].

It is possible, even with children and new-born babies, to condition the oculo-palpebral reflex to respond to sound. The apparatus constructed by Messrs. Gasquet and Brun achieves this conditioning on the one hand and, on the other, allows this to be used as a method of visual audiometry. This method generally enables the operator to come within twenty decibels or so of the real threshold compared with the unconditioned cochleo-palpebral reflex threshold. The use of a polygraphic recording technique for palpebral response adds precision to the results of this method, particularly by the demonstration of a phenomenon of anticipation which appears when the conditioning has been achieved. Audiometry by means of conditioning therefore represents an objective technique for detecting deafness in new-born babies.


[The mechanism and consequences of certain cranio-facial injuries].

The authors present the mechanism of post-traumatic lesions of the bones of the cranio-facial mass, during attention to the possibility of radiographic detection 6 or 9 days after traumatism.


[A case of post-traumatic cholesteatoma].

The author published a case of cholesteatoma of the middle ear occurring a few months after head injury with fracture of the mastoid apophysis.


The effect of bone cement used for stabilization of endoprostheses on blood clotting system activity.

The authors carried out studies of the blood clotting and fibrinolysis systems in 15 patients undergoing total endoprosthetic replacement of the hip joint with a McKee-Ferrara type of prosthesis and stabilized by Surgical Simplex Acrylic bone cement (North Hill Plastics, Ltd. London). The observations point to statistically significant changes in the blood clotting and fibrinolysis systems with a tendency towards hypercoagulation and intravascular clotting (DIC). Fibrinolysis activation associated with these changes is secondary, resulting among others, from the mechanism of the action of free fibrin monomers.


An attempt at comparing the results of carboxyhaemoglobin level in blood and gasometric determinations in capillary blood in cases of carbon monoxide poisoning when treatment began at the place of accident.

The authors observed disturbances of acid-base equilibrium and levels of carboxyhaemoglobin in 116 cases of CO intoxication. The patients were treated early -- at the place of the accident and during transport to hospital. Oxygen treatment was applied, the acid-base equilibrium disturbances were corrected, especially the metabolic acidosis by using alkaline substances. This management enabled rapid elimination of the poison from the organism and an improvement in the general condition of the patients.


Acute life endangering ethanol intoxication treated in the intensive medical care unit.

Personal observations of 5 cases of acute life-endangering ethanol intoxication who were treated in the intensive medical care unit. The authors discuss the mechanism of ethanol-induced changes and the method used in the treatment of this intoxication. They also request that hospital laboratories should provide facilities for performing blood alcohol level determinations in emergencies.


Effects of cold-shock on blood cells in a fresh water tropical teleost, Colisa fasciatus.

Immersion of the adult female fresh water tropical teleost, Colisa fasciatus, in ice water at c. 2 degrees C for one minute immobilizes the fish. It, however, recovers within two minutes when returned to warm temperature. Hematological studies at recovery time intervals, viz., 3, 15 and 27 min and, later, at intervals of 48 min up to 363 min, and at 12 and 24 h, revealed significant changes in the abundance of leucocytes and thrombocytes: an increase in the number of leucocytes (leucocytosis) was evident from 15 through 123 min and at 267 min; normal leucocyte counts, were observed at 3, 171, 219, 315 and 363 min, and at 12 h and 24 h. Lymphocytes are the major leucocyte cell type in the blood. Thrombocytopenia occurred at 15 and 27 min, and thrombocyte counts were held at normal levels at other recovery time intervals. There was no change in the abundance of erythrocytes in response to the imposed stress. Shock susceptibility of the fish for variables measured was similar in experiments performed during six different months of one calendar year. In addition, no significant seasonal or diurnal changes were recorded in the abundance of circulating blood cells. The results reported here, for the first time on a tropical teleost, do not agree with previous results obtained from temperate teleosts by other workers.


Electric stimulation in chronic headaches.

Therapeutic electric stimulation in cases of chronic headaches was carried out in 150 patients. Migraine was diagnosed in 40 cases, common vasomotor headache in 63, cervical migraine in 24, Horton's neuralgia in 5 and complex headaches in 18 cases. The results are reported here, which were best in the cervical migraine syndrome, while in the typical migraine they were the least successful.


[The degenerating processes of germinal cells during oogenesis in Lithobius forticatus L. (Myriapoda chilopoda)].

The ovary of Lithobius forficatus always contains some degenerating oocytes. The cytologic evolution during the oocyte degenerescence is described. Cytoplasmic lysis takes place before nuclear lysis and the vitellinic reserves resist the longest. The degenerates coming from previtellogenetic or poorly vitellogenetic cells are essentially recovered by the follicular cells. If large vitellogenetic or mature oocytes are affected, their vitellinic reserves are released into the ovarian cavity and included in the cells of the ovarian epithelium. The number of degenerating oocytes is in relation with the external conditions; it reaches a maximum at the end of the spring. The temperature may act directly or indirectly through the endocrine centers.


[Vitellogenesis in decapod cephalopods: evolution of oocytes and follicular cells during genital maturation].

The investigation was carried out on two Cephalopods: Sepia officinalis and Loligo vulgaris. During previtellogenesis, the follicle cells (F.C.), originally arranged at the periphery of the oocyte, form strands, through the axis of which runs a blood vessel. The follicle strands then make their way down into the ooplasm. They end up by occuping the greater part of the volume of the oocyte. At this stage, despite their increase in size, the F.C. do not undergo conspicuous cytological transformations. In the ooplasm, excepting a few specialized structures (annulate lamellae), the organites display no notable differentiation. The onset of vitellogenesis is characterized by the appearance in the ooplasm of elements paracrystalline in structure. A zona pellucida appears between the oocyte and the F.C., and it is at the point that yolk of a permanent type begins to accumulate. Concurrently the F.C. undergo characteristic reorganization: hypertrophy of the nucleolar mass, multiplication of granular reticulum cisternae, increase both in the number and the size of the Golgi complexes. The saccules of the Golgi complex process a material rich in carbohydrate protein bearing the same cytochemical characteristics as the yolk. In the basal zone of the F.C., deep invaginations of the wall of blood vessels scallop the cytoplasm. F.C. look like "podocyte cells". Immunofluorescence study suggest there is no immunological identity between blood and yolk proteins. The formation of chorion is accompanied by a fresh transformation of the F.C.: the granular endoplasmic reticulum breaks up into rounded cisternae containing a dense material. Concurrently the morphology of the Golgi complex is modified. The earliest chorion elements accumulate, firstly in the forme of isolated lobules within the zona pellucida. They then fuse to make a continous layer bounding the microvilli of the F.C. These cells eventually enter into a phase of degeneration and disappear, whilst the oocyte is set free by dehiscence into coelomic cavity.


[Quantitative studies on the regeneration of myelinated nerve fibers. I. Variations in the number and the size of myelinated fibers in the nerves of normal rats].

The number and size of myelinated nerve fibers have been determined at standard levels in the nerve to medial head of right and left gastrocnemius muscles of 24 normal rats (11 males and 13 females). The mean values of all results were comparable on right and left sides. Thus, 271 +/- 5 myelinated nerve fibers were found in the right nerve and 272 +/- 4 in the left; their mean diameter were respectively 8.1 +/- 0.1 and 8.0 +/- 0.1 micron. There were 60.1% of large nerve fibers on the right side and 59,9% on the left, their mean diameters being 10.5 and 10.6 micron. Some variations occured in all these values, depending of the weight and sex of the animals. Nevertheless, the differences between both sides of a same rat were negligible and the histograms of both nerves could be superposed. Accordingly, in the operated animals, the contralateral nerve may be used as control.


[Light-induced redox conversions of cytochrome f in pea leaves].

Redox conversions of cytochrome f were studied in intact pea leaves by double wavelength difference spectrophotometry. Using the inhibition of the photosystem II activity by far red light (719 nm) or diurone, it was found that cytochrome f is located between two photosystems on the oxidative side of photosystem I. The inhibitors of phosphorylation, , e.g. antimycin A and phloridzine, as well as the uncoupler, methylamine, strongly decreased electron transport through the carrier. It is concluded that cytochrome f is functioning in the non-cyclic phosphorylation. It is suggested that in vivo cytochrome f is not coupled with cyclic electron transfer.


[Amino acid sequence in tryptic peptides of maleylated Micrococcus sp. n. histidine decarboxylase beta-polypeptide chain].

Maleilated histidine decarboxylase beta-polypeptide chain, containing 3 arginine residue, was hydrolysed by trypsin. 4 non-overlapping homogenous peptides were isolated, 3 of them containing one arginine residue and the 4th peptide being C-terminal fragment of beta-chain. beta-Polypeptide chain is found to consist of 78 amino acid residues and to have molecular weight of 8456. Primary structure of each peptide and their possible sequence in beta-chain are determined.


[Effect of monovalent cations on glutamate metabolism in rat brain].

Glutamate oxidation in vitro via deamination and transamination during gramicidin C-induced transport of K+ and Na+ in rat nervous tissue mitochondria was studied. An increase in ammonium production, i.e. in glutamate oxidation due to deamination, was shown to occur with maximal increase of oxygen consumption in the presence of cations. It was found that 1.5 mM Na+ activate oxygen consumption by 15% and accelerate ammonium production from glutamate (by 17%). No changes in aspartate production were observed. 15 mM K+ increase oxygen consumption by 29% and ammonium production by 11% during a decrease in aspartate production as compared to glutamate oxidation in the presence of a lower (10 mM) concentration of K+ in the samples.


[The pentose phosphate pathway and NADP-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in some tissues of albino rat].

The NADP-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in liver, heart and skeletal muscle of rat was studied. The activity is found when glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate or ribose-5-phosphate in the presence of ATP are taken as substrates. The data obtained confirm that NADP-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase exists in skeletal muscle and demonstrate that it is found in heart muscle as well.


[Stabilization of polyacrylamide gel immobilized horseradish peroxidase by its covalent coupling to albumin].

Pretreatment of peroxidase by its covalent coupling to inert proteins and albumin by means of glutaraldehyde considerably increases the thermostability and specific activity of polyacrylamide gel (PAAG) immobilized peroxidase. The effects of PAAG composition on the catalytic properties of the immobilized oligomers: peroxidase-inert proteins-albumin, are studied. The oligomers immobilized in 40% PAAG (10% N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide) possess the maximal specific activity (4.5 nmol/g). The effects of oligomer composition on their catalytic activity and stability in PAAG are studied. The stability of oligomers of optimal composition (ratio of albumin/peroxidase is 2.4), incorporated into 40% PAAG, is 15 times higher as compared to that of the soluble enzyme and 250 times higher as compared to that of the enzyme incorporated into PAAG without pretreatment. A mechanism of stabilizing effect exerted by albumin on peroxidase in PAAG-immobilized oligomers, is discussed.


[Lipid peroxidation and disturbance in Ca2+ transport through sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes during E-avitaminosis].

The antioxidant effect of alpha-tocopherol in biolgoical membranes in vivo is described. Experimental E-avitaminosis is accompanied by accumulation of products of free-radical oxidation of phospholipids and by a loss of Ca2+-transporting ability of the muscle cells microsomal fraction. The role of alpha-tocopherol in stabilization and as a "radical trap" in biological membranes is discussed.


[Isotopic effect in enzymatic oxidation of methane].

The isotopic effect during oxidation of methane and deuteromethane by a suspension of Methylomonas rubrum cells, for which methane is the only source of carbon, was observed. The rate of CH4 oxidation is 12.5 times higher than that of CH4 oxidation. It is demonstrated that CD4 is a competitive inhibitor of CH4 oxidation. The results obtained suggest that the disruption of the C-H bond is the limiting step of enzymatic oxidation of methane.


[Preservation of differences in the degree of polymerization of actin, isolated at different stages of ontogenesis after its purification].

Actin preparation from skeletal muscles of new-born, 10 days old and adult rabbits, containing less than or equal to 5% of inactivated actin and 1-2% of other myofibrillar proteins, were studied by means of flow birefringence and viscosimetry. It is found, that, like earlier studied crude preparations, purified actin preparations, isolated at different ontogenesis stages, differ in their intrinsic viscosity and extinction angle. These differences retain after the additional trypsin treatment. Non-polymerizing fraction of Straub F-actins, isolated from rabbit muscles of all ontogenesis stages studied, practically does not affect the polymerization in the course of ontogenesis, which is due to changes in its stucture.


[Purification and properties of plastocyanin and ferredoxin from Ceratophyllum demersum L].

A copper-containing protein plastocyanin and iron-containing protein ferredoxin were isolated in electrophoretically homogenous states from Ceratophyllum demersum L. Molecular weights, protein compositions as well as optical and EDP specta of both proteins are presented. The proteins studied showed considerable differences in ultraviolet spectrum and amino acid composition as compared to analogous proteins from surface higher plants and green algae.


[Nature of tryptophan photooxidation products in lysozyme in the presence of methylene blue].

One out of six trytophan residues in two lysozyme modification, obtained under lysozyme photooxidation in the presence of methylene blue, is found to be oxidized to N'-formylkinurenine (in one modification) and to kinurenine (in the other modification). The transition of one modification into another via detaching of N'-formyl group by soft acid hydrolysis has shown that one and the same tryptophan residue is oxidized in both products, Possible mechanism of tryptophan oxidation to the products mentioned is discu-sed on the basis of the hypothesis on signlet mechanism of lysozyme photooxidation in the presence of methylene blue.


[Purification and properties of hydrogenase from phototrophic bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina].

The isolation method and some peoperties of purple sulphur bacteria (Thiocapsa roseopersicina strain BBS) hydrogenase are described Hydrogenase molecular weight is found to be 66000; it contains 3.7 moles of S2- and 3.9 moles of Fe2+ per one mole of the enzyme;pI=4.2. The enzyme absorption spectrum has the maximum at 400-412 nm which is characteristic of proteins containing non-haem iron. Hydrogenase is suggested to consist pf 4 subunits of two types: with molar weight 27000 and 6000. Unlike other hydrogenases, this enzyme is rather resistant to O2 and is more thermostable: the inactivation of the enzyme was observed at the temperature above 80 degrees C; Hydrogenase preparation catalyses D2-H2O exchange reaction, H2 evolution from the reduced methyl viologene (MV) and H2 absorption in the presense of MV or benzylviologene but not in the presense of NAD(P), FAD, FMN, azocarmine, methylene blue and ferricyanide.


[Nature of the effect on RNA and substrate specificity of RNAase of Bacillus amylozyma 9a].

Extracellular RNAase from Bac. amylozyma 9a has endonucleolytic character of the action on RNA, it splits in RNA 5'-phosphodiester bonds of GpXp type (where X is any nucleoside). The hydrolysis proceeds in two steps by the intramolecular transphosphorylation type of reaction to form guanosine-2',3'-phosphates and with the subsequent hydrolysis of cyclic bonds. The enzyme shows a preferable specificity to the single-stranded structure of the polyribonucleotides.


[Interaction of adenine derivatives with chloroplast membranes].

Structural changes of chloroplast fragments result in increased adsorption of adenine derivatives. The nativity of membranes is essential for AMP adsorption. Chloroplast fragments, containing CF1, adsorb adenine and adenosine by 30% and ADP by 50% more than the fragments, devoid of the enzyme. It is assumed that lipids may act as sorbents during nucleotides interaction with the chloroplast membrane.


[Effect of thiol reagents on the interaction of glutamate dehydrogenase with sex hormones].

The blocking of glutamate dehydrogenase SH-groups with some thiol reagents decreases the binding of sex hormones and the degree of their inhibitory effect on glutamate dehydrogenase activity.


[Isolation and purification of NADP-dependent "L-malate"-enzyme from corn leaves].

Isolation and purification of "malic-enzyme" NADP was done using fractionation by ammonium sulfate, anion-exchange chromatography on DEAE cellulose, gel-filtration through Sephadex G-200 and purification on DEAE Sephadex A-50. The isoenzyme isolated had a specific activity of 40-50 mkM/mg protein per min (approximately 80-fold purification) and contained negligible admixtures.


[Study of amino acid composition and biosynthesis of protein components of the membrane system of corn plastids during biogenesis of chloroplasts].

The biosynthesis of membrane proteins in maize plastids at different stages of differentiation of the chloroplast lamellar system was studied. Prolamellar and lamellar system preparations were isolated from maize plastids, disintegrated by osmotic shock under hypotonic conditions. Changes in the amino acid composition of 14C membrane proteins were observed at all stages of chloroplast ultrastructure formation. The maximal level of the apolar amino acids was observed in the membrane fraction of chloroplasts. Washed membranes from maize proplastids and chloroplasts can be resolved into at least 14 protein bands on formic acid--urea polyacrylamide gel. It is pointed out that biogenesis process leads to the increase of lipophylic protein content in the chloroplast lamellae fraction.


[Important role of C-terminal amino acid sequence of the luteinizing hormone alpha-subunit in its recombination with the beta-subunit].

Five amino acid residues, i. e. serine, lysine, histidine and two tyrosine residues, are split from the C-end of the alpha-subunit of bovine luteinizing hormone by carboxypeptidase A. Gel-filtration through Sephadex G-100 demonstrated that the carboxypeptidase-treated alpha-subunit is not recombined with the native beta-subunit and does not form complex molecules of the hormone.