Movement of beta-irradiated epidermal basal cells to the spinous-granular layers in the absence of cell division.

Guinea-pig epidermis was irradiated with 3000 rad of beta rays 1 hr after two injections of [3-H]thymidine 5 hr apart (labeled cells in S phase and G2 phase) or 18 hr after injection (labeled early G1 cells). In nonirradiated epidermis labeled basal cells divided within 24 hr with daughter cells remaining in the basal layer, and approximately 50% of the labeled cells moved into the spinal layer by the 3rd day. Cell division in nonirradiated epidermis diluted the number of silver grains/nucleus, and lightly labeled cells were found in the granular layer by day 7. Beta irradiation inhibited cell division but it did not slow the rate of transit (ca 8 days) of irradiated labeled cells from basal to granular layer, some of these remaining heavily labeled. Although cell division may play some role in upward movement of basal cells in normal epidermis detachment of a basal cell from the basement membrane and its transit to the granular layer is unimpaired in the absence of cell division. These findings suggest that some radioresistant metabolic function(s), not cell division, is responsible for upward movement of basal cells.


Intraepithelial mast cells in gingival lichen planus: an ultrastructural study.

Intraepithelial mast cells, identified by ultrastructural criteria, were seen in lesions of gingival lichen planus. The mast cells were found either singly, interspersed among keratinocytes, or in combination with other mononuclear cell types, especially lymphocytes. The mast cells were seen in regions with relatively normal intercellular spaces, as well as in regions of more severely disrupted keratinocytes. They had cytologic features indicative of active synthesis and release of granules. Moreover, the finding of centrioles in several intraepithelial mast cells, in combination with certain other cytologic features, suggested that these cells might be in an early stage of differentiation. It is speculated that intraepithelial mast cells have a role in the pathogenesis of gingival lichen planus.


The measurement of free erythrocyte porphyrin (FEP) as a simple means of distinguishing iron deficiency from beta-thalassemia trait in subjects with microcytosis.

Assay of free erythrocyte porphyrin (FEP) and measurement of red cell indices were obtained in a group of subjects with iron deficiency and beta-thalassemia trait to determine if these studies cound detect these disorders and discriminate bbetween them. FEP values were increased in 90.2 per cent of subjects with iron deficiency but were within the normal range in 96.6 per cent of subjects with beta-thalassemia trait. Mean FEP values increased sligtly as transferrin saturation fell but became abnormally elevated when the transferrin saturation fell but became abnormally elevated when the transferrin saturation was less than 15 per cent. Unlike subjecs with iron deficiency in whom the mean corpuscular volume varied from 46 to 84, all individuals with beta-thalassermia trait exhibited microcytosis. In most instances, determination of FEP appears to distinguish beta-thalassemia trait from iron deficiency in patients with microcytosis.


A simplified neck suction device for activation of carotid baroreceptors.

Application of negative neck pressure is a valuable research technique for activation of carotid baroreceptors in man, but its use has been limited because a simple, effective, comfortable neck suction chamber has not been available. We have developed a new neck suction device which may have significant advantages over earlier models. Construction details are illustrated for this chamber which has the following attributes: (1) it is simple and inexpensive to construct, (2) one model fits most adults in relative comfort, and (3) the design of the chamber permits rapid initiation of neck suction to preselected levels leading to stimulus-related cardiac slowing and arterial hypotension.


Neutrophil dysfunction in diabetes mellitus.

The neutrophil bactericidal capacity of 31 patients with diabetes mellitus in a nonketoacidotic state, including 21 without infections and 10 with recurrent infections, were evaluated. The killed intracellular bacteria (KICB) expressed as the percentage of the initial inoculum for 25 normal control subjects was 95.4 (SD equal plus and minus (2.7) and that for the diabetic patients, the KICB was 72.8 (SD=+30.7)with a p value of less than or equal to 0.01. In 17 out of 31 diabetic atients, the KICB was greater than minus two standard deviations of the control mean. Using the lysostaphin assay technic, 11 patients were shown to phagocytize poorly, 3 had impaired intracellular killing and 3 had a combined defect. These defects were not correctable by normal serum nor related to blood-glucose levels. No apparent correlation with infection could be demonstrated. Fiver of the 10 patients with recurrent infections and 12 out ot of 21 patients without infections has a neutrophil dysfunction. However, all 3 patients with a combined defect had severe bacterial infections.


Abnormal lipid composition of the red cell membrane in congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type II (HEMPAS).

The lipids derived from the erythrocytes of two siblings with clinical congenital dyserythropietic anemia Type II (CDA-II) and one sibling without clinical evidence of CDA-II underwent a detailed analysis. The total phospholipids, total cholesterol, and cholesterol: phosphate ratio were normal in all siblings. In the two clinically affected siblings there was a significant increase in the phosphatidyl choline with a concomitant decrease in the other phospholipids. The fatty acids of phosphatidyl choline from the CDA-II erythrocytes were normal. The total gylcosphingolipids were increased in all siblings. The glycosphingolipids, di- , tri-, and tetrahexosyl ceramides were increased 1.5- to 10-fold over controls in the clinically affected siblings. The increases were present but less striking in the clinically unaffected sibling. Gluococerebroside was not significantly increased in any of the siblings. The possible causes and significance of the lipid changes are discussed.


Impaired water handling in chronic obstructive lung disease.

Impaired water excretion has been described in stable, nonedematous patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD). To elucidate the mechanism involved, we measured basal glomerular filtration rate (GFR), effective renal plasma flow (ERPF), and water, sodium, and solute excretion for 4 hours after water loading (20 ml. per kilogram orally or as D5W intravenously) in two groups of 10 age-matched, hypoxic, stable, nonedematous COLD normocapneic and hypercapneic patients (PCO2 less than or greater than 45 mm. Hg, respectively). In 5 patients of each group, additional measurements of plasma and urine osmolality and plasma vasopressin were made at 30-minute intervals after oral water loading and the results compared to those obtained in 10 normal control subjects. Hypoxic (PO2 61 plus or minus 2 mm. Hg), normocapneic (PCO2 39 plus or minus 1 mm. Hg) patients had normal GFR (114 plus or minus 5 ml. per minute) and ERPF (517 plus or minus 31 ml. per minute) and excreted the load normally (101 plus or minus 5 per cent of oral or intravenous water per 4-hours). This was associated with a normal rate of sodium excretion (34 plus or minus 5 mEq. per 4-hours) and low-normal plasma vasopressin (1.9 plus or minus 0.7 pg. per milliliter) which was suppressed appropriately with water loading. Hypercapneic (PCO2' 62 plus or minus 5), hypoxic (PCO2' 57 plus or minus 2) patients had normal GFR (106 plus or minus 7), low baseline vasopressin (1.1 plus or minus 0.2) which was suppressed appropriately, and decreased (p less than 0.05) 4-hour water excretion (63 plus or minus 8 per cent), 4-hour sodium excretion (15 plus or minus 9), and ERPF (394 plus or minus 31). A significant correlation was observed between impaired water and impaired sodium excretion (p less than 0.05). These studies indicate that in COLD patients: (1) hypercapnia but not hypoxemia is related to the abnormal water handling and to the increased reabsorption of sodium by the renal tubule; (2) the defect in water excretion is not related to abnormal vasopressin secretion or metabolism; (3) the alteration in sodium excretion may be due to hypercapneic-induced increase in renal bicarbonate reabsorption and/or abnormal renal blood flow.


Thrombopoietin production by human embryonic kidney cells in culture.

Human embryonic kidney cells were maintained in culture in a medium containing lactalbumin hydrolysate for 5 to 6 weeks and the supernatant fluid tested for thrombopoietin content. Thrombopoietin was determined by a bioassay procedure which utilized mice that were in rebound thrombocytosis. The results indicate that the medium from kidney cells in culture contained a factor that stimulates thrombopoiesis in assay mice as measured by per cent 35-S incorporation into platelets. A dose-response relationship was demonstrated between the volume of thrombopoietically active production medium injected and the level of isotope that subsequently appeared in the  circulating platelets. Thrombopoietin was not found in control production media. Moreover, thrombopoietin-rich production medium did not contain erythropoietin, erythroginin, or white blood cell-stimulating factors. The results of this study indicate that kidney cells in culture produce a specific thrombopoietic stimulating factor. It seems probable from these in virto data that a site of production of thrombopoietin in vivo is the kidney.


Fragility of abnormal erythrocytes evaluated by response to shear stress.

Shear stress is a potential cause of erythrocyte fragmentation and hemolysis in flowing blood. In this study, the response of abnormal human erythrocytes to shear stress in virto was evaluated using a concentric cylinder viscometer. Compared to normal red cells, deoxygenated erythrocytes from persons with sicle cell anemia were particularly susceptible to fragmentation and hemolysis by shear stress. Oxygenation of sicke cell blood improved the resistance of those red cells to shear stress; they remain, however, more susceptible to shear stress than normal erythrocytes. Erythrocytes from patients with iron deficiency, thalassemia minor, and erythrocyte pyruvate kinase deficiency showed fragmentation and hemolysis at threshold shear stresses intermediate between those ovserved for blood from patients with sickle cell anemia and normal persons. Blood samples from patients with hereditary spherocytosis were more resistant to shear stress than normal blood. These results indicate that there are important differences in the response of various red cells to shear stress.


The influence of phorbol myristate acetate on the metabolism of neutrophils from carriers of sex-linked chronic granulomatous disease.

The present investigation has compared the influences of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and heat-killed bacteria (HKB) on oxygen consumption and glucose oxidation by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from carriers of sex-linked chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). PMA or HKB caused neutrophils from CGD carriers, considered as a group, to consume oxygen and oxidize glucose-1-14C at rates that were statistically distinguishable from rates of normal controls and affected CGD hemizygotes. PMA at a final concentration of 1.0 micrograms per milliliter wass more effective and reproducible than a ratio of 50 HKB: 1 PMN in discriminating the partial abnormality of carrier PMN from normal PMN. Moreover, a deficiency in glucose oxidation by the PMN of one individual carrier was detectable using PMA stimulation when no defect was apparent with HKB. Results of the present investigation confirm and extend previous observations which have demonstrated the similarity in responses of PMA-treated normal and CGD PMN to the reactions produced by particulates under similar conditions.


Porphyrin synthesis and mitochondrial respiration in acute intermittent porphyria: studies using cultured human fibroblasts.

The formation of variation of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and of porphyrins, as well as respiratory metabolism, have been studied in skin fibroblasts from six normal control subjects and seven patients with acute intermittent porphyria. The mean activity of ALA synthetase was the same in both groups, whereas the mean activity of uroporphyrinogen I synthetase (as measured by the conversion of porphobilinogen [PBG] to porphyrins) was significantly decreased in fibroblasts from porphyric subjects, the mean value being 52 per cent that of control subjects (p less than or equal to 0.001). The findings of decreased uroporphyrinogen synthesis without an increase in ALA synthetase in mitochondria-containing cells from subjects with acute intermittent porphyria are compatible with the concept that defective PBG ultilization is the fundamental defect in heme biosynthesis in this disease and the possibility that ALA synthetase is "irreversibly" repressed in nonhepatic tissues. Respiration of the cells was studied polarographically. The two types of cells showed similar overall rates of respiration and in general responded to substrates and inhibitors as expected. Of the inhibitors tested (rotenone, amytal, antimycin, and cyanide), only rotenone showed a differential effect: respiration of fibroblasts from porphyric patients was not as sensitive to the inhibitor as was that of the control subjects. These results are interpreted as suggesting a possible defect in mitochondrial NADH oxidation in acute intermittent porphyria.


Surgical exposure of the facial nerve indications and techniques.

Lesions producing facial nerve palsy may occur within the temporal bone anywhere between the internal auditory canal and the stylomastoid foramen. Surgical exposure of this nerve may be necessary for decompression, grafting, rerouting, or removal of such lesions as acoustic tumour, meningioma, facial nerve neuroma, and cholesteatoma. Contemporary surgical exposure of the facial nerve has as its aim adequate exposure of the facial nerve at any point in its course, with preservation of hearing and vestibular function, without further injury to the facial nerve and the necessity for producing a mastoid cavity. When hearing and balance function are present, the transcanal-transtympanic approach to the horizontal segment of the facial nerve offers limited access to the facial nerve in its tympanic course. Wider exposure is obtained by postauricular transmastoid exposure of the tympanic and mastoid portions of the facial nerve. The middle fossa approach to the facial nerve offers access to the internal auditory canal and labyrinthine portions of the nerve, whereas the retrolabyrinthine approach offers access to the facial nerve in the posterior fossa. Total facial nerve exposure with preservation of hearing and balance function is obtained by the combined transmastoid and middle cranial fossa approach. In individuals who have lost all function of hearing and balance, the postauricular translabyrinthine approach offers total exposure of the facial nerve within the temporal bone and posterior fossa. The aim of this discussion was to present in succinct fashion a systematized approach to surgical exposure of the facial nerve within the temporal bone and posterior fossa.


Experimental endolymphatic hydrops and its relief by interrupting the lateral semicircular duct in guinea pigs.

It has been demonstrated that endolymphatic hydrops can be produced in guinea pigs by obliteration of the endolymphatic sac and this phenomenon was reproduced in our own laboratory. Interruption of the lateral semicircular duct of animals with labyrinthine hydrops produced a diminution of the hydrops in 4 out of 8 cases, and these did not show any collapse in the cochlear duct. It was considered that the hydrops was diminished by drainage of the surplus endolymph into the perilymphatic space, and that the cochlear duct was kept secure from collapse because of its distance from the operated lateral semicircular duct and of the utriculo-endolymphatic valve. Persistence of hydrops in the other four cases was thought to be due to closure of the operated lateral semicircular duct or to labyrinthitis. Although this series is not comprehensive enough, it seems to indicate that interruption of the lateral semicircular duct has a possibility of diminishing labyrinthine hydrops, as in cases of Ménière's disease, without hearing disturbance, provided that complications do not develop. Further investigation with many more animals, for a longer period of time after the operation, is required to gain more precisely detailed information.


Temporal bone studies: findings with undecalcified sections in a 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy.

Roentgenologic studies by polytomography of the temporal bones of a 2,600-year-old Egyptian mummy (PUM-II) revealed an increase in radiographic density throughout the left temporal bone. The superior portions of the petrous bones were removed with an electric saw for study by undecalcified techniques. For histological control, a similar specimen was removed from a cadaver immediately after autopsy. Light microscopy of sections showed excellent preservation of the Haversian systems. The vascular channels were clearly seen, and they were similar in appearance to those of the fresh specimen. The lacunae contained osteocytes with good preservation of the nucleus. Osteoid seams were identified and the osteon activity was described for the first time in an Egyptian mummy. There was a low turnover type of bone, but there was no evidence of metabolic bone disease. We postulate that the increased radiological density of the left temporal bone was due to a greater amount of resin infiltration in this bone as compared to the right. It appeared that the resin acted as a fixative preserving the bone cells and related elements.


Gorlin's syndrome.

The uncommon familial syndrome of multiple odontogenic keratocysts, basal cell naevi and skeletal anomalies is reviewed, and seven cases are described, including one patient who developed squamous cell carcinoma in a previous odontogenic keratocyst of the maxilla. We wish to thank Consultants from the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, The Middlesex Hospital and the Eastman Dental Hospital, who allowed us access to their patients; Mr. D. Garfield Davies, Dr. M. F. Spittle, Mr. D. Winstock, Mr. H. P. Cook, Professor H. C. Killey and Mr. L. W. Kay. We are grateful to Professor L. Michaels and Mr. D. J. Connolly for preparation of the illustrations and to Mrs. A. Matthews for the typescript.


Otolaryngological complications of measles in West Africa.

In Nigeria as in West Africa generally measles is a serious condition with a high morbidity and mortality rate. Complications involve every section of Otolaryngology. Some of these are amenable to treatment by the otolaryngologist alone, while others need the skill of colleagues in other specialties. The irreversible neuro-audiological complications cause greatest concern to physician and parent and will continue to do so until the variety of available therapeutic, preventive and rehabilitative services are increased and improved.


Nasal entomophthorosis in an Igbo from Nigeria.

A nasal granulomatous disease caused by E. coronata is reported for the first time in an Igbo residing in the East Central State of Nigeria. His clinical presentation conformed with published patterns. Awareness of the disease should lead to the recognition of more cases in this part of the world.


Transmucosal triglyceride transport rates in proximal and distal rat intestine in vivo.

Transmucosal transport rates for triolein in proximal and distal intestine were compared in unanesthetized rats. Emulsified [1-14-C] triolein together with bile and pancreatic juice from donor rats was infused for 6 hr into either the duodenum or the midpoint of the small intestine at such a rate that absorption was essentially complete in both regions of the intestine. Lymph was collected from the thoracic duct during triolein infusion and for an additional 6-hr period. The decrease in the rate of lymphatic output of labeled fat was found to follow a simple exponential function in all animals. This rate of decrease (decay rate) was used to calculate the half-times of lipid turnover through the intestinal wall and the fractional output rates. Distal intestine transported lipid 40% more slowly than proximal intestine, and the difference was associated with a greater accumulation of triglyceride in the distal intestinal wall. Chylomicron synthesis and/or release is the rate-limiting step for distal lymphatic fat transport in vivo, whereas fat uptake from the lumen is rate limiting for proximal intestine.


Cholesterol catabolism in the rabbit in fasted and fed states.

Urinary and fecal endogenous steroid excretion of fed or fasted New Zealand white rabbits was determined by the isotopic steady state method after subcutaneous implantation of radioactive cholesterol. While plasma cholesterol was increasing during a 9-day fast, fecal steroid excretion decreased to 10% of the excretion rates in the fed state. Refeeding the fasted rabbits led to a decrease in plasma cholesterol and an increase in fecal endogenous steroid excretion. Urinary steroid excretion, which represented 18% of total endogenous steroid excretion for fed animals, decreased during fasting and increased during refeeding, but these changes were relatively small. The small intestine, cecum, and colon of fed or fasted rabbits had similar endogenous steroid was acidic steroid. During attempts to alter the circulating bile acid concentration by supplying deoxycholate (200 mg/day) to fed rabbits or cholestyramine (2 g/day) to fasted rabbits, plasma cholesterol concentration did not change to the same extent as during fasting or refeeding, respectively. The decreased cholesterol catabolism and the hypercholesterolemia that are seen in the fasting rabbit may result from decreased clearance of plasma cholesterol.


Development of swine adipose tissue: morphology and chemical composition.

Differentiation and growth of swine subcutaneous adipose tissue was assessed by chemical analysis of tissue components, cell size measurements of isolated adipocytes, and light and electron microscopic observations. At birth all adipocytes were multilocular (contained multiple small lipid droplets), but by day 3 postpartum, many were already differentiated to the unilocular state (one major, central lipid droplet). Microscopic observations of fixed tissue, cell size determinations on isolated adipocytes, and chemical analysis of tissue composition indicated a marked increase in adipocyte size accompanied by an increase in the size of the central lipid droplet with age. Small cells were observed at all ages (in both fixed tissue and isolated cell preparations), yielding biphasic size distributions. Although the adipocyte stem cell was not discerned, an early stage in differentiation, designated an adipoblast, was observed.


Identification of pentahydroxy bile alcohols in cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis: characterization of 5beta-cholestane-3alpha, 7alpha, 12alpha, 24xi, 25-pentol and 5beta-cholestane-3alpha, 7alpha, 12alpha, 23xi, 25-pentol.

This paper describes studies dealing with the nature of the C27 pentahydroxy bile alcohols present in the bile and feces of two patients with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX). The presence of a bile alcohol having the structure 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,24alpha,25-pentol was confirmed by separation of the two 24-hydroxy epimers of 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,24,25-pentol and characterization of the dpimers by gas-liquid chromatography and infrared and mass spectrometry. Tentative assignment of the 24alpha and 24beta configuration was made on the basis of molecular rotation differences. A second major bile alcohol excreted by the CTX subjects was 5beta-cholestane-3alpha,7alpha,12alpha,23xi,25-pentol. Its structure was determined by infrared spectrometry, proton magnetic resonance spectrometry, and mass spectrometry because a reference compound was not available.


Analogs of natural lipids. I. Synthesis and properties of tris-homoacyl derivatives of cyclopentane- 1,2,3-triols.

A new series of analogs of triglycerides has been synthesized, in which the glycerol moiety is replaced by each of the three isomeric cyclopentanetriols. For each of the isomeric cyclopentane-1,2,3-triols (1,2,3/0; DL-1,2/3; and 1,3/2), the tris-homoacyl derivatives of octanoic, decanoic, lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, and dihydrosterculic acids were prepared by treatment of the respective triols with the appropriate acyl chloride in pyridine. The dihydrosterculates were prepared by fusing the triols with a mixture of the acyl anhydride and the corresponding potassium salt. It is proposed that because of restricted rotation of the carbon-carbon bonds the cyclopentanoid compounds are analogs of specific rotamers of triglycerides. Infrared spectra (KBr discs) obtained at room temperature show differences in crystal structure from series to series. A band near 720 cm-minus 1 (CH2 rock) is doubled in the 1,2,3/0 and 1,2/3 series and is single in the 1,3/2 series and the triglycerides. In each spectrum with a doublet at 720 cm-minus 1, a band near 1470 cm-minus 1 (CH2 bend) is doubled also. A strong band at 890 cm-minus 1 present in the triglyceride spectra is weak or missing from the spectra of the analogs. A band at 1418 cm-minus 1 (bending of CH2 adjacent to C equal to 0) present in the triglyceride spectra is demonstrable only in the 1,2,3/0 derivatives in comparison with the other three series. In all series the dihydrosterculates show a decrease in apparent polarity, relative to the stearates, significantly greater than expected from the introduction of an additional carbon atom. The potential utility of the analogs as probes of the effects of conformation on the physical properties and enzymatic susceptibility of glycerides is discussed.


Tissue distribution and subcellular localization of retinol-binding protein in normal and vitamin A-deficient rats.

Levels of retinol-binding (RBP), the plasma transport protein for vitamin A, were measured by radioimmunoassay in sera and in a large number of tissues from both normal and vitamin A-deficient rats. The tissues included liver, kidney, fat, muscle, brain, eye, salivary gland, thymus, lung, heart, intestine, spleen, adrenal, testes, thyroid, and red blood cells. The RBP levels in tissues other than serum, liver, and kidneys varied from 12 mug/g of tissue for normal spleen to an undetectable level in red blood cells. Much of the RBP in the tissues with low levels may have been due to residual serum in the samples. In general, except for liver, RBP levels were lower in tissues from vitamin A-deficient rats than in those from normal rats. In normal rats, the liver, kidney, and serum levels were 30 plus or minus 4 (mean plus orminus SEM), 151 plus or minus 22, and 44 plus or minus 3 mug/g, respectively. In vitamin A-deficient rats, the liver RBP level was about three times the normal level whereas the kidney and serum levels were about one-fifth the normal values. When normal liver homogenates were fractionated by centrifugation, 67% of the RBP was recovered in the microsomal fraction and only 9% was found in the soluble 105,000 g supernate. In contrast, 76% of the RBP in homogenates of normal kidneys was in the soluble fraction. Similar results were obtained with deficient livers and kidneys. Incubation with deoxycholate released the liver RBP into the soluble fraction. RBP is produced in the liver and removed from the blood by the kidneys. The levels of RBP in normal and deficient liver, serum, and kidney appear to reflect the relative rates of RBP secretion and turnover.


Lipogenesis in rabbit adipose tissue.

Previous reports that rabbit adipose tissue does not synthesize fatty acids at significant rates led us to study in detail the pathways of lipogenesis and glyceroneogenesis in this tissue. We found that rabbit adipose tissue has a low capacity for denovo fatty acid synthesis from glucose but a high capacity for synthesis from pyruvate and acetate. The tissue can also convert pyruvate to glyceride-glycerol via the dicarboxylic acid shuttle and gluconeogenic pathways. Experiments with hydroxycitrate, a potent inhibitor of citrate cleavage enzyme, demonstrated that this is an obligatory enzyme in lipogenesis from pyruvate. The lipogenic system of rabbit adipose tissue resembles that of a ruminant in that it is adapted to utilize acetate rather than glucose. However, in contrast to ruminant tissues, the limited ability to convert glucose to fatty acid results not from a deficiency in the enzymes concerned with the transport of acetyl units out of the mitochondria but from a block prior to the level of pyruvate, most likely at the hexokinase and pyruvate kinase reactions.


Hormonal regulation of lobulo-alveolar growth, functional differentiation and regression of whole mouse mammary gland in organ culture.

The entire second thoracic mammary glands of 4-week-old BALB/c female mice primed with oestradiol plus progesterone were cultivate in organ culture medium containing the "growth-promoting" hormone combinations: insulin, prolactin, growth hormone, oestradiol, progesterone and aldosterone or insulin, prolactin and aldosterone. Full lobulo-alveolar development was induced after 5-6 days of incubation and could be maintained for 15-16 days in organ culture in medium containing either hormone combination. After the initial 5-6 days in the "growth-promoting" medium, subsequent cultivation of the glands in a medium with the "lactogenic hormones", insulin, prolactin plus cortisol, led to accumulation of "milk-like" secretory material in the ductal and alveolar lumina. Incubation of the lobulo-alveolar gland in medium with insulin alone for 7-9 days resulted in complete regression of the alveoli leaving only a ductal parenchyma. Incubation in insulin, prolactin, growth hormone or insulin plus the steriod hormones for 7-9 days led to considerable alveolar degeneration without a complete regression. The results indicate that both pituitary and steroid hormones are essential for development and maintenance of mammary alveoli; insulin can only sustain the basal ductal structure.


Rapid purification of tri-iodothyronine and thyroxine protein conjugates for antibody production.

Thyroxine (T-4) and tri-iodothyronine (T-3) were coupled to human serum albumin (HSA) with carbodi-imide. By adsorption chromatography on Sephadex G-25, fractions containing purified conjugate, but not reversibly-bound T-3 or T-4, were obtained, and this procedure took 5 h; considerably less than the conventional dialysis technique. Highly specific high-titre antisera were produced in rabbits and guinea-pigs by injection of these fractions in Freund's adjuvant.


Influence of prostaglandins and human chorionic gonadotrophin on progesterone concentration and oocyte maturation in mouse ovarian follicles maintained in organ culture.

The response of mouse ovaries maintained in organ culture to prostaglandin E-2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F-2alpha (F2alpha) was assessed using quantitative histological and radioimmunoassay procedures. Prostaglandin E2 induced histological changes in the cultured follicles comparable to those induced by human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) and the increase in the number of oocytes undergoing preovulatory maturation over the control value was the same irrespective of the treatment (PGE2 alone, HCG alone, or PGE2+HCG). The amount of progesterone/ml of culture medium was also significantly higher with these preparations than in control cultures (about 125 ng/ml compared with 57 ng/ml). By contrast, 5 mug PGF2alpha/ml medium increased neither the number of oocytes undergoing maturation nor the concentration of progesterone in the culture medium. The latter increased when the dose of PGF2alpha was increased to 30 mug/ml, although the proportion of oocytes beyond the dictyate stage remained at the control level. There was no augmentation in the response (above the level for HCG alone) when HCG and PGF2alpha were added to the explant medium simultaneously. These results are discussed in terms of the possible mechanism of action of the various preparations.


Response of mouse graafian follicles in organ culture to varying doses of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone.

The response of mouse ovaries maintained in organ culture to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), LUTEINIZING HORMONE (LH) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) was assessed using quantitative histological and radioimmunoassay techniques. In terms of the induction of preovulatory maturation in follicular oocytes, 1 mugFSH/ml medium was as effective as 10 mugLH/ml. The lowest doses of HCG and LH used (0.2 i.u./ml and 1 mug/ml respectively) had no effect on oocyte maturation, whereas the response to FSH WAS VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED IRRESPECTIVE OF DOSE (1-10 MUG/ML). When the level of progesterone in the medium at the end of organ culture was used as an index of ovarian response, LH was more effective than FSH and HCG, although all the hormones induced a significant increase, irrespective of dose. These results are discussed in terms of the mode of action of gonadotrophins in the processes culminating in ovulation.


Inhibitory action of oestrogen on calcium-induced mitosis in rat bone marrow and thymus.

In the male rat injections of CaCl-2 and MgCl-2 stimulated mitosis in bone marrow and thymus tissue. The magnesium salt was also mitogenic in the normal female, but calcium only exerted its mitogenic effect after ovariectomy. Oestradiol, but not progesterone replacement therpy abolished calcium-induced mitosis in the ovariectomized rat. The inability of calcium to stimulate cell division was also apparent in the thyroparathyroidectomized female rat, suggesting the oestradiol blockage did not operate via some indirect action on the calcium homeostatic hormones calcitonin or parathyroid hormone. When thymic lymphocytes derived from male or female rats were isolated and maintained in suspension, increased calcium or magnesium concentrations in the culture medium stimulated the entry of cells into mitosis. Addition of oestradiol to the culture medium abolished the mitogenic effect of increased calcium levels, but had no effect on magnesium-induced proliferation. These experiments suggested that oestradiol might act at the cell surface to prevent the influx of calcium but not magnesium ions into the interior of the cell and thus to block the sequence of biochemical events which led to the initiation of DNA synthesis and culminate in mitosis.


Effect of prostaglandin E2 and A2 on steroid synthesis by the rat adrenal gland.

Prostaglandin E2 increased aldosterone output by superfused capsular adrenal glands obtained from sodium-repleted, hypophysectomized rats but corticosterone did not show a statistically significant increase. Prostaglandin A2 increased corticosterone but not aldosterone production by incubated capsular glands obtained from sodium-repleted, hypophysectomized rats. Both aldosterone and corticosterone production rates were increased by PGA2 after previous sodium restriction. Corticosterone production rate of the decapsulated adrenal gland was not significantly modified by prostaglandin A2 in a concentration effective on the capsular adrenal gland. A possible role of prostaglandins in the regulation of aldosterone secretion is discussed.


Rate of thyroxine secretion by male and laying Japanese quail: identification of the radioactive thyroxine degradation component of the multiphasic 131-I curve.

Counting of radioactivity in Japanese quail in vivo showed a rapid loss of 131-I from the body 12-24 h after the i.v. injection of [131-I]thyroxine (T4), followed by a period of slow decrease in counting rates to 96 h. From comparison of these [131-I]T4 curves with curves for 131-iodide-injected birds and from counts on serum and other tissues in vitro it was concluded that, for Japanese quail, the T4 secretion rate should be calculated using serum samples taken during the first 12 h. Using this time period, the parameters measured were: T4 distribution space, laying hens 45-7 and mature cocks 26-7 and mature cocks 26-3 ml/100 g body weight; fractional degradation rate for T4, hens 5-73 and cocks 3-12/day; serum T4 concentration (Tetrasorb-125 method), hens 1-20 plus or minus 0-07 and cocks 1-34 plus or minus 0-05 (S.E.M.) mug/100 ml (n= 16); T4 secretion rate, hens 3-14 and cocks 1-10 mug/100 g/day.


Plasma hormones and pituitary luteinizing hormone in the rat during the early stages of pregnancy and after post-coital treatment with tamoxifen (ICI 46,474).

Plasma levels of oestradiol-17beta, progesterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) and pituitary levels of LH have been measured during the first 6 days of pregnancy, in normal rats and in rats receiving two doses of Tamoxifen (trans-1-(rho-beta dimethylamino-ethoxyphenyl)-1-2-diphenylbut-1-ene) on day 2 of pregnancy. In normal rats oestradiol rose strongly from early on day 3 to reach a peak concentration between 22.00 h on day 3 and 08.00 h on day 4. Progesterone concentrations rose from day 2 to reach peak values on day 3-4. In animals in which implantation was delayed 20-24 h by administration of Tamoxifen (0.1 mg/kg) orally on day 2 the increased level of plasma oestrogen was also delayed by 20 h. A higher dose of Tamoxifen (0.2 mg/kg) on day 2, which prevented implantation, completely eliminated the increase in plasma oestradiol. Neither dose of Tamoxifen affected the levels of progesterone. In both normal rats and rats treated with 0.1 mg Tamoxifen/kg, plasma LH levels declined by day 3 while pituitary levels rose steadily. There was no detectable change in either plasma or pituitary LH levels, accompanying the increase in plasma oestradiol in the normal rats. In animals receiving Tamoxifen (0.2 mg/kg), plasma LH increased to a maximum by day 4 while levels of pituitary LH decreased. The results show that the oestrogen "surge" of early pregnancy, occurs normally about midnight on day 3 and not late on day 4 as previously thought. It is considered that the plasma oestradiol peak in early pregnancy results from an increased release of FSH rather than an increased release of LH. Tamoxifen may owe part of its antifertility action to a capacity to inhibit the synthesis of oestradiol from progesterone.


Sex-dependent prepubertal gonadotrophin surges in the rat.

The concentrations of LH and FSH were measured by radioimmunoassay in sera from immature male and female rats of various ages. Fairly high levels of FSH were found in both sexes at birth but lh was not detected. FSH peaks appeared in the male at 13 and 19 days of age and in the female at 13 and 17-19 days of age. LH was undetectable in the male before 12 days of age, rose to a peak (440 plus or minus 60 (S.D.) ng/ml) at 13 days of age and fell below the detection level again between 15 and 25 days of age. A further increase then occurred which almost reached adult levels. LH was first detectable in the female rat at 11 days of age with a peak value of 130 plus or minus 35 ng/ml at 12 days. The hormone was undetectable on days 14 and 15, rose to a second peak on day (148 plus or minus 56 ng/ml), and was again absent between 19 and 25 days of age. The concentration rose, as in the male, between days 25 and 28 to a level similar to that of the adult. The results show sexual differences in prepubertal gonadotrophin surges. The LH peak at 12-13 days in both sexes appears to be light-dependent. The FSH peak at this time was affected by light but was not strictly light-dependent.


Repeated acquisition of response sequences: stimulus control and drugs.

Pigeons obtained food by making four responses on three keys in a specified sequence, e.g., left, right, center, right. Under the "tandem-learning" condition, all three keys were the same color throughout the response sequence, and the sequence was changed from session to session. After total errors per session (overall accuracy) and within-session error reduction (learning) had stabilized, the effects of varying doses phenobarbital and chlordiazepoxide were assessed. For comparison, the drug tests were also conducted under a "tandem-performance" condition, in which the response sequence was the same from session to session, and under corresponding "chain-learning" and "chain-performance" conditions, where different colored keylights were associated with the response sequence. Under all four baseline conditions, the largest dose of each drug impaired overall accuracy. Under the two learning conditions, the error rate decreased across trials within each session, but the degree of negative acceleration was less in the drug sessions than in the control sessions. In contrast, under the two performance conditions, the error rate was relatively constant across trials, but was higher in the drug sessions than in the control sessions. Of the four baselines, the chain-learning condition was the most sensitive to the drug effects.


Effects of similarity of location and temporal intensity pattern of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli on the acquisition of conditioned suppresion in rats.

This article two studies that examined the effect of similarity of location and temporal intensity patterns of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) on the acquision of conditioned suppression. Experiment 1 showed that greater suppression occurs during a stimulus generalization test when the tested stimulus has a location and temporal intensity pattern that is similar to the previously presented UCS. Experiment 2 showed that conditioned suppression is acquired more rapidly if the CS and UCS have similar locations and temporal intensity patterns. These similarity factors were interpreted as forms of event covariation, which aided in associative formation. Several applications of these data are discussed.


Short-term memory for "surprising" versus "expected" unconditioned stimuli in Pavlovian conditioning.

Rabbits were trained via a Pavlovian eyelid-conditioning regime to respond differentially to a conditioned stimulus (CSR) depending on whether or not that stimulus was preceded several seconds earlier by a preparatory stimulus consisting of an electric shock otherwise employed as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Following training, differential responding to CSR varied systematically with the interval between the preparatory stimulus and CSR, consistent with assumptions concerning decay of information in short-term memory. The major finding, however, involved the test effects of announcing the preparatory stimulus by either a conditioned stimulus with which it had otherwise been paired (CS+) or a conditioned stimulus with which it had otherwise been systematically unpaired (CS-). The greater differential responding to the following CSR in the latter case is taken to support the notion that a "surprising" UCS is more likely to be retained (rehearsed) in short-term memory than is an "expected" UCS.


Some new perspectives on conditioned hunger.

One theory holds that appetitive drives such as hunger and thirst are not conditionable because of their slow onset. However, recent evidence has shown only transitory conditioning of appetitive drives even with rapid onset. Such experiments may have failed because: (a) Exteroceptive conditioned stimuli (CSs) used in past experiments may be less easily accociated with the internal hunger drive than are interoceptive taste cues. Experiments 1-3 provided some support for this hypothesis. (b) The dependent measures used in past experiments may not be valid. Experiments 4 and 5 suggested that changes in the rate of bar pressing on an operant extinction curve following probe CSs for hunger may be a more sensitive and valid index of conditioned appetitive drive. However, the elusive and transitory nature of these results demands a reexamination of the basic difference between appetitive and aversive drives, which lies in the mode of their onset and control and which, given adaptive considerations, can account for their widely different conditionability.


Frustation and learned helplessness.

This article reports the transfer of learned helplessness from one aversive motivator, shock to another, frustration. In experiment 1, animals were trained to approach food in a runway and concomitantly exposed to either escapable, inescapable, or no shock in a different situation. Extinction was conducted in the runway, and subsequently the animals were tested for hurdle-jump escape from the frustrating goal box. Inescapably shocked rats failed to learn to hurdle-jump, whereas escapably or nonshocked animals learned the frustration escape response. Experiment 2 replicated the basic finidngs of Experiment 1 and showed transfer of learned helplessness from shock to frustration when no running response had been first acquired in the runway.


Pavlovian counterconditioning: changing the suppressive properties of shock by association with food.

Two experiments are described in which rats received a series of shock and food presentations in a Pavlovian counterconditioning sequence. Subsequently, the capacity of the shock to act as a reinforcer during conditioned emotional response (CER) training was assessed. In the first experiment, following each shock during counterconditioning by a food presentation was found to retard the development of suppression during CER training relative to control conditions in which different groups of rats received either a sequence of explicitly unpaired shock and food presentations, shock presentations alone, or food presentations alone. The second experiment demonstrated that when the magnitude of the food presentations is held constant, the attenuation of the suppressive properties of shock by pairing with food depends on the magnitude of the shock. The results are interpreted as demonstrations of Pavlovian counterconditioning, which, it is suggested, modifies the general aversiveness of a noxious stimulus.


Behavioral decrement following stimulus preexposure: effects of number of preexposures, presence of a second stimulus, and interstimulus interval in children and adults.

This article presents an analysis of the similarities between the stimulus familiarization effect and latent inhibition. Just as latent inhibition has been readily demonstrated in infrahumans, and only with considerable difficulty in adult humans, the experiments reported here obtained a significant interaction between the stimulus familiarity effect and age. Children exhibited increased reaction time to preexposed stimuli as opposed to nonpreexposed stimuli, but adults did not show this effect. In addition, a number of variables were shown to affect the amount of decrement. The decrement increased as a function of the number of preexposures and decreased with the addition of a second stimulus placed in a conditioning relationship to the to-be-tested stimulus during preexposure. However, an increased in the interstimulus interval was only marginally effective in increasing the inhibitory effects of preexposure. The data were discussed in relation to a conditioned attention explanation for these phenomena of behavioral decrement.


Conditioned and latent inhibition in taste-aversion learning: clarifying the role of learned safety.

Experiments 1-3 investigated the applicability of the classical conditioning concept of conditioned inhibition to taste-aversion learning. Rats made ill after drinking saccharin and subsequently administered a "safe" exposure to saline (or casein hydrolysate) evidenced an enhanced preference for the safe fluid (relative to either a third, slightly aversive, solution or to water) when compared to controls in which saccharin was not previously poisoned. Such active condition inhibition was significantly reduced in Experiment 4 when two safe exposures to saline preceded saccharin-illness pairings. These results indicate that conditioned inhibition can be established in a taste-aversion procedure and that a latent inhibition manipulation reduces the ability of a taste to become a signal for safety. Implications of these findings for the learned safety theory of taste-aversion learning and the relevance to bait-shyness of principles established within the classical conditioning paradigm are considered.


Two types of information in picture memory.

It is assumed that recognition memory for pictures is based on two types of information. The first is information about specific details in a picture. The process of encoding this type of information is identified with what N. H. Mackworth and others have termed looking at "informative areas" in pictures. The second informational component is designated as "general visual information." Two experiments were carried out investigating (a) the extent to which recognition responses to pictures are based on specific detail vs. general visual information, (b) whether the amount of specific detail information may be manipulated by varying the complexity of a target picture, and (c) the rate at which the two types of information are acquired. The results indicate that the rate of encoding specific details varies with the number of potential informative areas in a pictures and, given that a detail is encoded, memory performance is not substantially affected by target complexity, exposure time, or presence or absence of a mask.


Picture memory improves with longer on time and off time.

Both recognition and recall of pictures improve as picture presentation time increases and as time between pictures increases. Processing of the pictures, rehearsal and/or encoding, continues after the picture has disappeared, just as for verbal material. Both the results and conclusions stand in contrast to those of Shaffer and Shiffrin.


Recognition latency for pictures and words as a function of encoded-feature similarity.

In separate trials of a same-different recognition task, a single target item presented as either a picture or a word was followed after a 30-sec delay by a single test item, either a picture or a word. Test items were either nominal matches for the target (same) or one of five related distractor items. Distractors were selected to resemble the target item on one of five dimensions: orthographic, acoustic, conceptual (functional or categorical), schematic (similar in shape), or neutral. Same-different reaction times were found to vary systematically as a function of depiction mode of target and/or test items and by distractor type. Verbally related distractors (orthographic and acoustic) produced longer reaction times when target or test items or both were presented as printed words. When target or test items were presented as pictures, schematic and conceptual distractors produced the longest rejection latencies.


Acquisition of verbal associations to olfactory stimuli of varying familiarity and to abstract visual stimuli.

Two paired-associate (PA) learning studies observed the acquisition performance of 85 college students with either odors or abstract figures as stimuli and numbers as responses. In both studies visual PA acquisition was reliably superior to olfactory learning. Since the second study was designed to maximize the learning of associations to the odors and minimize the learning of associations to the figures, it appears that the sense of smell is not as well suited to the PA task as vision when essentially naive subjects are involved. In a third experiment, the familiarity of odors and figures was judged and reported as a graphic magnitude estimation response. These judged stimulus familiarities were used to select stimuli for the PA task. Subsequently, PA acquisition was facilitated by the use of highly familiar odors.


Effects of noise, activation level, and response dominance on retrieval from semantic memory.

Subjects low or high in activation, as measured by Thayer's Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List, participated in two semantic memory tasks, one involving speed of recall and the other speed of recognition. White noise at 80 db. re 20 muN/m-2 was presented on half the trials. There was an interaction between noise and activation under the recall condition only. High activation facilitated recall performance with high dominance items, but had a detrimental effect with low dominance items. The differential effect of arousal on recall and recognition was interpreted as indicating that arousal affected the retrieval component of recall. The findings with the dominance variable were interpreted in light of D.E. Broadbent's hypothesis that high arousal enhances the probability of sampling information from dominant sources.


Auditory versus visual processing of three sets of simultaneous digit pairs.

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether the auditory and visual systems process simultaneously presented pairs of alphanumeric information differently. In Experiment 1, different groups of subjects were given extensive practice recalling pairs of superimposed visual or auditory digits in simultaneous order (the order of arrival) or successive order (one member of each digit pair in turn, followed by the other pair member). For auditory input, successive order of recall was more accurate, particularly for the last two of three pairs presented, whereas for visual input, simultaneous order of recall was more accurate. In Experiment 2, subjects were cued to recall in one or the other order either immediately before or after stimulus input. Recall order results were the same as for Experiment 1, and precuing did not facilitate recall in either order for both modalities. These results suggest that processing in the auditory system can only occur successively across time, whereas as in the visual system processing can only occur simultaneously in space.


Trade-off between memory for verbal items and their visual attributes.

Instructions to attend to the case and color in which words were presented led to improved retention of these visual attributes but depressed recognition performance. This trade-off between item and attribute memory occurred at three presentation rates (1.5, 5.5, and 10.5 sec/item), suggesting that visual attributes of verbal stimuli are rarely stored unless subjects expect that knowledge of physical form will be useful later. Visual attributes of high-imagery words were retained better than visual attributes of low imagery words by subjects instructed to attend to case and color, but not by subjects asked only to attend to word meaning. Implications of these findings for the hypothesis that visually presented verbal stimuli are stored as literal copies are discussed.


Effects of sleep deprivation on short-term recognition memory.

A probe-recognition short-term memory paradigm was used to inquire into the precise effects of sleep deprivation on human memory. It was found that recognition performance, as measured by d', was generally impaired for each subjects after 24 hr of sleep deprivation. While d' was shown to decrease exponentially as the number of items intervening between the target and the probe increased, this decay rate was not affected by sleep loss. In addition there was confirmation of a previously observed increase in the positive skewness of reaction times after wakefulness. The data were consistent with the hypothesis that sleep deprivation increases the occurrence of lapses, periods of lowered reactive capacity, which prevent the encoding of items in short-term memory.


Rehearsal of visual and auditory stimuli while shadowing.

Memory trigrams were presented by one of three methods: visual-concurrent (all three letters appeared simultaneously), visual-successive, and auditory-successive. During the 12-sec retention interval, subjects shadowed and reported their rehearsals and mnemonic associations via switches. On trials without associations, recall performance was interpreted as support for the hypothesis that the form of rehearsal is related to presentation modality. However, the frequency and temporal patterning of the rehearsals over the retention interval were virtually identical for all three presentation conditions, suggesting that the "control processes" were relatively independent of both method of presentation and modality of rehearsal. Most importantly, these data in combination with earlier data suggest that the efficiency of each rehearsal was also independent of those same factors, in each case quite comparable to that of a concurrent visual stimulus.


Short-term retention of pictures and words: evidence for dual coding systems.

The recall of picture and word triads was examined in three experiments that manipulated the type of distraction in a Brown-Peterson short-term retention task. In all three experiments recall of pictures was superior to words under auditory distraction conditions. Visual distraction produced high performance levels with both types of stimuli, whereas combined auditory and visual distraction significantly reduced picture recall without further affecting word recall. The results were interpreted in terms of the dual coding hypothesis and indicated that pictures are encoded into separate visual and acoustic processing systems while words are primarily acoustically encoded.


The role of orthographic and phonotactic rules in perceiving letter patterns.

Three experiments examined the role of orthographic and phonotactic rules in the tachistoscopic recognition of letter strings. Experiment 1 showed that the presence of a vowel or multiletter spelling patterns facilitates perceptual accuracy. To account for these results a model was proposed in which an input string is first parsed into syllablelike units, which are then recorded into speech. It was demonstrated that the perceptual accuracy for a string is correlated with the number of recoding steps needed to convert that string into speech. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that this recoding  process can predict perceptibility differences among strings with varying numbers of phonotactic violations, and Experiment 3 assessed some of the specific assumptions of the recoding process.


Mental transformations in the identification of left and right hands.

Subjects determined as rapidly as possible whether each line drawing portrayed a left or a right hand when the drawings were presented in any of four versions (palm or back of either hand) and in any of six orientations in the picture plane. Reaction time varied systematically with orientation and, in the absence of advance information, was over 400 msec longer for the fingers-down orientation. However, when subjects were instructed to imagine a specified (palm or back) view of a specified (left or right) hand in a specified orientation, reaction times to test hands that were consistent with these instructions were short (about 500 msec), independent of orientation, and unacompanied by errors. It is proposed that subjects determine whether a visually presented hand is left or right by moving a mental "phantom" of one of their own hands into the portrayed position and by then comparing its imagined appearance against the appearance of the externally presented hand.


The use of structural diagnostics in recognition.

The suggestion of Krueger (1973) and other that wholistic processes underlie certain perceptual judgments is taken up in this paper. It is argued that properties such as bilateral symmetry can have a "diagnostic" significance for visual matching tasks. Diagnosticity means that if the property is present the appropriate response to a stimulus could theoretically be determined without any other analysis of the stimulus. Experiments 1 and 2 indicate that symmetry is exploited as a diagnostic property for the simultaneous same-different judgment. Displays that show the diagnostic form produce short reaction times. These experiments also show that the diagnosticity effect can be demonstrated independent of potentially confounding factors such as simplicity or redundancy. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 discount further confounding factors and also show that other properties, notably parallelism and colinearity of stimulus elements, can also be exploited as diagnostic in the simultaneous matching task. Diagnostics can have a structural or relational form. Diagnostic features are viewed as two-place structural predicates. Whether these diagnostics always have the same underlying form or not, the need for some representation of structure is a prerequisite for understanding even these simple recognition phenomena.


Limulus psychophysics: dark adaptation in the ventral eye.

Sudden illumination applied to Limulus produces an unconditioned downward tail movement which is under stimulus control and can be used to measure psychophysical thresholds. The method of constant stimuli was used to measure the behavioral dark-adaptation function mediated by the ventral eye of Limulus. The resulting function has two phases, each of which is rectified when log threshold is made a function of long time in the dark. Under the conditions of the present experiment, the transition between the two phases occurred at 6 min. This psychophysical dark-adaptation function has the same form as an electrophysiologic dark-adaptation function obtained by Fein and DeVoe (using the ventral eye receptor potential as the response). In more complex visual systems such two-phase, dark-adaptation functions would usually be interpreted in terms of screening pigment movements or changes in the neural contributions of different receptor classes, but neither interpretation is appropriate for the ventral eye of Limulus.


Reproductive performance of male and female phenotypes in three sex chromosomal genotypes(XX, XY, YY) in the killifish, Oryzias latipes.

The present study investigates the juvenile and adult reproductive performance of Japanese killifish, Oryzias latipes, which were successfully sex-reversed by feeding them male or female sex hormones during the fry stage. Sexual maturation of these laboratory grown fish of three known genotypes (XX, SY, YY) occurred earliest in untreated genotypes, next in genotypes treated with male hormone (methyl testosterone) and female hormone (estrone), respectively. The delay in sexual maturation caused by early exogenous, sex-hormone treatment may represent a disturbance in the delicate neural-gonadal axis. However, the degree of response was also strongly influenced by the animal's sex chromosomal genotype. XX fish, normally phenotypic females, were affected more by the male hormone than by the female hormone. XY and YY fish, normally phenotypic males, were delayed more by the female hormone than by the male hormone. This specific sex hormone-sex genotype interaction also influenced adult reproductive performance (sperm or egg production). Differences in the metabolism of male and female sex hormones by the XX, XY, and YY fish are probably responsible for these interesting findings.


Regeneration of the retina in the adult newt, Triturus cristatus, following surgical division of the eye by a limbal incision.

The regeneration of a retina in adult Triturus cristatus, following surgical division of the eye by a limbal incision, was studied. In agreement with recent reports, it was found that the regenerating retina is dervied from two sources; the retinal pigment epithelium and the pars ciliaris retinae. However, following a limbal incision, most of the retina appears to be derived from the retinal pigment epithelium in the posterior part of the eye. An unexpected finding of this study was that large cystlike spaces form in the fundal regions of the eye, between the regenerating retina and the retinalpigment epithelium. These spaces appear between five and eight days post-operative and persist long enough (25 to 30 days postoperative) to disrupt the fundal portion of the rengenerating retina and to cause it to lag behind the rest of the  regenerate, in its development. The relationship of these observations to the genesis of positional markers in the regenerating retina is discussed.


Regeneration of the tail bud in Xenopus embryos.

In an attempt to solve some  aspect of the long-standing controversy about the regenerative ability of appendages in vertebrate embryos, the tail bud of Xenopus laevis embryos has  beenamputated at  stage sranging from St. 26 to St. 32 and its ability to regenerate duringa culture period of 2-3 days has been studied. At amputation stages 26-28,the tail bud consisted only undifferentialted mesoderm and ectoderm, but at stage 32 it had afully differentiated neural tube, a vaculotaed notochord and segmented somites. A total of 137amputations at differnt stages gace consistent results: a tail formed in all the operated larvacand it had normal, well-developed axial tissues in most cases. The relatively few cases with abnormal tail struture were stunted, oedematour larvae with defects in the trunk region  as well. It is concluded from these experiments that cells near the original tail budare able to differentiate into tialbud tissues and to  replace the amputated regoin, even at these late embryoic stages. The implications of these findings for comparative studies on regeneration in vertebrates are discussed.


Inhibition of melanosome transformation in embryonic chick pigment retina cultured in vitro.

When the retinal pigment epithelial cells of the chick embryo are transferred to monolayer cultures, they lose their phenotypic trait-- melanin granules-- after a few days. Within the first 24 hours almost all of the melanosomes and premelanosomes are transformed into the degradative structures of the dense bodies or the melanosome complexes. Then, within a few days, these structures disappear completely from the cytoplasm. Actinomycin D, added to the culture medium during the first four hours, almost completely prevents the transformation of melanosomes and premelanosomes. The inhibition of cell proliferation, caused by the addition of colcemid, does not prevent the transformation, though the time of initiation of transformation is delayed considerably. The mechanisms of the transformation of pigment granules are discussed.


An organized distribution of acrosomal proteinase in rabbit sperm acrosomes.

Acrosomal proteinase was found to be present in a highly organized distribution within the acrosomes of rabbit spermatozoa by cytochemistry. This distribution consists of at least six linear loops of evenly spaced proteinase granules, which run diagonally across the flat side of the sperm head in a crisscrossing pattern with the two most anterior loops surrounding the region of the acrosome reaction. This is the first description of an organized distribution of enzymes within a lysosome-like organelle.


Glycoprotein and protein antifreezes in two Alaskan fishes.

Two macromolecular freezing point depressants have been isolated from the serums of two species of Alaskan fishes. A common property of the four antifreezes thus far isolated is a high alanine content which suggests that the mechanism of these antifreezes may be related to a repeating tripeptide unit.


In vitro fertilization of rat and mouse eggs by ejaculated sperm and the effect of energy sources on in vitro fertilization of rat eggs.

In vitro fertilization of rat and mouse eggs by ejaculated or epididymal spermatozoa in chemically defined media was studied. Penetration rates by ejaculated sperm was very low (0 to 8%) in the rat, but 11 to 41% of eggs were penetrated by ejaculated sperm in the mouse. The optimal concentration of sperm for in vitro fertilization appears to be similar whether ejaculated or epididymal sperm were used. The time of sperm penetration in the mouse eggs, however, was delayed for one-half to one hour when ejaculated sperm were used. The importance of sodium pyruvate, sodium lactate and glucose in the medium containing bovine serum albumin for in vitro fertilization of rat eggs was examined. When rat eggs in cumulus clot were exposed to epididymal sperm preincubated for five hours, the presence of sodium pyruvate, sodium lactate and glucose was found to play an important role. When exposed to non-incubated epididymal sperm sodium pyruvate could be omitted without much decline of the fertilization rate. When the denuded eggs were exposed to non-incubated sperm, penetration rates were very low (0 and 5%) in the absence of pyruvate. It appears that although lactate, pyruvate and glucose are all important for in vitro fertilization of rat eggs, pyruvate can be supplied by the follicular cells surrounding the eggs.


Non-glial phagocytes within the degenerating optic nerve of the newt (Triturus viridescens).

Two non-glial phagocytes were found to participate along with ependymoglial cells in Wallerian degeneration of the severed optic nerve of the newt (Triturus viridescens). The first type of non-glial cell (polymorphonuclear phagocyte) was positively identified as a neutrophil and participates in the early stages of degeneration. Cells of this type make a brief appearance, reaching a peak by the second postoperative day (2 p.o.d.), and quickly diminish until few can be found by 4 p.o.d. Neutrophils invade the degenerating optic nerve from surrounding connective tissue spaces, most likely, through channels which penetrate the nerve parenchyma. The second type of non-glial cell is an invading mononuclear phagocyte which exhibits characteristics of microglial cells reported in other vertebrate species. Such cells appear in the nerve much later than the neutrophils and towards the end of Wallerian degeneration (6-10 p.o.d.). Their mode of entry and exit appears to be the same as that reported for neutrophils. The neutrophils and microglial-like, mononuclear phagocytes may serve to supplement the histolytic action of the ependymoglial cells, picking up scattered fragments of degenerating myelin and axons.


Changes in ribosomes associated with spore senescence in the bean rust fungus.

Studies were carried out to idenify the cause of the decline in transferase activity and capacity to bind polyuridylic acid which occurs in ribosomes from germinated uredospores of the bean rust fungus, Uromyces phaseoli (Pers.) Wint., aged longer than 6 h on a water surface. We have shown that such ribosomes lose the capacity to respond to added transferase-I and that both subunits were affected by the ageing process. These changes were not accompanied by a significant alteration in the composition of the ribosome. However, deoxycholate had a greater detergent effect on ribosomes from germinated spores than from nongerminated spores as shown both by loss of capacity to polymerize amino acids and loss of protein. Ribonuclease activity did not increase during germination, but the amount found (Imug/g spores) was easily detectable. It was suggested that loss of response to transferase-I was due to an alteration of ribosomal proteins of both subunits.


Taxonomic position and seasonal variations in marine neritic environment of some gram-negative antibiotic-producing bacteria.

Six marine bacteria which synthesize macromolecular antibiotics were isolated from neritic waters on the French Mediterranean coast, and their frequency recorded over two successive years. They appeared in relatively large numbers during the period  August to December, and can be identified as marine pseudomonads; however, the low guaninecytosine ratio of their DNA, lack of catalase and specific self-inhibition are not compatible with the characteristics of the genus Pseudomonas. Two produced violacein, usually synthesized by bacteria belonging to the genus Chromobacterium. Their taxonomic position is discussed.


Isolation of an inducible amidase from Pseudomonas acidovorans AE1.

A bacterial strain, AEI, which hydrolysed acetanilide, was isolated from soil and identified as Pseudomonas acidovorans. Numerous amides, esters and enzyme inhibitors were tested as amidase inducers. Phenacetin was chosen as inducer for the large scale cultivation of these organisms because it was less toxic to the bacteria than acetanilide. The induction increased the enzymic activity 250-fold. In comparison, the type culture strain of P. acidovorans, ATTCCI5668, had no amidase activity which could be induced by phenacetin. Optimal growth conditions were established with respect to the concentration of carbon source and inducer so that about 10% of the extractable bacterial protein consisted of the amidase. The organisms were lysed with lysozyme in the presence of EDTA and the enzyme was isolated mainly by column chromatography procedures. A preparation form 60 g (wet wt) bacteria yielded about 100 mg highly purified amidase with a specific activity of 137 mugmol substrate hydrolysed/min/mg protien. In addition to acetanilide, the purified enzyme hydrolysed several other amides and esters. As standard substrate, p-nitroacetanilide was chosen.


Regulation of coremium morphogenesis in Penicillium claviforme.

Coremia of Penicillium claviforme develop in three stages; primordium formation, elongation, and sporulation. Primordium formation was induced by external nutrients, while starvation initiated the differentiation of primordia into coremia with sporeheads. There is strong evidence that external nutrients are not taken up during this differentiation. Continued sporulation by mature coremia again required an external nutrient supply.


Identification and grouping of bacteria by numerical analysis of their electrophoretic protein patterns.

Improved methods for the identification and grouping of bacteria by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of soluble proteins are described. Electrophoretic protein patterns were obtained in rigorously standardized comditions. The results were much more reproducible than any described previously. Some of the factors affecting reproducibility were; growth conditions, time and speed of centrifugation of extracts, and conditions of gel electrophoresis. Protein patterns were compared by computing correlation coefficients from normalized densitometric tracings and clustering the strains by the unweighted average pair group method. As model systems, both Agrobacterium and Zymomonas were used because of differences in the sharpness of the peaks. The methodwas applied to 42 Agrobacterium strains. The agreement with the results of clustering by either phenotypic tests or DNA:DNA hybridization was excellent. Computerized comparisons of electrophoretic protein patterns can be a fast, easy and powerful tool for classification and identification of bacteria.


Identification of the rhizobium strains in pea root nodules using genetic markers.

Pea plants were inoculated jointly with pairs of genetically marked strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum. Out of 297 modules examined 56 contained both inoculant strains. The ratios of the strains in the inoculum did not affect the frequencies of mixed nodules. Generally one of the strains consistently occupied the majority of the nodules and ithe mixed nodules comprised the majority of bacteria. Transfer of the P-group R factor, RP4, between certain strains of Rhizobium within mixed nodules was detected. In some cases the non-parental progeny comprised 10% of the rhizobia isolated from such nodules.


Sialyl residues in hepatitis B antigen: their role in determining the life span of the antigen in serum and in eliciting an immunological response.

Hepatitis B surface antigen was adsorbed to insolubilized sialic acid-specific haemagglutinin isolated from the haemolymph of Limulus polyphemus. Treatment of the antigen with Vibrio cholerae neuraminidase (EC 3.2.1.18) resulted in the release of sialic acid and in an increase of the isoelectric point from pH 4-35 (for subtype ad) or 4-9 (for subtype ay) to pH 5-45. Treated, but not untreated, antigen incorporated [14-C]-sialic acid when incubated at 37 degrees C with sialyl transferase (EC 2.4.99.1) and cytidine-5'-monophosphate-[14-C]-sialic acid. The major portion of [14-C]-sialic acid was linked to a glycoprotein with an apparent mol. wt. of 26 x 10-a. De-sialylated antigen had a drastically reduced in vivo life span in rabbit plasma and elicited a higher humoral antibody response than intact antigen (subtype ad). Antigen-stimulated proliferation of lymphocytes, measured 3 months after immunization, was observed only with cells from rabbits injected with neuraminidase-treated antigen.


A classification of virus groups based on the size of the particle in relation to genome size.

For 59 different viruses, when the amount of nucleic acid in the particle is related either to the dry weight of the particle or to the particle volume, two classes of virus groups emerge--those with enveloped or those with geometrical particles. The enveloped viruses have particles with the following properties: (i) about 40 X 10-6 daltons of anhydrous weight per 10-6 daltons of nucleic acid; (ii) a particle volume of about 2 X 10-5 nm3 per 10-6 daltons of nucleic acid; (iii) a limiting lipoprotein membrane. These properties are qualitatively and quantitatively close to those of prokaryotic cells. The geometric viruses have particles with roughly one-tenth the anhydrous mass per unit of nucleic acid and one twenty-fifth the particle volume per unit of nucleic acid. They do not possess a limiting lipoprotein membrane.


Penicillium stoloniferum virus: altered replication in ultraviolet-derived mutants.

Phenotypic mutants of the wild type of Penicillium stoloniferum NRRL5267 were obtained from conidia exposed to ultraviolet light for 60 min (10% survival). Virus content of the wild type and of nine phenotypic mutants was determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Four mutants had no detectable Penicillium stoloniferum virus F (PsV-F), whereas the other five had levels of PsV-F in the mycelium similar to the wild-type strain. All nine mutants and the wild type had comparable levels of Penicillium stoloniferum virus S (PsV-S). Maximum virus levels occurred after 9 days of submerged culture in a 2% yeast extract-15% sucrose medium. Virus replication in the fungal host continued after protein, RNA and DNA synthesis levelled off. Virus levels ranged from 85 to 150 E-260 units (extinction units at 260 nm in I cm cell) per 4-7 to 5-3 g dry weight of mycelium for the mutant strains compared to 106 E-260 units per 4-2 g dry weight of the wild-type strain.


Isolation and characterization of a rod-shaped bacteriocin from a strain of Rhizobium.

A bactericidal agent ('bacteriocin 16-2') produced by rhizobial strain 16-2 had been characterized as a sheathless rod-shaped particle with a length of 200 nm and a diam. of 8 nm. One end of the rod is pointed and carries short fibre-like appendages, while the other end appears square. The particles specifically adsorb with their pointed end to bacteriocin-sensitive, but not to bacteriocin-resistant, cells. The possible mode of action of this bacteriocin in discussed.


Perceived sources of esteem in early childhood.

This descriptive study is an initial effort toward understanding the sources of esteem perceived by young children. The identity, number, and relative salience of esteem sources were examined via the responses of 282 day care children aged three through five who were asked to identify persons who liked them. A mean of 4.3 esteem sources were mentioned. Peers and siblings were cited as esteem sources by higher percentages of children than were mothers and fathers. While age comparisons were nonsignificant, sex comparisons indicated that females reported significantly more esteem sources and mentioned mother, father, and siblings significantly more often than males. Implications for self theory, for traditional views of young children's social transactions, and for common assumptions regarding peer impact on development in early childhood are discussed.


Egocentrism and conformity in childhood.

Fifty-two grade one children were tested on measures of communicative egocentrism and conformity. Contrary to Hartup's suggestion that egocentric children are not as likely to conform as less egocentric children, the results indicated the reverse. A three stage hierarchy of decentration skills was postulated to explain the conformity data. During the first stage, children center solely on their own judgments during social influence situations. Second, upon entering school, increased peer interaction may force the child to center on the opinions of others. Finally, the child begins to decenter when he simultaneously considers his own and others' judgments.


Sex-role-taking and aggressive behavior in children.

Effects of sex-role standards on the expression of aggression were examined in a task requiring 40 boys and girls aged nine to 10 to take the role of boys or girls portrayed in a set of cartoon figures. Subjects were asked to respond to aggressive statements attributed to cartoon figures varying in sex. The expectation that subjects taking the role of male figures would display more antisocial aggression was confirmed. In addition, subjects gave more anti-social aggression responses for boys interacting with boys. Findings are taken as support for a role interpretation of sex differences in expression of agression.


Infant reaction to parental separations when left with familiar and unfamiliar adults.

The results of two experiments examining infants at 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 months of age and varying levels of father interaction are summarized to show that separation protest is more a function of a strange person remaining in an unfamiliar laboratory situation with the infant than the temporary loss of a specific parent. The use of protest as an index of infant-parent attachment seems undesirable.


The relationship between locus of control and temporal experience.

As locus of control involves generalized expectancies regarding the determination of events, it should relate to temporal attitudes and experiences. Correlational data from 89 subjects on the Rotter-Mirels Locus of Control and Ricks-Epley-Wessman Temporal Experience Questionnaire scales supported the hypothesis that the reported time experiences and orientations of external control subjects would be significantly more harassed and pressured, ciscontinuous and undirected, procrastinating and inefficient, and inconsistent and changeable than those of internal control subjects. Discussion forcuses on the self-defeating cycle of disorganization and victimization experienced by individuals with an external locus of control.


Relations among psychosocial development, locus of control, and time orientation.

The research concerned relations among development at Erikson's first six stages of psychosocial development, locus of control, and several measures of time orientation. The investigation involved 68 female and 65 male high school and university students. Development at Erikson's Stages 1,3, 4, and 5 was significantly related to the I-E Scale, with positive development being associated with internal control. Locus of control was also related to sex and age. Women were found to be more externally controlled than men. Internal control was associated with increasing age over the range from 15 to 25 years. Development at each of Erikson's first five stages was significantly correlated with one or more measures of tempiral relatedness, or integration of perceived past, present, and future time zones. Other measures of time orientation failed to show consistent relations to psychosocial development.


Lateral asymmetry of retroactive inhibition in a psychomotor skill.

Right-handed college students (N equals 160) received 10 practice trials on inverted-reversed printing with either the left or right hand followed by 10 additional trials with either the same or the other hand. Half the Ss then received 10 interpolated learning trials of inverted-but-nonreversed printing, while the other half of the Ss worked arithmetic problems. Significant retroactive inhibition occurred for Ss printing with the right hand, but not for Ss printing with the left hand.


Stimulus compounding in classical fear conditioning.

The effect of stimulus compounding in classical conditioning was investigated by conditioning one group of rats to a compound CS consisting of a buzzer and light and then conditioning separate groups of rats to the individual elements of the compound CS. On hurdle-jump test trials, the group of Ss conditioned to the compound CS performed better than Ss conditioned to the elements of the compound. Strength of conditioning to each of the elements of the compound CS was about equal. There was some evidence of a summation effect resulting from conditioning to the compound CS. Strength of conditioning to the compound CS was somewhat greater than the sum of the response strengths conditioned to the elements of the compound CS.


Successive spatial discrimination reversals in the prairie dog.

Six prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) were given reversal training on a spatial discrimination reversal task in a Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA). As with many other species, more errors occurred on the first reversal problem than during acquisition of the original discrimination. However, performance improved over training until each S eventually reversed after a single nonreinforced error. Initial findings indicate that prairie dogs perform at high levels in discrimination learning experiments and could be valuable subjects for psychological research.


The law of initial values (LIV) and personality.

Wilder's Law of Initial Values (LIV) is described and carried through to Pavlov's theory of excitation-inhibition of the CNS, then to Eysenck's personality theory of introversion-extraversion. LIV-derived inferences of two-whiskered curvilinearity are developed with respect to measurement of introversion-extraversion and adjustment.


The effect of system intervention on the cognitive control of preschool children.

In response to the high rate of learning problems among socially deprived children, the Baltimore Early School Admission Project set up a system intervention model engaging three points of entry: parents, educators, and mental health workers. The emphasis was on: a) the redefinition of the roles of all participants; b) the school as a self-reliant system, discouraging referrals to outside agencies; c) the development of the children's functioning and adaptive potentials, based on their individual cognitive styles. The program included five public schools. Ninety-one children between the ages of 4 and 5 years were involved. All of these were selected from a hard core socioeconomically deprived population. Eighty-three percent were black and 17 per cent white. Fifteen children were identified as "vulnerable" according to specific criteria provided to the teachers and the parents. Of the vulnerable group, nine children's learning problems were related primarily to emotional and environmental factors, five had perceptual, sensory-motor dysfunction mixed with emotional factors, and one suffered primarily from brain damage. Results indicated that only one of the vulnerable children required referral outside of that provided in the above design. Eleven vulnerable children performed as well as the nonvulnerable group, and three showed a moderate improvement. Furthermore, five children with serious learning problems responded to the systemic intervention as well as they might have with specialized professional help.


Assessment of voice stress in children.

An assessment of voice stress in two children presenting for psychiatric treatment is accomplished through the use of a new instrument called the Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE-1). It is designed to measure the audible and inaudible voice frequencies whose strengths and patterns relate inversely to the degree of psychological stress in the voice of the speaker. Stressful responses were found in 1-hour recordings of psychiatric interviews with these two children and data analysis was organized into three major categories: content of communication, responses to therapist-posed questions, and miscellaneous responses not included in the other two categories.


Cultural conceptions and mental illness. A controlled comparison of Germany and America.

This study attempts to test, in a bicultural, controlled comparison, two sociological theories of mental disorders. The first of these theories proposes that the stereotypes of mental illness profoundly shape the symptoms of mental illness in America. The second theory maintains that the requirements and needs of the mental hospital largely determine the "symptoms" of the chronic mental patient. To test these theories, matched samples of 100 mental patients in Germany and America were subjected to in-depth interviews and were administered semantic differentials. Patients were divided into groups according to length of confinement in order to investigate the thesis that the institution conditions chronic patient roles. The results revealed statistically significant differences between the two nationalities. German patients generally agreed that mental illness is a biologically determined, and rather incurable condition. In contrast, American patients generally believed that the individual is partially responsible for his condition and with the proper motivation and help, he can improve. Patients' statements about themselves and about proper behavior in the hospital were consistent with these national differences. It was concluded that institutionalization consists more in conditioning the patient to accept his status than in convincing him that he is insane.


Some considerations in the formulation of psychiatric diagnoses.

This paper attempts to show that psychiatric diagnosis depends to a significant degree on not only the patient's presenting symptoms but also on the psychiatrist's psychosocial biases. The importance of a psychiatric diagnosis is seen in terms of the potential social restrictions and prejudices that can be a consequence of a person labeled with a mental illness. Also, current treatment techniques and valid statistics for research are based on reliable and consistent psychiatric diagnoses. A study of 267 cases from a major psychiatric hospital revealed over 12 per cent discrepancy between the official discharge diagnosis and a resident's training report diagnosis that is used only for teaching purposes. This discrepancy is statistically significant and the paper attempts to elucidate some of the characteristics of the special population that had its diagnosis made less severe on discharge. Of the 267 charts surveyed, 33 patients had their diagnosis changed from a psychotic diagnosis on the resident's training report to a neurotic or characterological diagnosis on the official discharge summary. In addition, interviews were arranged with the 18 psychiatric residents who had been involved in changing the diagnosis of target group patients. The results obtained from these interviews definitely confirm that psychiatric diagnoses are changed due to social conditions unrelated to the psychopathological state. From the demographic data of the patient groups, a pattern evolved showing that men were generally more protected than women, that black males were more protected than black females, that unskilled laborers and those on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale were more protected than professionals, and that housewives were less protected than other categories. A number of conclusions were made by the authors concerning the data. The authors hope that these findings will enable other mental health workers to be more aware of their psychosocial biases that may be influencing their diagnostic skills.


Life experiences and the decision to become a mental patient.

This research focuses upon life events influencing the decision to adopt or reject the mental patient role. Studied were 30 mental health center patients who defined themselves as mentally ill and aggressively sought treatment. These were contrasted with 21 persons who consistently denied that they were mentally disordered, and persistently resisted the treatment forced upon them. Patients in both groups had been exposed to the mental health system on the average of 7 years each. Findings showed that those identifying with the mental patient role, in contrast to those resisting it, were more likely to have received treatment in adolescence, to occupy a special sibling position in the family, to have suffered parental loss in childhood, and to have had a parent defined as mentally ill or inebriate. These results were interpreted to indicate that the decision to accept the role of mental patient occurs in the context of a crisis of personal identity to which adolescents are particularly vulnerable. The patient-candidate's fears of being mentally unbalanced are realistically affirmed by knowledge that his parent was also regarded as mentally unsound, and he has the opportunity to learn the appropriate patient role from other family members. In addition, the patient who identifies with the mental health system may be incorporating it as a love object to replace parental loss. Those resisting the patient role, in constrast, seem already to have had developed the identity of an oppressed group, and appeared to regard coercion into the mental health system as a realistic confirmation of their sense of victimization. There did not appear to be any advantages to accepting or rejecting the patient role with regard to socially acceptable conduct.


Personality/mental health correlates of drug use by high school students.

This study tested the hypothesis (derived from similar studies with college students) that personality/mental health differences do exist between high school users and nonuses of drugs (with the exception of marijuana). Subjects were students in the psychology classes of a large high school in a southwestern urban area who were asked to complete anonymously, two instruments: one, the usual drug use survey, and the other, a 48-item-self-report personality inventory, the theoretical orientation of which is Rogerian. N totaled 190 (110 males and 80 females). Statistical techniques utilized in analyses of the data included Pearson product-moment correlations, and single classification analysis of variance. The central hypothesis was impressively supported only for males, i.e., there were many personality/mental health differences between males nonusers and male polyusers. However, for marijuana, no differences were found between users and nonusers. The findings are said to agree with the result of analogous studies using college students. Implications of the findings for mental health professionals are briefly discussed.


Flaccid paraplegia: a feature of spinal cord lesions in Holmes-Adie syndrome and tabes dorsalis.

In a patient with Holmes-Adie syndrome, and in another with tabes dorsalis, a transverse cord lesion resulted in a severe, but flaccid paraplegia with absent tendon reflexes. Flexor spasms were severe in both patients, but spasticity was absent. The significance of these observations is discussed in relation to the functional and anatomical disorder in these two syndromes.


Relationships between tryptophan in serum and CSF, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in CSF of man: effect of cirrhosis of liver and probenecid administration.

Tryptophan was measured in the lumbar CSF and serum of patients undergoing neurological investigation (controls) and in patients with hepatic cirrhosis. Samples were taken from the fasting patients at 8:00 a.m. Under these conditions, in the controls the mean CSF, free )mpm-albumin-bound) and total serum tryptophan were in the approximate ratio 1:4:24. In this cross-sectional study, for the controls, CSF tryptophan was correlated significantly and positively with the total serum but not with the free serum tryptophan. In patients with advanced hepatic cirrhosis the mean CSF tryptophan concentration was greatly elevated. However, the mean total serum tryptophan was unchanged and the free serum tryptophan only slightly elevated. Administration of probenecid, which displaces tryptophan from binding sites on serum albumin, and thereby increases the proportion of serum tryptophan in the free form, did not affect CSF tryptophan.


Inhibition of electromyographic activity in human triceps surae muscles during sinusoidal rotation of the foot.

Torque and electromyographic (EMG) responses to sinusoidal rotations of the foot were measured. The frequency range of the movements was 0.5 Hz to 15 Hz at amplitudes ranging  between 1 and 10 degrees. At frequencies above 7 Hz, the EMG activity did not follow individual foot rotation cycles. The EMG activity was inhibited whenever the peak torque was large with respect to the first cycle peak torque. Dantrolene sodium reduced the torque developed in triceps surae, allowing the EMG activity to follow individual stretch cycles. As the drug was metabolized, the EMG activity returned to the character seen in the pre-drug control--that is, inhibition on alternate stretch cycles. It is concluded that the EMG inhibition phenomenon can be attributed in part to force receptors in muscle but that these receptors are not the sole contributors to the inhibition.


Familial syringomyelia.

Four cases of syringomyelia in two separate families are reported.


Familial carpal tunnel syndrome with onset in childhood.

Within three generations of one family four patients were found to have the carpal tunnel syndrome. In father and son, symptoms commenced in the first decade, and in both patients the median nerves were found to be constricted under the transverse carpal ligaments. The only other operative finding was considerably thickening of the transverse carpal ligaments in the father. Thickening of the transverse carpal ligaments is unusual in patients with the carpal tunnel syndrome but is a common finding in the relatively few patients with familial carpel tunnel syndrome so far described in the literature. It is suggested that thickening of the ligaments may constitute a familial disorder that can give rise to the carpal tunnel syndrome in childhood or later in life.


Measurement of acuity variations within the central visual field caused by neurological lesions.

We describe a method capable of quantitatively measuring the visual acuity of small, eccentrically-located areas of the visual field, even within the macular area. Fixation errors are minimized by presenting stimuli briefly and in random order. The method is more sensitive than Bjerrum screen campimetry in detecting hemianopic and quadrantic losses.