[Primary structure of cyanogen bromide fragments of sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) pituitary somatotropin]. 5 fragments are isolated after the degradation of somatotropin from sei whale pituitary glands with cyanogen bromide: N-terminal 4-segmented; C-terminal 12-segmented with the internal disulfide bond; middle 25- and 30-segmented and a high molecular weight fragment following N-terminal tetrapeptide and bound with disulfide bond to 30-segmented fragment. Complete amino acid sequence of three shortest cyanogen bromide fragments is deciphered and N- and C-terminal sequence is investigated in two large fragments after their uncoupling under performic acid oxidation. Amino acid sequence is deciphered of a peptide obtained after trypsine hydrolysis of 30-segmented cyanogen bromide fragment. Comparison of amino acid sequence of whale somatotropin fragments with that of sheep, beef and human somatotropin has revealed that 57 out of 61 identified amino acid residues of whale somatotropin repeat amino acid residues in similar regions of beef somatotropin, 56--of sheep and only 42--of human somatotropins. Besdies, 4 of 5 revealed amino acid substitutions in whale hormone, as compared with sheep somatotropin, are amino acids which are present at the same positions in human hormone.


[32S Tubulin oligomer. The resistance to factors suppressing the microtubule formation]. The resistance of brain 32S tubulin oligomer to factors suppressing the microtubules formation: colchicine, CaCl2, cooling and the absence of GTP is studied. The content of oligomer in the preparation and the polymerization degree were estimated by means of analytical centrifugation. Colchicine at 25 degrees and at a concentration of 10 muM does not change and at a concentration of 100 muM only slightly decreases the content of oligomer. The oligomer dissociated (but not completely) in 1 mM colchicine. Tubulin polymerization was partly suppressed by 10 muM and completely--by 100 muM colchicine. CaCl2 at 1 and 10 mM concentrations did not destroy the oligomer but inhibited its polymerization even in lesser of these concentrations. The cooling of the incubation medium to 14 degrees C or 4 degrees C completely inhibited the polymerization and did not affect the content of oligomer in the preparations. Tbulin preparations with low amount of exogenous GTP (less than or equal 3.10(-6) M) had a usual oligomer content, whereas GTP is necessary for polymerization at concentrations exceeding 10(-4) M. Thus, the reaction of tubulin oligomerization is relatively resistant to factors preventing the microtubules assembly. This probably means that there are at least two types of intereaction between tubulin molecules: 1) bonds in microtubules which are sensitive to colchicine, Ca2+ and cold, and which are formed only in the presence of nucleosidetriphosphates; 2) bonds in 32S tubulin oligomer which are more stable and do not need in exogenous nucleotides.


[Modification of histidine residues with diethylpyrocarbonate in aspartate transaminases from pig and chicken heart cytosol]. One and three histidine residues react with diethylpyrocarbonate (DEP) at pH 6.5 in native aspartate transminases from cffect on the enzyme activity. The rest histidine residues in aspartate transaminases (approximately 6 in the chicken enzyme and 5 in the pig enzyme) are DEP-nonreactive and can be carbetoxylated only after protein denaturation. The presence of substrates does not affect the histidine modification in transaminases.


[In vitro incorporation of labelled amino acids into heart muscle ribosomes at early and late stages of compensatory heart hyperfunction]. The activity of a protein-synthesizing cell-free system from heart muscle was studied at early and late stages of compensatory heart hyperfunction. It was found that the incorporation of amino acids into heart ribosomes during 48 hours after the hyperfunction had been produced, increased by 30% as compared to the control. The incorporation of amino acids into heart ribosomes at the late stage of hyperfunction (after 6 months) was decreased by 46% as compared to the early stages. The addition of homologous tRNA to the cell-free system of protein synthesis under prolonged heart hyperfunction stimulated the incorporation of amino acids into the ribosomes by 40--50%.


[Formation of the prothrombin-phosphatidyl serine and thrombin-phosphatidyl serine complex]. A possibility of formation of the thrombin-phosphatidyl serine and prothrombin-phosphatidyl serine complex is discussed. Prothrombin incubation with 131J-labelled phosphatidyl serine and its subsequent activation results in a formation of a thrombin-phosphatidyl serine--131J-complex. The radioactive label is also detected in the protein precipitate after thermodenaturation of thrombin preincubated with 131J-labelled phosphatidyl serine, which suggests that thrombin is firmly bound to phosphatidyl serine. The formation of the thrombin-phosphatidyl serine and prothrombin-phosphatidyl serine complex is supported by data of gel-filtration on Sephadex G-200 and acrylexes P-150 and P-60, as well as by differential spectrophotometry.


[Interaction of dexamethasone-receptor complexes with rat liver nuclei and DNAs]. The role of DNAs in the nuclear binding of dexamethasone-receptor complexes (DRC) was studied. The cytosolic receptors from rat liver have a sedimentation coefficient of about 7S, the Stock's radius--of about 50 A and possess a high affinity to dexamethasone (Kas = 2,6 X 10(8) M-1). Their capacity is 3 X 10(-13) and 5.5--7.0 X 10(-12) mole of dexamethasone per mg cytosolic protein and mg DNA, respectively. DRC has the ability to bind to the nuclei of rat liver. DRC binding to nuclei is increased approximately 3-fold by temperature activation of cytosol. The nuclear acceptor sites are saturated at the level of 16.2 pmoles of bound DRC per mg nuclear DNA. Free DNA has the ability to compete with nuclei for binding with DRC. Temperature-activated DRC can bind both with homo- and heterologous DNAs. Secondary DRC-DNA complexes were isolated by means of gel filtration on Sepharose 4B. Thermal denaturation of DNA decreases its ability to bind DRC approximately 2-fold. DNAs of a similar nucleotide composition, i.e. DNA from rat liver (GC = 43 mole%) and DNA from Photobacterium belozerskii (GC = 44 mole%), have a close DRC-binding ability. At the same time, these DNAs bind about 1.5-fold less DRC, as compared to DNA from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (GC = 67 mole%) and about 1.5-fold more, than does DNA from T2 phage (GC = 35 mole%). Thus the positive correlation between the GC composition of DNA and its DRC-binding ability was established. Unique sequences (Cot greater than 600) bind several times less DRC than the reiterated sequences (also denaturated) (Cot = O--600) of rate liver DNA. Thus, DNA can be considered as a nuclear acceptor of DRC. It is assumed, that DRC is able to recognise in DNA certain short GC-rich sequences, distributed in the rate genome in a non-random fashion.


[Changes in mitochondria density during oogenesis of loach]. The growth of loach oocytes is accompanied by an increase in the density of mitochondria. Simultaneously with the increase in density an acceleration of 14C-valine incorporation into mitochondrial proteins takes place. It is assumed that the increase in mitochondria density during oogenesis is due to an increase in the amount of membrane material per unit of mitochondria weight.


[Chemical composition of surface antigens in the pseudotubercular microbe]. Superficially-active complexes, having a toxic effect and promoting generalization of the infestation process in the animal organism have been isolated from the pseudotubercular microbe. The chemical composition of these biopolymers has been studied.


[Effects of polyene antibiotics on the membranes of dog kidney isolated nuclei]. The effects of amphotericin B and nistatin on the membranes of dog kidney isolated nuclei after their incubation with the antibiotics in question, have been studied. It is found that the polyene antibiotics, though they are superficially-active compounds, have no solubilizing effect on nuclear membranes and do not change their chemical composition. Electrophoretic study has revealed that nuclear membrane proteins, besides high- and low-molecular protein components, also contain a large amount of histones. The incubation of the nuclei with the polyene antibiotics results in marked changes in the fractional composition of nuclear membrane proteins, the most significant changes being induced by amphotericin B. It is assumed that polyene antibiotics induce proteolytic degradation of nuclear membrane proteins.


[Sedoheptulose-1,7-diphosphate as a source of pentose phosphates in heart muscle]. A possibility and some peculiarities of phosphatase degradation of sedoheptulose-1,7-diphosphate in the myocardium has been demonstrated. The reaction products are inorganic phosphate and sedoheptulose-7-phosphate; the latter product is the substrate of the transketolase reaction during pentose phosphates production. The process is largely localized in the soluble fraction of heart cells; in cellular organelles it is represented in a lesser degree. Possible regulatory mechanisms of pentose phosphate biosynthesis in animal tissues are discussed.


[Specific modification of free lysine amino groups of histidine decarboxylase from Micrococcus sp. n. by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid]. It has been found that 14 lysine residues are accessible for trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) in the molecule of histidine decarboxylase (HDC). The other 62 lysine residues in the molecule of native HDC are masked and inaccessible for TNBS. It is demonstrated that the SH- and alpha-amino groups of methionine are not modified by TNBS. A correlation between the decarboxylase activity of the enzyme and the degree of its trinitrophenylation has been studied. HDC, whose molecule contains 3--9 TNP groups, retains up to 90--97% of its initial activity. Trinitrophenylation of 14 lysine residues induces inactivation of HDC by 33--34%, which probably depends on conformational changes or steric hindrances, occurring in the catalytic site of the modified active centre of HDC. Using circular dichroism and fluorescence methods as well as disc-electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel, it has been shown that trinitrophenylation does not cause any significant changes in the enzyme structure. The TNP groups have been found to be localized in the large and small subunits of the HDC molecule.


[Inhibitory effect of alpha-methyl-1-adamantane methylamine hydrochloride (rimantadine) on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase induction in culture of cells, infected with influenza virus]. An anti-influenza preparation, rimantadine (alpha-methyl-1-adamantane methylamine hydrochloride) at concentrations of 10--25 mkg/ml depresses the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase induction in a culture of cells infected with influenza virus (fowl plague virus). The inhibitory effect is also observed 2 hours following cell infection. In vitro studies have demonstrated that rimantadine has no effect on the activity of virus-induced RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, as well as on that of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase associated with virus particles.


[14C-1-Tyrosine metabolism on rat thyroid gland]. Amino acid composition of incubation medium, thyroid tissue hydrolysate and purified thyreoglobulin (Tr) preparations, isolated after 5 hour incubation with 14C-1-tyrosine in Jey medium is studied by means of electrophoresis and autoradiography. 5 radioactivity stains are detected on radioelectrophoregram of incubation medium, 2 of them corresponding to tyrosine and serine. 2 stains corresponding to diiodotyrosine and triiodotyronine are found in hydrolysate of thyroid tissue. No radioactive stains were found on radioelectrophoregrams of thyreoglobulin. The data obtained indicate that in the reaction of condensation of iodotyrosines into iodotyronine a lateral chain of iodotyrosine (serine) splits off. Thyroid hormones biosyntesis takes place by condensation of either a single free molecule of iodotyrosine with iodotyrosyl residue of polypeptide chain of pre-synthesized thyreoglobulin, or two free molecules of iodotyrosine.


[Identification of hexokinase synthesizing polyribosomes in human normal and tumor tissues]. Comparative study of concentrations of growing hexokinase subunits polypeptide chains in the polyribosomes from normal and tumour human stomach tissue is studied using specific antiserum to hexokinase isoenzyme from human stomach tumour tissue. It is shown by two different methods (chromatography on Sepharose 46 and sucrose concentration gradient analysis) that the content of hexokinase polypeptides in stomach tumour is several times higher than in homologous normal tissue. The acta obtained show that the high activity of hexokinase in tumour tissues is due to the increased synthesis rate of the enzyme.


[Investigation of ribosomal RNAs from liver mitochondria of albino rats]. Study of sedimentation coefficients of rat liver mt-rRNAs labelled in vivo under conditions of selective inhibition by actinomycin D of nuclear RNAs biosynthesis, in hypoosmic system of isolated mitochondria, and of mt-rRNAs isolated from purified 55 ribosomes revealed that mt-rRNAs are represented by 16S and 12S components. Both components are found to be of AU-type. Anomalous behaviour of mtRNA on MAK columns is observed. Some aspects of isolation and identification of mt-rRNAs in higher organisms are discussed.


[Sterospecific selection of nucleophilic compounds in the chymotrypsin-catalyzed formation of the peptide bonds]. The course of stereospecific selection of nucleophilic compounds was studied in the reaction of acyl-enzymes interaction with razemic substrate-like nucleophiles, e.g. amino acid esters, by measuring optical rotation or incorporation of labelled D-compounds. It was shown that the acyl-enzymes are not responsible for the stereospecific selection of substrate-like nucleophiles. Since stereospecific selection of nucleophiles occurs in some chymotrypsin-catalyzed reactions, such selection may be produced by chymotrypsin till the formation of an acyl-enzyme compound with the substrate at the enzyme-inhibitor stage (or the Michaelis complex) with nucleophilic compounds. Even under the optimal conditions no absolute stereospecific selection of nucleophiles occurred, as was observed in case of a substrate (a donor of the acyl amino acid residue), undergoing degradation. An essential role of a specific site of nucleophile binding in the reactions of chymotrypsin-catalyzed peptide bond formation, is emphasized.


[Extracellular nuclease of Bacillus mesentericus]. Bacillus mesentericus is found to secrete three type of nucleases: alkaline ribonuclease (EC 2.7.7.17), acidic ribonuclease (EC 2.7.7.17) and Ca2+-activated exonucleease (EC 3.1.4.7). These nucleases are purified and characterized. They are similar to those from Bac. subtilis in main biochemical and physico-chemical properties and in their chromatographical behaviour. Studying physiological functions of Bac. mesentericus extracellular nucleases, it is shown that bacteria, which are capable to produce extracellular nucleases, utilize exogenous RNAs and a bit worse, DNAs as a single and additional source of nitrogen or phosphorus. In view of this it is believed that extracellular nucleases participate in bacteria nutrition.


[Prothrombin activation by immobilized thrombin]. The ability of thrombin, immobilized on BrCN-activated Sepharose 4B, to split prothrombin, was studied. Immobilized thrombin retained up to 70% of its esterase activity and about 5% of its coagulating activity; it was also found to induce partial proteolysis of prothrombin. Two products of prothrombin degradation isolated, i.e. P1 (m. w. 50.000-52.000) and P2 (m. w. 22.000-24.000), did not show either the thrombin or the prothrombin activities. P1 was converted into thrombin under the action of tripsin or Factor Xa. The rate of conversion was considerably increased after addition of Factor V, thromboplastin and Ca2+ ions. Intravenous administration of P1 to rats resulted in changes in the coagulating system of blood, which may be probably indicative of the stimulation of the anticoagulating system. P2 possessed no thrombogenic activity.


[Acceptor activity of 4-N-acetylcytidine in the synthesis of (3'-5')-internucleotide bond catalyzed by pancreatic nuclease]. Cytidine and 4-N-acetylcytidine were compared as phosphate acceptors in dinucleoside monophosphate synthesis catalyzed by pancreatic ribonuclease with uridine-2',3'-cyclophosphate and cytidine-2',3'-cyclo phosphate as phosphate donors. Because of low solubility of 4-N-acetylcytidine in water, the synthesis was carried out in aqueus-organic media. The results obtained indicate that acetylation of the exoaminogroup of cytidine decreases its acceptor activity. For the first time uridilyl-(3'-5')-4-N-acetylcytidine and cytidilyl-(3'-5')-4-N-acetylcytidine are prepared enzymatically by pancreatic ribonuclease.


[Properties and substrate specificity of proteinase from buckwheat seeds]. A thiol proteinase was isolated from buckwheat seeds and purified 300-fold, using ammonium sulfate, acetone fractionation ion-exchange chromatography on Sephadex CM-50 and electrofocussing. The proteinase preparation obtained was found homogenous after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 4.5. The molecular weight of the enzyme (75.000) was determined by gel-filtration through Sephadex G-100. The activation of proteinase by cysteine, 2-mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol, its inhibition by p-chloromercurybenzoate and the absence of inhibition by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and EDTA suggest that the enzyme isolated is a thiol proteinase. The enzyme hydrolyzed many peptide bonds in the B-chain of insulin, showing high substrate specificity. The glutelin and globulin fractions of buckwheat seed proteins were hydrolyzed by the enzyme. It is assumed that the hydrolysis of reserve proteins of buckwheat seeds is the main function of the proteinase isolated.


[Use of bifunctional reagents in the study of histones topography in chromatin]. The ability of bifunctional reagents--diimidoesters of sebacinic acid and tetranitromethane--to cross-link the histones in rat thymus chromatin was studied. The histone polymers formed were extracted with 0,8 N H2SO4 and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results obtained suggest that in chromatin some histone fractions are localized in immediate proximity to each other. This phenomenon may probably account for the formation of chromatin structure and its functioning in the cell.


[Comparative study of solubilized and membrane-bound acetylcholinesterase of sarcolemma]. Comparative kinetic studies of membrane-bound and solubilized sarcolemmal acetylcholinesterase reveal some difference in concentration-activity curves. A deviation from normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics is found in case of membrane-bound acetylcholinesterase. The solubilization of sarcolemma by a solution of high ionic strength or by sonication normalizes the reaction kinetics. It is shown that the amount of SH-groups in intact sarcolemma available for DTNB in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate, is about twice of that in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. In case of the solubilized fraction of sarcolemma (by a solution of high ionic strength or by sonication), the amount of SH-groups available for DTNB in the presence and in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulphate is similar.


[Surface membrane proteins of endoplasmic reticulum in brain and liver cells]. A comparative study of proteins adsorbed on outer surface of microsomal membranes was carried out. Electrophoretic differences between endoplasmic reticulum proteins from liver and brain cells were revealed. These differences were not observed in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. Proteins of brain microsomes are shown to bind in vitro with membranes of brain endoplasmic reticulum to a higher extent than with liver microsomal membranes.


[Study of membrane-bound ribosomes during pea chloroplasts formation]. Membrane-bound ribosomes of chloroplasts, isolated from pea seedlings during grana formation, can be partially liberated by 0.5 M KCl and 0.001 M puromycin. In case of mature chloroplasts, after the completion of grana formation process these agents are inefficient, and liberation of ribosomes and polyribosomes may be achieved only after solubilization of thylakoid membranes by 1% Triton X-100. Electron microscopic study of the heavy membrane fraction of young chloroplasts reveals electron-transparent membranes, containing rings and discs of thylakoids with a diameter of about 2 mum. These rings are liberated together with ribosomes under the action of 0.5 M KCl; Triton X-100 liberates equally-sized annular polyribosomes. The rings detected in chloroplast membranes at early stages of development are regarded as structures, precursor grana thylakoids, and the annular polyribosomes included into them as immediate participants of thylakoid morphogenesis.


[Karyometry of thymic reticular cells in the rat. Effect of hydrocortisone  and adrenalectomy]. A new process in taxinomic analysis clearly confirmed the presence of three different types of cells (epithelial, hypertrophic and mesenchymal) in the reticular zone of the thymus. The injection of hydrocortisol as well as adrenalectomy induced specific changes in nuclear surfaces of three cell types, while hydrocortisol tented to increase the surface of epithelial and mesenchymal cells, adrenalectomy reduced it, while a modification was seen in the percentages relative of the cell types. In adrenalectomized animals, the effect result was counteracted by injections of hydrocortisol.


Study of a microassay for the quantitation of cytotoxic antitumor antibody, using 125I-iododeoxyuridine as a target cell label; detection of a static effect on cell DNA synthesis. The different steps of a microassay for the quantitation of cytotoxic antitumor antibody, are studied in detail. It is shown that the use of 125I-Iododeoxyuridine as the target cell label, at the end of the assay, after action of serum and complement, allows the advantages available with this isotopic label to be retained and to avoid the main disadvantage due to its non specific toxicity for the target cells. Furthermore, this technique is shown to be able to detect non only a killer effect of immune sera on specific target cells with complement but also an additionnal static effect of DNA synthesis : this effect is complement dependent and transitory.


[Abdominal manifestations of hereditary angioneurotic edema. Importance of the exploration of the complement system (apropos of 29 families)]. Abdominal manifestations are almost constantly present (85% of cases) in the current form of hereditary Quincke's disease. In some cases, these abdominal manifestations occur even when cutaneomucosal edema is not present which leads to unwarranted often repeated and sometimes dangerous surgery. Apart from a story of heredity diagnosis of such troubles is possible, provided the total complement has been assayed to note its sharp fall. It can be subsequently explained by a functional defect of the C1 esterase inhibitor or alpha2-neuraminoglycoprotein.


Dominant-and-recessive epistasis in a homeotic mosquito mutant. Following selection for 15 generations a pure strain of a homeotic mutant spur was isolated from a Brazilian population of the mosquito Culex pipiens fatigans. Monohybrid crosses showed a 13:3 segregation indicating dominant-and-recessive epistasis for wild-type vs. spur. This implies that a dominant allele at one locus and a recessive at the other interact to produce the mutant phenotype. Dihybrid crosses with linkage group II markers yellow and ruby gave 39:13:9:3 ratios indicating independent segregation. However, the dihybrid cross with linkage group I marker maroon showed a highly significant departure from 39:13:9:3 ratio. Data available indicate that the phenotype spur is controlled by a dominant epistat in linkage group III and a recessive epistat (approximately 31.9 crossover units from maroon) in linkage group I.


Genetic analysis of nurse dams selected for six-week body weight or postweaning gain in mice. A modified crossfostering technique was developed to compare the performance of nurse dams in selected and control populations of mice. The H6 and M16 populations were selected for increased 6-week body weight and 3- to 6-week postweaning gain, respectively, while the C2 and ICR populations were the respective controls. Crossfostering was performed using H6, M16 and their reciprocal F1 crosses as nurse dams in the selected crossfostering group and C2 ICR and their reciprocals in the control group. Measurements recorded for nurse dams included mean body weight of 8 young within a nursed litter at birth (MWB) and 12 days of age (MW12). The latter was used as a measure of postnatal maternal performance. Other traits recorded for nurse dams were number born (NB), body weight at parturition (DWP) and 12 days postpartum (DW12), and weight gain (DWG), feed intake (FED) and efficiency (EFF = DWG/FED) for the first 12 days of lactation. The correlated response in MW12 was negative (P less than .01) for M16 and essentially zero for H6. Both lines exhibited positive (P less than .01) correlated responses in DWP and DW12 and no change in EFF. Only the H6 line increases significantly in DWG and FED as a result of selection. NB increased in M16 and H6, but was significant for the latter population only. Population differences in selection response [(M16-ICR)-(H6-C2)] were significant for FED only, primarily due to average direct genetic effects. Direct comparisons of M16 and H6 indicated that M16 was larger in DWP and DW12 but smaller in DWG and EFF. Average direct genetic effects favored M16 for NB, DWP, and DW12, whereas average maternal genetic effects favored H6 for NB, DWP, DW12 and FED. Percent direct heterosis, in F1 crosses of selected populations was significant for MW12 (13.7%) ,FED (10.8%) and NB (11.4%). Direct heterosis in F1 crosses of the controls was significant for MW12 (9.4%), NB (6.6%), DWP (3.5%), DW12 (3.3%) and FED (4.4%). The effects of MW12, DWG and metabolic body size (MBS) accounted for 47% of the variation in FED, pooled within populations. Of these variables, MW12 accounted for the highest proportion (32%) of variation in total feed intake.


Cytological effects of an organic phosphate pesticide on human cells in vitro. This investigation was undertaken to determine the radiomimetic effects in vitro of the insecticide guthion [azinophos-methyl; O, O-dimethyl S-(4-oxobenzotriazino-3-methyl) phosphorodithioate] on two human cell lines, diploid (WI-38) and heteroploid (HEp-2). In WI-38 cells, dosages of 120, 140 and 160 microng/ml of guthion were effective in inducing an average chromosome breakage of 0.042, 0.058 and 0.165 respectively per cell. In control cells, the mean number of breaks per cell was 0.011. Chromosome breakages were significantly higher in treated cells. Since guthion prevents cells from entering into mitosis during treatment, the number of mitiotic cells decreases rapidly following treatment with higher concentrations. Similar dosages in treated HEp-2 cells also induced a high incidence of chromosome aberrations, the most common being chromatid breaks and exchanges. Infrequently noted were mild failure of condensation, despiralization, secondary constrictions, gaps, dicentric chromosomes and pulverization. To date, this study reaffirms previous findings of the potentially hazardous, mutagenic effects of guthion.


Effects of ozone on meiotic chromosomes of Vicia faba. All of the levels of ozone used in these experiments caused morphological damage to plants of Vicia faba L., but only the dose of 200 parts per hundred million for 4 h or 8 h caused chromosomal damage in the microsporocytes. Significant chromosomal damage appeared 24 h after fumigation in metaphase I and anaphase I - telophase I but no significant damage was found in anaphase II - telophase II. This observation suggests that chromosomes are more susceptible to ozone during early stages of meiosis than at later stages. Chromosomal damage was of two types: physiological, as suggested by chromosome stickiness and physical, as indicated by bridges, fragments, and micronuclei.


Meiotic evidence for pericentric inversion polymorphism in Junco (Aves). Species of the genus Junco are polymorphic for chromosomes 2 and 5. Diplotene karyotypes of 61 adult male Dark-eyed Juncos, Junco hyemalis, were analyzed in order to determine the basis of the polymorphisms. Individuals carrying heterozygous bivalents of the polymorphic chromosomes have fewer chiasma than homozygous individuals. These data suggest that two separate pericentric inversions are at the basis of the polymorphisms.


Hospital mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction: five-year experience. Mortality during the hospitalization period was analyzed in a sample of 786 patients with acute myocardial infarction [AMI], admitted to the coronary care unit within a five-year period from a catchment area of 200 000 urban inhabitants. The total mortality during the hospitalization period amounted to 19.2%. The prognostic significance of certain clinically meaningful phenomena was appraised on the basis of their association to the mortality. It was demonstrated that the factors decisive for the prognosis of a patient with AMI are age, previous myocardial infarction, extent and localization of the ischaemic lesion apparent from the ECG tracing, and, in addition, presence of the atrioventricular and intraventricular conduction defects, especially if combined with anterior myocardial infarction. Patients with a high cumulation of these prognostic factors exhibited severe signs of mechanical heart failure, which is the mechanism of death in practically all of the deceased patients under the present possibilities of treatment.


Coagulability of arterial and venous blood in healthy subjects, patients with coronary atherosclerosis, and patients with rheumatic cardiopathies. Coagulability of arterial and venous blood was studied in 50 healthy subjects and in 179 patients with circulation disturbances caused by coronary atherosclerosis and rheumatic cardiopathies. All indicators characterizing the individual haemocoagulation phases were respected. In the healthy subjects the coagulative and fibrinolytic activities of venous blood were higher than those of arterial blood. In the patients with heart failure the coagulability of venous blood decreased and that of arterial blood increased. These phenomena were accompanied by fibrinogenaemia, appearance of fibrinogen B in the blood, elevation of free heparin, and inhibition, but occasional activation, of fibrinolysis in both vascular systems. The findings seem to signalize enhanced intravascular blood coagulability in patients with circulation disturbances, which phenomenon has to be taken into account in the treatment of such patients.


Long-term spontaneous variability of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. In two different catheterization studies the authors repeatedly measured the left ventricular pressures in 43 men with chronic stabilized ischaemic heart disease. The interval between both tests averaged two months. The end-diastolic and systolic pressure and the heart rate were measured. A comprehensive evaluation of the results revealed no statistically significant differences between the results of the first and second measurements. Their correlations are expressed by the following correlation coefficients: r = 0.80 for the end-diastolic pressure, r = 0.76 for the systolic pressure, and r = 0.74 for the heart rate. The study offers first information about the long-term variability of the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and contributes to a more exact appraisal of its value in evaluation of natural course or long-term therapeutic intervention of heart diseases.


Contribution to the vector analysis of the orthogonal electrocardiogram. A method is described for characterizing the spatial directions of vectors with the aid of the angle alpha, characterizing the direction of the vector's projection upon the frontal plane, and angle beta, indicating the deflection of the spatial vector from the frontal plane. Angle alpha is expressed in the mode used with the conventional ECG system [from 0 degrees to +/- 180 degrees], and angle beta from 0 degrees to +/- 90 degrees. Calculations are made with the aid of algebraic formulae, and the results are tabulated. To facilitate the calculations of the magnitudes and directions of vectors in the space with respect to the orthogonal leads, and for better illustration, special schemes are presented.


Monophasic action potentials of the right atrium during atrial fibrillation in man. In 28 patients with established atrial fibrillation [AF], right atrial monophasic action potentials [MAP] were recorded before DC shock. A close correlation was found between the atrial rate and MAP duration of the fibrillatory waves [FW]. The duration of MAPs ranged between 1 and 6 mV. The atrial rate ranged between 311 and 578 per minute, the highest rates were found during lone AF. In two patients in whom cardioversion failed, a prolongation of right atrial MAP duration of the FW was noted. The efficacy of DC shock and the maintenance of sinus rhythm after cardioversion was greater in patients with AF having a slower rate and a longer MAP.


Design and methodology of the Zagreb preliminary study: response rates at the study stages. A procedure for recruitment of a trial cohort from a demographically defined population is described. Provision was made by means of a prescreening survey to determine demographic and attitudinal characteristics in the group invited to screening before the invitation was extended, thus providing information on non-participants as well as participants. Men who satisfied the criteria for borderline levels of one or more of the three risk factors on at least two of possible three occasions were invited to participate in a radomized multifactor treatment trial either being treated by medication for the appropriate risk factor [or factors], or observed during the same intervals in the same fashion as those treated. During follow-up attempts were made to measure adherence to the prescribed medication.


The renin-angiotensin systems in adrenal-regeneration hypertension. Adrenal regeneration hypertension [ARH] was induced after Ingle and Higgins, and Skelton in 13 female Wistar rats one and a half months old with the purpose of studying the function of the renal and the brain renin-angiotensin systems in that model of hypertension, before and after treatment with antihypertensive prostaglandin EI [PGEI]. It was found that a 30 days' application of PGEI induced a regression of the regenerated adrenal cortex, accompanied by a significant decrease in arterial blood pressure to normotensive values. Plasma renin activity did not correlate with the level of the blood pressure nor with kidney renin activity and was not influenced by PGEI. However renal renin activity, which was found to be increased, corresponded to the elevated blood pressure, and decreased almost to normal values with normalization of the blood pressure. A correlation between the brain and kidney renin systems was established in that increased renal renin activity was accompanied by low brain stem and medulla renin activity. The balance was restored by PGEI, which not only lowered blood pressure and decreased renal rein acitivity, but induced an increase of brain stem and medulla renin activity. It is concluded that there exists a notable connection between adrenal cortex regeneration, renal antihypertensive prostaglandins and the kidney and brain renin-angiotensin systems, which pays a correlated role in the mechanism of adrenal regeneration hypertension.


Hospital prognosis of myocardial infarction with respect to risk factors. Out of 9922 patients with ischaemic heart disease [IHD] hospitalized during a decade, clinico-pathological data of 796 patients with acute myocardial infarction [MI] were analyzed in detail. With the aid of a logico-probabilistic model, the author made an attempt to quantify the individual risks of the hospital prognosis of MI and to obtain the so-called cumulative risk of MI. The prognostic relevances of the characters investigated were tested by Bayes' theorem. By reducing the matrix "character-disease", the original number of 201 characters was reduced to 34, which were divided into five classes, as follows: a] anamnestic data about the occurrence of risk factors, b] data on coronary pains, c] objective clinical, electrocardiographic, or roentgenological findings, d] duration of the praehospitalization phase, e] patient's sex and age. The cumulative risk [sum of partial risks] amounted to 60% and less in MI with a favourable hospital prognosis [that is, at lethality lesser than 5%]; to 61%--100% with a medium fair hospital prognosis [at lethality from 6% to 30%], and to more than 101% with a poor hospital prognosis [at lethality of 41% and higher]. A comparative test of the prognostic index, performed in a different referral area, showed a relatively good practical usability of the criteria described.


The effect of furosemide stimulation on renin secretion and its application in examining activity of the renin-angiotensin system. The response of plasma renin concentration [PRC] to Furosemide administration and orthostasis stimulation was studied in 9 healthy volunteers and in 30 patients with essential hypertension. The results indicate that Furosemide is unfit for stimulation of renin secretion owing to a relatively high frequency of paradoxical PRC decreases observed both in hypertensives and normotensives. On the other hand, orthostasis stimulation is a manoeuvre suitable also for screening of low renin hypertension.


The effect of orthostasis on the I-131 clearance in the metatarsal and crural subcutis in patients with occlusive arterial diseases. In 11 patients with occlusive arterial disease and severe cutaneous ischaemia, orthostasis procuded a significant decrease in the I-131 clearance in the distal crural subcutis. In the metatarsal subcutis, however, the mean clearance value remained unchanged on the average, and in patients with low initial clearance values it mostly increased.


Age-related changes of ballistocardiogram in healthy persons. Electrocardiographic and ballistocardiographic changes in 179 clinically healthy men aged 21 to 60 years are reported. Pathological changes in ECG have been registered with advancing age as well as changes in BCG type according to Brown's classification, prolongation of the distances between ECG peak R and the peaks of BCG waves, and a reduction of the amplitudes of BCG segments. In comparison with the youngest group [21 to 30 years of age] the changes described were statistically significant, especially in individuals in the fifth and sixth decades.


Changes in blood-serum enzymes in rheumatic myocarditis. Serum activity analyses of nine enzymes [CPK, HBDH, SDH, ALP, GPT, GOT, LDH, MDH, ALD] in patients with rheumaitc carditis revealed certain elevations of the mean values of LDH, GOT, HBDH, GPT, ALP and MDH. These changes have no particular diagnostic importance because similar findings were also obtained in patients with both rheumatic and nonrheumatic arthritis. The changes occurring during antirheumatic treatment are minimal and statistically not significant. Greater elevations of LDH, ALD, GOT, HBDH, GPT, MDH, and ALP are found in patients with decompensated rheumatic heart disease associated with active rheumatic carditis.


Immunoglobulin E, atopy, and nickel allergy. Statements in the literature as to whether a relation exists between atopy and nickel allergy are contradictory. I have attempted to make the diagnosis of the two states more stringent by using immunoglobulin E (IgE) determinations and serial dilution tests with nickel sulfate. The IgE determinations proved to be of less value in cases of pure eczema, and nonspecific (?) increases were sometimes observed. The incidence of family atopy was higher in other reports, but the clinical significance of this was unclear. Serial dilution tests gave important information, and a warning is issued against uncritical acceptance of a test reaction with 5.0% nickel sulfate in a patient with suspected atopy.


Guidelines for placement of elective incisions. The scar resulting from elective cutaneous surgery can be minimized if the location of the incision is chosen after considering the direction of the skin tension lines, creases, and wrinkles, and if the patient is positioned so that the skin of the surgical field is in a relaxed or anatomically neutral position. Selection of the best location for an elective incision is discussed.


Choroid plexus papilloma. I. Proof of cerebrospinal fluid overproduction. Utilizing a ventricular perfusion technique, the rate of CSF formation was determined in a 2-year-old child before and after removal of a 74 g choroid plexus papilloma from the left lateral ventricle. Preoperatively, the CSF formation rate was 1.05 +/- SD 0.01 ml/min (1,656 ml/day). Postoperatively, the CSF formation rate was reduced fivefold to 0.20 +/- SD 0.01 ml/min (288 ml/day). Whereas these data are regarded as conclusive evidence of CSF overproduction by a choroid plexus papilloma, the pathogenesis of generalized ventricular enlargement in this case was due to part to obstruction of the subarachnoid pathways.


Pediatric pneumoencephalography with nitrous oxide. The recent advances in neurodiagnostic procedures have changed pneumoencephalography. Now we must find the smallest lesions and demonstrate accurately their relationships to the ventricular system cisterns and surrounding structures. Complex blurring motion tomography gives this detail, but the pediatric patients are difficult to examine and immobilization during the long exposure needed for tomography frequently compromises the airway. Hypoventilation from sedation and from the radiographic positioning may lead to increased intracranial pressure. By performing pediatric pneumoencephalography under general anesthesia, with nitrous oxide as both an anesthetic agent and as the contrast material, we are able to control patient motion, preserve the child's airway, and prevent hypoventilation. The nitrous oxide, rapidly diffusible, is a good contrast agent, as large volumes can be used and the gas leaves the ventricular system quickly after the discontinuation of the anesthetic. This rapid reabsorption and elimination of the subarachnoid gas may decrease pneumoencephalographic morbidity.


Experimental congenital hydrocephalus. A review with special consideration of hydrocephalus produced by zinc deficiency. A review was made of experimental methods available to produce congenital hydrocephalus by teratogenic methods. Radiation, infections, trypan blue, hypervitaminosis A, salicylates and nutritional deficiencies were considered. In the course of prenatal zinc deficiency experiments, congenital hydrocephalus was frequently encountered and histologic sections were made of many representative specimens. Details of the findings are described, among them various types of aqueduct stenosis or obileration. Although these anomalies suggest that occlusion of the aqueduct is the cause of the enlargement of the ventricular system it was noted that there was also ventricular dilatation caudal to the stenotic point of the aqueduct. Hydrocephalus without aqueductal stenosis has also been observed in experimental animals. It seems possible that some cases of congenital hydrocephalus attributed to aqueductal stenosis are examples of hydrocephalus with secondary block of the aqueduct.


Substance P radioimmunoassay using Nalpha-tyrosyl-substance P and demonstration of the presence of substance P-like immunoreactivities in human blood and porcine tissue extracts. Sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay for substance P was developed using synthetic substance P and 125I-Nalpha-tyrosyl-substance P. Substance P-human alpha-globulin conjugate was used for production of anti-substance P antisera in rabbits. Synthetic substance P was used as a standard and the dextran-coated charcoal method was employed to separate the free peptide from that bound to antibodies. No cross-reactions by physalaemin and eledoisin observed in this system proved its high specificity to substance P. Nalpha-Tyrosyl-substance P and [Tyr1]-substance P showed the displacement curves indistinguishable from that of the standard substance P. Neither substance P5-11 nor substance P6-11 competed with the tracer at the concentration used. The minimum measurable dose of substance P by the assay system was 2.5-5 pg/incubate. Utilizing the system, human plasma samples from 42 healthy volunteers of both sexes were shown to contain immunoreactive substance P in amounts that averaged 298 pg/ml in male and 251 pg/ml in female. Substance P-like immunoreactivity was also demonstrated in hot-water extracts of porcine duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, middle colon, rectum, pancreas, stomach and pituitary. The highest concentration (379 ng/g wet weight of organ) was found in the pituitary, and the ileum (7.9 ng/g wet weight of organ) and jejunum (1.9 ng/g wet weight of organ) were rich in the contents.


A radioimmunoassay for human plasma corticosterone. A radioimmunoassay for human plasma corticosterone has been developed. Antiserum against corticosterone was produced in rabbits immunized with corticosterone-21-hemisuccinate conjugated to bovine serum albumin. The antiserum cross-reacted with progesterone, DOC and dehydrocorticosterone more than 20%. After the extraction with ether, and the separation by Sephadex LH-20 microcolumn chromatography, recovery was 51.2 +/- 12.1% in 50 assays. The mean coefficient of variation between assays was 7.7% and within assays was 8.6%. Human plasma corticosterone is measured readily by assaying aliquots of an ether extract of 0.05 to 0.1 ml of plasma after microcolumn chromatography. The mean plasma corticosterone concentration at 9 a.m. was 7.1 +/- 3.2 ng/ml in 45 normal subjects. Plasma corticosterone increased 5.2 times as much as basal values after ACTH injection, whereas radioimmunoassayed cortisol increased 2.4 times. On the other hand, plasma corticosterone decreased to 22.6% of basal values at four hours after 1 mg dexamethasone, whereas radioimmunoassayed cortisol decreased to 12.3% of basal values.


Post-traumatic anterior pituitary insufficiency developed in a patient with partial lipodystrophy. A case of partial lipodystrophy developing anterior pituitary insufficiency, chronic glomerulonephritis and pulmonary fibrosis was reported. The patient died of respiratory failure secondary to pituitary crisis during the hospital course. From the clinical course in recent several years and the postmortem examination the head injury following car accident in the past history was considered to be the most plausible cause of hypopituitarism. The etiology of pulmonary fibrosis remained unresolved.


Studies on the "low dose" suppressible Cushing's disease. Diagnosis of Cushing's disease in most cases can be established by the standard dexamethasone suppression test without difficulty. However, some cases were known to be normally suppressed by the standard low dose of dexamethasone (2 mg daily). The case we encountered recently was also normally suppressed by either the rapid (Nugent) or the standard (Liddle) method. This fact prompted us to study the usefulness of a single dose of 0.5 mg of dexamethasone to suppress the plasma cortisol in the normal. It was concluded that the single oral dose of 0.5 mg of dexamethasone given at 11 p.m. on the previous night suppressed the plasma cortisol efficiently the following morning in the normal, thus making the differentiation of particular cases of Cushing's disease from the normal possible. The disappearance of plasma dexamethasone did not differ significantly between the normal and the Cushing's disease.


Roles of circulating carcinoembryonic antigen and calcitonin in diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma: a comparative study. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and calcitonin (CT) were simultaneously determined in sera and tumor tissues from 15 patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT). Serum CEA was increased in all but one patient, and CT did in all of them. Both levels were significantly related to the weight of excised tumor, but not to the presence of metastasis. Furthermore, a significant correlation was noted between the basal levels of CT and CEA. Both levels fell to normal after a radical operation had been performed. Tissue concentrations of CEA and CT in the MCT were more than 100 times those in hyperthyroidism, and the ratios of tissue over serum levels averaged 770 in CEA and 1000 in CT. In the calcium infusion test, CEA levels were not significantly changed in contrast with a distinct increase in CT levels. The results indicate that CEA and CT represent separate activities of the tumor cells, and that circulating CEA together with CT is a useful indicator in the diagnosis and follow-up of the disease.


Purification and properties of whale thyroid-stimulating hormone III. Properties of isolated multiple components. Properties of the four purified components of whale thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) have been compared. The amino acid composition shows close similarity among these components. Their hexosamine and sialic acid contents are of the same magnitude, whereas the neutral sugar composition differs somewhat from each other. The molecular weight of whale TSH determined by sedimentation equilibrium is 29,000, and no difference in molecular weight as well as in Stokes radius as determined by gel filtration has been detected among these four components. The amino acid and carbohydrate compositions of whale TSH resemble those of TSH from other species, especially those of non-primate mammalian TSH. Whale TSH contains, unlike bovine TSH but like human TSH, 1-2 residues of sialic acid as a constituent carbohydrate.


Fetal rat adrenal steroidogenesis and steroid transfer to adrenalectomized mother. On the 22nd day of gestation in rats, fetuses of acutely adrenalectomized mothers were injected subcutaneously with 0.43 muCi 4-14C-progesterone in 0.05 ml saline. Ten and 20 min after injection to fetuses, samples were taken to determine the 14C-progesterone metabolites in the plasma and adrenal glands. After extraction of the samples taken, the metabolites were separated by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography and identified by autoradiography. 11-deoxycorticosterone, 18-hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone, corticosterone and 11beta-hydroxyprogesterone were identified in the plasma of injected fetuses, and, in far smaller amounts, in the plasma of their mothers. The plasma of noninjected fetuses also contained very small amounts of these corticoids. The fetal adrenal glands contained far smaller amounts of radioactive steroids than the fetal plasma did. The results obtained show that steroids of fetal origin can cross the placenta in and out, constituting evidence that the fetal adrenal glands are the only source of the plasma corticoids of their adrenalectomized mothers.


Variety of GH and TSH responses to somatostatin in perfused rat pituitaries in vitro. One male rat pituitary placed in a chamber was perifused with cyclic somatostatin (GIF) for 30 min. Either 160 nM or 1.6 muM GIF caused a decrease in the release of GH. The release of TSH was also decreased by 160 nM GIF, and paradoxically increased by 1.6 muM GIF. Increasing the dose of GIF to 16 muM resulted in an abrupt rise in the release of both GH and TSH during the perfusion; then the level of GH decreased to the nadir level followed by an elevation above the base line, while that of TSH promptly fell back toward the base line. The release of PRL was not clearly affected by 16 muM GIF. [Tyr8]-GIF did not have such stimulatory activities. These results indicate that GIF not only inhibits the release of GH and TSH, but also stimulates that of GH and TSH in this system, depending on its dose.


[Chemical heterogenicity of the synaptic organization of different regions of the rabbit cerebral cortex]. In anesthetized rabbits, visual EP was recorded in the temporal cortex, and EP elisited by stimulation of the n. ischiadicus--in the somatosensory cortex. Application of 1% GABA, glycine, and nembutal solutions to the site of EP recordings increased the visual EP and diminished the somatosensory EP. The data obtained seem to corroborate the chemical heterogeneity of synaptic organizations of the visual and somatosensory cortex in the rabbit brain.


[Cerebral cholinesterase under conditions of a generalized convulsive seizure]. The activity of acetylcholinesterase and butyrilcholinesterase was studied during prolonged seizures developing from a primary-cortical focus. The activity was found to spread both along the wide limbic system, which indicates to participation of cholinergic agents in processes of "recurrent generalization" of excitations, and along the horizontal system of fibers connecting both hemispheres. This latter finding indicates to participation of cholinergic mediatory mechanisms in formation of seizures.


[Recovery of function following incomplete section of the posterior funiculi of the spinal cord]. The course of functions recovery and the changes of somatosensory cortical evoked potentials were studied in cats after incomplete dorsal funiculi section at the cervical level. The restoration of functions was more rapid and complete in animals with the partial section as compared with those with complete dorsal funiculi section. The latter had no evoked potentials recovery. Undamaged fibers were concluded to be able to send a significant afferent inflow from the periphery to the cortical somatosensory areas and, apparently, to play an important role in the process of the compensatory reorganisation.


[Effective of surgical decortication on cardio-cardiac reflexes in cats]. The cardio-cardiac reflexes were studied in unanesthetized curarized cats before and after surgical decortication. The data obtained showed three varieties of the cortical adaptation: the inhibition of the reflexes, their facilitation, and the effects of regulatory "silence". Under normal condition the cortical function seems to exert modulating influences on the cardio-cardiac reflexes by way of the afferent vagal nucleus.


["Tracking" the magnitude of arterial pressure in the circulatory system]. Steady--state characteristics of arterial and venous pressure, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance, heart rate, and pumping heart capacity depending on blood volume change were studied in dogs under conditons of rest, exercises, light and deep narcosis. The tracking mean arterial pressure was found to be the main principle of hemodynamic regulation. In unanesthetized animals the tracking is based on heart regulation component mainly, while under light narcosis it is the vascular component. In deep narcosis it is the suppressed tracking principle: arterial pressure change is proportional to blood volume changes.


[Relationship between respiratory volume and duration of inspiration in decerebrate cats]. In decerebrated cats, tidal volume (Vt) was increased from apnoea to maximal values in result of rebreathing. In most cases there was a reversed relationship between Vt and inspiratory duration (Ti). The shape of curves was nearly the same before and after vagotomy. The curves consisted of three parts. The relationship between Vt and Ti is primarily determined by bulbopontine respiratory mechanism. Impulses from pulmonary stretch receptors shift Vt--Ti relationship curve to the left and down.


[Analysis of the relationship between pulmonary volume and the rate of pulmonary stretch receptor discharge in cats]. The "frequency of discharges vs. lung volume" ratio could be either linear (25 fibers, 24%), or breaking to linear pieces (24 fibers, 23%), or nonlinear (57 fibers, 53%). The nonlinear ratio was approximated with equation f=KVn+C, where f - frequency of discharges, V - volume of lung inflation, K and C - constant, the total less than 1. Afferent output from pulmonary stretch receptors increases in linear proportion to the volume of lung inflation.


[Role of extravagal reflexes in regulating diaphragmatic excitation following tracheal occlusion and changes volume of the thoracic cavity in cats]. Decerebrated vagotomized cats after tracheal occlusion developed a slight but significant decrease in duration of inspiration, respiratory cycle, and in amplitude of diaphragmatic nerve ENG. Deflation (10-30 ml) or inflation (20-60 ml) of the lungs produced no changes in activity of diaphragmatic motorneurons. A stronger inflation (80-100 ml) decreased the expiratory phase activity. After bilateral vagotomy only slight and inconstant changes of respiratory rhythm were observed.


[Characteristics of the motor activity of the stomach according to cutaneous electrogastrographic and balloon mechanographic findings]. Slow electrical potentials recorded from the stomach projections on extremities in dogs seems to be, in fact, the electrogastrogram reflecting major electrical events in different portions of the stomach. No constant correlation was revealed between the mechanical and electrical activities of the stomach. The electrogastrogram, being an expression of electrical activity of the smooth muscles of the stomach wall, can be permanently recorded, keeping at that a constant rhythm while changing its amplitude within comparatively narrow limits. The mechanogram, only reflecting coordinated contractions of the stamch muscles, is quite variable both in its amplitude and in the number of actual contractions.


[Effect of adrenocortical insufficiency on the motor activity of the gall bladder]. In chronical experiments on dogs, blocking of glococorticoidal function of adrenal cortex O, pI -- DDD decreases the gall bladder motility. Disorders of mineralcorticoid activity of adrenal cortex leads to an increase of the motility. Administration of hydrocortisone and 1% solution of sodium chloride aids to normalize the gall bladder motility in animals with adrenal insufficiency.


[Work capacity of skeletal muscles and energetics of muscular work during adaptation to cold]. After the cold adaptation muscle contraction and the working capacity decreased. However, the muscles of the adapted to cold rats are able to save the initial power for a longer time. The muscular work of adapted to cold rats involves a greater expenditure of energy as compared with the control rats. Changes of the working capacity of skeletal muscles in control rats after noradrenalin administration are similar to those occurring in adapted to cold rats.


[Blood lipid patterns in a population over 65 years of age in the Val d'Aosta area]. In a sample selection of 263 elderly male and female Valdostan subjects, the serum lipid pattern was studied. Cholesterol, triglyceride and lipoprotein serum concentrations have been analized. The hyperlipoproteinaemias found were classified according to Fredrickson and Levy. Both the apparently primitive hyperlipoproteinaemias as well as those of a secondary type were found to be type IIa, IIb and IV with a prevalence of IIb type in both sexes. Hyperlipoproteinemias were found more frequently in the younger groups with a prevalence in the female subjects. The mean values of serum cholesterol were 211 +/- 45 mg % in the males and 235 +/- 42 mg % in the females; the mean triglyceridemia was respectively 121 +/- 52 mg % and 149 +/- 70 mg %. Sex differences were statistically significant. The results confirm previous findings concerning the increase of blood lipids in females, after the V decade.


[A histo-cytological contribution to the knowledge of atrial internodal connections (author's transl)]. The problems, still widely discussed, concerning the demonstration of specific internodal conducting pathways in the right atrium have been reviewed, in the light of histo-cytological findings on the initial tracts of Bachmann's (anterior) and Thorel's (posterior) bundles in 7 human hearts. The evidence of Purkinjan cells and of small myocytes, together with the richness in connective tissue and nervous component, make these tracts clearly distinguishable from the common myocardium and seem to substantiate the thesis of morphologically discrete internodal connections.


[Tachycardia caused by sinus-node and atrial re-entry with associated depression of A-V conduction]. The authors report two clinical cases (one with WPW syndrome) of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia caused, in one case, by sino-atrial node or perisinusal nodal tissue re-entrance and in the other case by re-entry in the lower atrium and the high part of the A-V node junction. Both present A-V node Wenckebach periodism, which can be distinct from reciprocating tachycardias, through an anomalous pathway or within the A-V node, which have a typical A-V conduction in the ratio of one to one. But A-V node Wenckebach periodism makes it hard to differentiate between reciprocating and ectopic atrial tachycardias, as the latter often has an A-V block. The effects of two antiarrhythmic drugs (Verapamil, Amiodarone) on echo-zone duration, on initiation and on prophylactic long-term treatment of paroxysmal tachycardias are also reported and discussed.


[Infections in pacemaker carriers (author's transl)]. Of 2243 cardiac pacemakers implanted at the cardio-surgical centre of the surgical clinic in the University of Padua, 150 cases of infection were observed, mostly caused by a delayed cutaneous decubitus from the electrode or the battery. The main causes for infection in pacemaker carriers and the most suitable means for their prevention are discussed.


[Correlations between plasmatic concentrations and antiarrhythmic effect of bunaphtine (author's transl)]. Antiarrhythmic effect of Bunaphtine (1.5 mg/kg) (e.v. in 2 min) was studied in 35 patients with ectopic rhythms, both ventricular and supraventricular. Arrhythmia was checked by continuous electrocardiographic recording. Bunaphtinemia was determined by spectrophotometric method. Plasma concentration levels proved that Bunaphtine is cleared from the blood in two different stages: T1/2alpha = 0.5 min and T1/2beta = 84.7 min. Antiarrhythmic effect was observed in connection with the fast distribution phase and it was even more evident when plasma concentration fluctuated around 3-4 mg/l. Extrasystoles increased when Bunaphtine levels diminished. The minimum effective level showed fairly good individual differences. In three cases with congestive heart failure, hepatic and renal insufficiency the increase or the appearance of ventricular extrasystole was related to high Bunaphtinemia levels. Risk of toxicity seems to be related to the dose and the administration methods. Cardiac decompensation or hepatic and renal insufficiency determine more elevated and protracted Bunaphtinemia levels.


[Reconstruction of the pulmonary outflow tract with a valved conduit (author's transl)]. The authors describe 25 patients who underwent open heart surgery for reconstruction of the pulmonary outflow tract with a valved conduit. The following anomalies were observed: six cases of great vessels transposition, five cases of pulmonary artery atresia, five cases of truncus, three cases of tetralogy of Fallot and six cases of single ventricle. Two cases of single ventricle were treated in order to be transformed into a systemic ventricle. The pulmonary outflow was reconstructed with a valved conduit anastomosed between right atrium and pulmonary artery. This study includes pre- and postoperative hemodynamic values, surgical evaluation and a 5-months to 3-years follow-up. The authors emphasize that it is important that the surgical indications are closely related to the morphology and hemodynamics of pulmonary circulation for a better result.


[The vectorcardiogram of Fallot's tetralogy in the first two years of life. Qualitative and quantitative analysis (author's transl)]. 36 patients, less than two years old, affected by Fallot's tetralogy were studied by vectorcardiography. The configuration of the QRS loop in the three orthogonal planes, the voltage of the 0.10 sec spatial vector, RMSV and LMSV vectors, and their azimuth and elevation were evaluated. Such data have been correlated to arterial oxygen saturation. Qualitative analysis showed a clockwise or figure eight QRS loop on the H and F planes in the great majority of cases; and only in a counterclockwise loop on the H plane was the suspicion of an arterial oxygen saturation greater than 85% especially in cases older than two months. The terminal forces of the QRS loop on the H plane were always directed under the O point, Whereas in the valvular pulmonary stenosis, terminal forces are generally superior to the O point. Quantitative analysis demonstrated the constant increase of the RMSV and the direct relationship of the LMSV to arterial oxygen saturation, and so it was the principal parameter for evaluation of the left ventricular volume and the size of pulmonary flow and the degree of pulmonary stenosis. The relationship between the azimuth of 0.01 sec spatial vector to O2 saturation was highly significant, showing a progressive anterior development of the former, as the latter increased.


[Use of bidimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of cyanotic congenital heart diseases (author's transl)]. The introduction of bidimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of congenital heart diseases is a most promising application of ultrasounds yielding significant information in their anatomical "format". 16 cases of cyanotic congenital heart diseases were studied by an ecg-stop action technique and the results are presented and discussed.


[A new echocardiographic detection technique of the pulmonary valve (VP) in patients with cor pulmonale chronicum (CPC) (author's transl)]. In this paper, a new echocardiographic detection technique of the VP in patients with CPC is described. Subjects who frequently have large, barrel chests, with pulmonary emphysema and markedly depressed diaphragms, are very difficult to examine echocardiographically. By this technique, however, the authors obtained the highest detection rate so far reported (congruent to 100% of the patients studied). Moreover, the echocardiographic findings are validated by an ultrasonic anatomy study based on the use of Cardio Green (V.I.) as contrast agent.


[Study of normal left ventricular volume (author's transl)]. A study of left ventricular volume was carried out on ten normal subjects. The average values and the standard deviations of the end-diastolic (EDV) and end-systolic volumes (ESV), the systolic throw and the ejection (EF) are reported. They were obtained by using the single-plane cineventriculography method in the OAdx projection of 30 degrees.


[Isolated T wave electrical alternans in man (author's transl)]. A case of electrical T wave alternans without change of P wave and QRS complex is reported here. Literature on this subject is reviewed. It is emphasized that the alternation of T wave always exists when important morphological anomalies of QT tract and prolongation of QT are present.


[Idiopathic aneurysm of the left ventricle. Report of two cases and review of literature (author's transl)]. Two cases of left ventricular aneurysm occurring in young patients (23 and 29 years respectively) are reported. Coronary arteriograms were normal. Pertinent literature was reviewed. About 70 cases of left ventricular aneurysm in patients under 35 years of age have been reported: approximately half of them are congenital. They include both diverticuli of the apex, as a part of a syndrome of congenital defects, and those, much rarer, following myocardial infarction in children with anomalous origin of coronary arteries. A few cases may be attributed to trauma or myocarditis. In 26 patients, including the two reported here, etiology was uncertain (idiopathic aneurysm of the left ventricle) in as much as malformation or an infectious disease might have been the underlying cause.


[Patent double aortic arch and congenital mitral insufficiency (author's transl)]. A case of double aortic arch with severe congenital mitral incompetence and mild pulmonary arteries stenosis is described. A possible embriogenetic explanation of the anomaly is discussed in the light of preferential foetal blood flows.


[Incidence and outcome of fascicular blocks in the aged. Retrospective studies]. The results of a three-year follow-up study of 45 elderly subjects (mean age 79,5 years, range 67-96 years) with left anterior hemiblock (LAH) alone or associated to right bundle branch block (RBBB) are reported. In the presence of isolated LAH no significant changes in the mortality rate were observed. The patients with LAH+RBBB showed an increase in mortality rate and not rarely (2 cases out of 13) an evolution toward a complete A-V block. The role of age as a factor influencing the natural history of these patients is discussed.


[Echocardiographic studies with a multiscanner apparatus]. This technique aims at obtaining a dynamic bi-dimensional image of the cardiac structures, which can be directly registered on videotape and photographed with Polaroid cameras. It is particularly useful -- in as much as it gives characteristic images -- for obstructive and non-obstructive hypertrophic myocardiopathies, in exudative pericarditis, in tetralogy of Fallot and mitralic stenosis.


[Prognostic value of serial determination of CPK in acute myocardial infarction (author's transl)]. Serial determinations of CPK enzyme were performed every 4 hours during a 72 hour period in 40 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) admitted to the Coronary Care Unit in the first 6 hours (average 2.6) from the appearance of symptoms. The peak ratio of activity of CPK was 708 mU/ml +/- 48 E.S. as medium value in the whole group was reached in a medium period of 21,1 +/- 0,74 E.S. hours from the attack. Half value of the peak ratio activity was reached after a medium time of 19,1 +/- 1,0 E.S. hours. A significant statistical correlation between the CPK peak ratio and the prognostic index of Selvini et al. was found. The peak ratio resulted in 571 +/- 41 E.S. in patients with uncomplicated AMI, whereas in those with complications such as arrhythmias and heart failure the average value was 901 +/- 136 E.S. No significant correlation between CPK values and ST wave evolution of the ECG peak ratio of 1638 mU/ml was found; however, one patient who died of cardiac rupture showed a low level of 395 mU/ml. The diagnostic and prognostic value of the serial determination of CPK during the first 48 hours of a coronary attack is emphasized.


Fluorogenic detection of primary amines in plant histochemistry with fluorescamine: a comparative study on the effects of coagulant and non-coagulant fixatives. The new highly sensitive method of fluorescamine reaction for the topochemical detection of primary amino groups was studied as a substitude of ninhydrin-Schiff's reaction for the localisation of total proteins in plant tissues. The influence of various coagulant and non-coagulant fixatives on the induction of fluorescamine fluorescence was examined: ethanol, formaldehyde gas and solution, glutaraldehyde, acrolein, osmium tetroxide, Bouin, Rossman, Clarke and Zenker's fluids and FMA were employed. It was found that the use of the fluorogenic method is conditioned by the fixative ability to keep the amino groups disposable and by its capability to reduce the natural autofluorescence of plant material. A detailed account of the fixation methodology demonstrated that non-coagulant acrolein and coagulant mercuric chloride are the most promising fixatives for the use of the fluorescamine reaction in plant histochemistry.


A processing system for elaboration of data obtained by the oxygraph. A Data Processing System is presented to resolve some problems usually present in the oxygraph research. The possibility to obtain a file of data in which each experiment is arranged as completely as possible in the description of experimental conditions and the corresponding data permits the execution of some operations such as calculations, statistical elaborations, kinetic studies, research and comparation of experiments and plotting. This system may result very helpful in the programmation of the experiments and in the elaboration of the data obtained by the oxygraph technique.


Iodide, thiocyanate and cyanide ions as capturing reagents in one-step copper-thiocholine method for cytochemical localization of cholinesterase activity. The necessity of the presence of iodide in Cu-ThCh reaction was investigated by following the precipitate formation "in vitro" and by evaluating the ultrastructural localization of the precipitate in sympathetic ganglion cells of the frog and in the end-plate regions of the rat diaphragm. It was found that thiocyanate or cyanide is the only anion that can be substituted for iodide as the capturing agent in precipitation. The optimal concentration in the preincubation and incubation media of any one of the three anions is from 2 to 5 mM. At a concentration below 1 mM precipitation "in vitro" is considerably delayed as a result of which in electron microscopy diffusion artefacts appear in tissue sections. The unconverted primary precipitate obtained in the presence of iodide had been used for ultrastructural localization of ChE activity and now this use has been extended to precipitates obtained in the presence of CN- or CNS-. Better-quality localization in the presence of either one of the latter anions suggests that they, and particularly CN-, should be substituted for I- in the one-step Cu-ThCh method for the cytochemistry of cholinesterases.


A completely enzymatic method for the determination of glycerophospholipids in human serum. A simple method is reported for the determination of GPL in serum, requiring small amount of sample and adequate for screening of large population groups. The method is based on the release of glycerol portion of the phospholipid molecule by the combined action of phospholipase C and lipase. The glycerol is then determined by well established methods. The importance of screening of lecithin, that accounts for more than 84% of the glycerophospholipids of serum lipoproteins, is discussed in view of lipoprotein function and structure and in view of interaction between lipoproteins and plasma membranes.


Paraganglia in the urogential tract of man. According to the earlier concept, the paraganglia of man are believed to degenerate during the first postnatal years after their dominance during the fetal period. Clinical case reports on persisting paraganglia led us to extensive exploration of surgical material obtained from urological and gynecological surgery. The formaldehyde induced fluorescence (FIF) was used for tracing the catecholamine containing tissues. The fluorescence intensities were recorded with a Leitz MPV 2 microspectrophotometer. Solitary, small paraganglia were found in all patients studied. They were especially frequent in the walls of the urinary bladder and in the connective tissue surrounding the urogenital organs. The intensity of the fluorescence was comparable to pharmacological standard of 10(-2) M noradrenaline and at the same level as the FIF of human fetal paraganglia. All cells of the paraganglionic clusters exhibited FIF and no signs of degeneration could be observed. It is suggested that the paraganglia of man do not degenerate postnatally but persist as a remarcable catecholamine reservoir, which might be of physiological importance.


Histochemical properties of spermatozoa and somatic cells. III. Depolymerization and extraction of DNA during Feulgen acid. The Feulgen acid hydrolysis patterns of chromatin of different biochemical composition and compactness were analyzed. It was found that the purine extraction rate during acid hydrolysis was affected by the addition of NaCl or 2-mercaptoethanol to the hydrolysis bath. The maximum DNA depolymerization rate was directly correlated to the depurination rate but the extraction rate of hydrolysed DNA was in addition dependent on the stability of the surrounding protein matrix. The results indicate that the diffusion of DNA fragments is partially obstructed in extremely stabilized chromatins (e.g. bull spermatozoa). It is assumed that the extraction pattern of DNA is mainly dependent on the size of the fragments which leave the chromatin by diffusion. It appears that basic proteins do not influence the depolymerization of DNA but there are indications that during certain experimental conditions the purine liberation is dependent upon the chromatin structure.


On the method of Glenner for the histochemical demonstration of the monoamine oxidase (MAO). The method of Glenner et al. for the histochemical demonstration of MAO activity was studied by means of scanning microdensitometry and discrete measurement of optical density (lambda=590 nm) of the liver and brain tissues sections. The experiments indicated that: (1) The optimal time of incubation (the thickness of sections is 15 mum) is 60-90 min. (2) The histochemical reaction proceeds with the following substrates: dopamine, noradrenalin, serotonin, and tryptamine. (3) Iproniazid is the best inhibitor for preincubation whereas for simultaneous inhibition the substrate semicarbazide is better. (4) The incubation under the anaerobic conditions caused a considerable decrease of the stain intensity of the sections. We consider these data to indicate that both the aldehydes and acids formed under oxidation may take part in direct reduction of NBT to diformazan. (5) The histochemical reaction for MAO  without substrates testifies to the presence of endogenous amines or other redox reactions leading to the reduction of NBT.


Citizen participation and health care: problems of government induced participation. In this paper we trace the implications of some common contradictions in government-inspired efforts to increase citizen participation in health care delivery. We cover general problems of generating citizen participation, specific difficulties in community organization resulting when issues of health are the organizing focus, and the benefits that were thought to result from efforts to increase citizen participation in social programs in the 1960's. When programs focused on increased citizen participation were initiated program administrators attempted to maximize citizen involvement quickly by: projecting an image of maximal social impact; minimizing or ignoring questions of long-term fiscal uncertainty; projecting an image of maximal control by citizens; and projecting images of institutional solidarity and of experimentation and innovation. They tended to recruit to the staff social activists taken to be representative of the community (although they might not be), promising opportunities for upward mobility. They also tended to adopt conciliatory administrative styles in keeping with their experimental non-elitist orientations. These tendencies characteristic of the initiation phase of projects conflicted with the demands placed upon programs in later phases of program implementation. These demands resulted from later perceived needs to: evaluate programs; limit spending; counter internal organizational opposition; and respond to sponsors' shifting interests. Paraprofessionals recruited to the staff tended to lose their "community" orientation, and administrative style tended to focus considerably more on program accountability. These shifting program demands substantially account for what otherwise appears to be the failure of efforts to increase citizens' participation in health delivery programs, and, by extension, in other areas where the impetus for increased citizen participation comes from government initiatives.


The challenge of comparative health policy for political science. After a brief review of the literature and some reflection on the state of the art, this paper argues that more analyses of health policy in an explicitly comparative perspective are needed. This conclusion is based on a discussion of the largely unexploited benefits that could accrue from a welding of political science and health services research and a consideration of a research design illustrating the compatibility of these two endeavors.


Social class, political power, and the state: their implications in medicine--parts I and II. This three part article presents an anlysis of the distribution of power and of the nature of the state in Western industrialized societies and details their implications in medicine. Part I presents a critique of contemporary theories of the Western system of power; discusses the countervailing pluralist and power elite theories, as well as those of bureaucratic and professional control; and concludes with an examination of the Marxist theories of economic determinism, structural determinism, and corporate statism. Part II presents a Marxist theory of the role, nature, and characteristics of state intervention. Part III (which will appear in the next issue of this journal) focuses on the mode of that intervention and the reasons for its growth, with an added analysis of the attributes of state intervention in the health sector, and of the dialectical relationship between its growth and the current fiscal crisis of the state. In all three parts, the focus is on Western European countries and on North America, with many examples and categories from the area of medicine.


Health planning in the United States: an old idea with a new significance. This paper examines major features of the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-641), a piece of legislation that would radically restructure the health planning system of the United States. The Act combines several, previously uncoordinated, health planning and health resources development agencies into one coordinated program. The program is to consist of statutorily restricted federal agency which will generally oversee the operation of the program, a state program directed by a consumer-dominated board and a series of locally based, generally private, nonprofit, consumer-dominated corporations ("Health Systems Agencies") which will carry the bulk of the planning functions. The resource development portion of the act grants funds for a variety of programs. These include both grants and loans (at very favorable interest rates) for medical facilities. In addition there are funds available for innovative projects which hold the prospect of improving health services and environmental conditions within the community. The act also provides the states and local organizations with substantial power over a large portion of the allocations made under the Public Health Act and specifies the process by which health planning must be carried out. Each local planning agency must design a long range health plan for its community and prepare a one-year plan for carrying out portions of the health system plan. These two documents then are used to create State Health plans, plans for construction, modernization or conversion of health facilities and criteria for judging the appropriateness of health services offered in the local areas and in each state. The act seems to create a mechanism whereby the health industry could be quickly converted into a heavily regulated industry. This regulatory process could be implemented in conjunction with national health insurance or by itself.


Abortion and the law: the impact on hospital policy of the Roe and Doe decisions. The purpose of the article is to analyze the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court's abortion decisions upon the policies of hospitals in Harris County (Houston), Texas. The study attempts to determine the variables associated with the hospitals' policies prior to and following the Roe and Doe decisions and which variables best explain the change (or lack of change) from the first period to the other. The principal data source is a series of in-depth personal interviews with 68 key decision-makers in 36 general hospitals in Harris county. Critical data about the hospitals' economic status were obtained from the American Hospital Association's Hospitals: Guide Issue, 1972. The major findings of the study are as follows: (1) the Roe and Doe decisions did affect hospital policy in that within a year after the High Court's rulings, hospitals evidence a dramatic shift toward more permissive abortion policies; (2) economic variables, while not having much explanatory power for pre-Roe and Doe abortion policies, were important predictors of hospital policy and of the propensity for hospitals to liberalize their abortion standards after the Supreme Court decisions; and (3) the values, attitudes, and attributes of the individual decision-makers had much to do with explaining their respective hospitals' abortion policies before and after the Supreme Court decisions and accounted for changes in abortion policy from the first to the second period.


Exploring new ethics for public health: developing a fair alcohol policy. Alcoholism policy since the repeal of Prohibition has been largely based on the assumption that alcohol problems are the result of the failure of a small minority to "control" their drinking. Thus, in sharp contrast to the approach to other drug policies, the problem of alcohol abuse has been viewed as one of "bad users" rather than "bad substances." This regard of alcoholism has helped exonerate the majority of drinkers and the alcohol industry from responsibility. However, mounting epidemiological evidence demonstrates that a primary factor in rates of diseases such as cirrhosis is the per capita use of alcohol and suggests that alcohol problems can be controlled or reduced only if all involved in the manufacture, sale or consumption of alcohol accept the burdens of restrictions over its availability and use. This acceptance will not be forthcoming, however, unless the prevailing market ethic of individual responsibility and minimal collective obligations to protect and preserve life is replaced with a new public health ethic rooted in social justice. This new ethic would assign the highest priority to life and would stress the obligations of all citizens to share the burdens of reasonable restrictions over all health hazards. In this paper a new alcohol policy is outlined based on just and reasonable limits on the availability, marketing and consumption of this substance.


[Studies on the spine density in lamina V pyramidal cells of the visual cortex in young and subadult rats after dark-rearing and destruction of the dorsal nucleus in the lateral geniculate body]. 1. Dark reared 50 days old rats have a significantly diminuished number of spines at the apical dendrite of the lamina-V-pyramidal cells in the visual cortex. 2. Likewise we could ascertain a significant diminution of spines after destroying the upsilateral Cgld. The topistical distribution of spine density differs in both investigated series. 3. The spine diminution at the apical dendrites of lamina-V-pyramidal cells differs in this way: pyramidal cells with thick apical dendrites show a weaker spine diminution than the pyramidal cells with thin apical dendrites. 4. Some topistical problems concerning specific afferents in the visual cortex are discussed.


[Morphological studies on interneuronal relations in the feline motor cortex]. Three types of neuronal joinings in the cat motor cortex are described. The joinings of the 1st type (nests, barrels) consist of some pyramidal cells, apical dendrites of which form the bundles. The consolidation of neurons is achieved by means of dendro-dentritic contacts, pyramidal neuron collaterals and the associative transcortical afferents. The joinings of the 2nd type (distant) are formed with the participation of intracortical connections between the pyramidal and stellate neurons and are placed as concentric formation. The joinings of the 3rd type are formed with the help of projection thalamo-cortical afferents and large horizontal collaterals of basket cells.


[Comparative volumetric analysis of the main subdivisions of the brain in saurian reptiles]. The volumetric measure of the main subdivisions of the brain has been carried out on 32 species of Lizards and 3 species of Snakes. The analysis of the allometrical relations between the volume (the weight) of these subdivisions and the body weight shows firstly that the evolutionary or/and adaptative processes are only located at the mesencephalic and metencephalic levels. A more elaborate study leads meanwhile to the conclusion that anothers brain structures - pallium, basal areas, dorsal thalamus - are also implicated, according to the possibility to group the various species into taxomic units (such as family) or in another way; thus it has been possible to corroborate with quantitative datas the NORTHCUTT'S definition (1972) of the Type I (Lacertomorpha) and Type II (Dracomorpha) lizards; the Dracomorpha show "dynamical" structures - pallium and dorsal thalamus - and remind, in some degree the mammal organization. Each structure in each species can be expressed by the way of a relation index; like the encephalization index, the referrence is given by the 6 Lacertidae of the sample. The analysis of these indices is carried according to the legless condition, tree-dwelling life, vision performance and the various possibilities to group the species (taxonomic units such as family or another else); the comparison of the various indices corroborates the pecularities of the Lacertomorpha on the one hand and of the Dracomorpha on the other hand. The isoponderal percentages are calculated taking into account the allometrical relations and thus are better than the relative volumes commonly used. They lead to results previously expressed by the various relation indices. The comparison between Lizards and Snakes leads to the following conclusions: Snakes are less different among themselves than the Lizards, but the species of modern type (Caenophidia) are more telencephalized; they show a proper brain organization; meanwhile the legless condition is expressed, like in the so-called lizards, by a reduced cerebellar volume.


Anatomical and experimental study of certain association fascicles in the cortex of the rabbit (Oryctalagus cuniculus). 1. All lesions resulted in degeneration of the short intracortical association fibers in cortical layer I and of the short subcortical fibers which extended to the corona radiata before ending in the deeper layers of the overlying neopallium. 2. From all the lesions fibers were traced through the corona radiata to the subcallosal or the so-called superior fronto-occipital association bundle. This bundle had projection fibers to the orbitofrontal cortex. 3. From the lesion in the orbitofrontal neopallium, the orbitofrontal-pyriform connections were established. Such fibers coursed on the dorsal edge of the lateral olfactory tract and distributed to the pyriform cortex and to the nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract. 4. The uncinate fasciculus of man derived its name from its arching course from the base of the frontal lobe to the temporal lobe. Because of the more caudal position of the amygdala in the rabbit, the comparable fasciculus passed directly caudally and exhibited only slight arching. This fasciculus in the rabbit had the typical dorsal and ventral parts. The dorsal part arose from the orbitofrontal cortex to distribute to the pyriform and the temporal lobe cortices. The ventral portion extended into the olfactory tuberculum and the anterior amygdaloid area. 5. The paraventricular component of the transverse frontal fasciculus interconnected the neopallium with the medial part of the olfactory tuberculum. It had origins in the frontal and possibly in other neocortical areas. 6. The cingulum interconnected the medial portion of the olfactory tubercle, the septum, the various cingulate areas and areas of the neopallium with each other. 7. Therefore, the New Zealand white rabbit had short association fibers which were mainly neopallial in origin and termination and long association fibers which had both a neopallial and a limbic component.


The qualitative dynamics of a class of biochemical control circuits. The dynamical behavior of a class of biochemical control circuits that regulate enzyme or protein synthesis by end-product feedback is analyzed. Both inducible and repressible systems are studied and it is proven that in the former unique steady states are globally asymptotically stable. This precludes periodic solutions in these systems. A similar result holds for repressible systems under certain constraints on kinetic parameters and binding contants. However, when the reaction sequence is sufficiently long, or when a large enough number of effector molecules bind to each repressor molecule, repressible systems can show zero-amplitude ("soft") bifurcations: these are predicted by Hopf's bifurcation theorem.


Visual perception of rigidity of solid shape. Organisms react to objective properties of bodies in their visual field instead of to the perpetually changing retinal images of those bodies. We show how such a faculty can be mechanized. The organism synthesizes an internal model of the external object, that is a bundle of expectations of how the visual input will transform in response to the organism's exploratory movements. We deduce the necessary structure of the internal model and we show how the organism can extract this structure from the invariant features of the sensory input transformations. With this internal model it is possible to predict the subsequent aspects (contours) of the visual object as the spatial relations of organism and object change.


The effects of multiple reflex pathways on the oscillations in neuro-muscular systems. A model of mammalian neuro-muscular systems described previously (Oguztoreli and Stein, 1975) has been extended to include multiple reflex pathways, as have been shown to exist in primates, including man (Milner-Brown et al., 1975). A number of general mathematical properties of the extended system are described. In the final section, using computer solutions, it is shown that the presence of multiple reflex pathways can effectively reduce the tendency for oscillation which will exist if high reflex gain were concentrated in a single pathway. High loop gain is desirable for good control in any negative feedback system, so the presence of multiple reflex pathways could improve reflex control, while limiting the magnitude of tremor or other unwanted oscillations in neuro-muscular systems.


Female dominant age-dependent deterministic population dynamics. In this paper the study of a nonlinear deterministic model of an age/sex differentiated population is started with a proof of existence and uniqueness of solution of the governing equation. We also obtain time dependent upper bounds to the male and female populations as well as necessary and sufficient conditions for equilibrium.


Theory of the response of the limulus retina to periodic excitation. Analytical and numerical solutions are given for several problems which arise from a mathematical description of inhibitory interactions in the Limulus retina. The theory developed here takes into account the delay in lateral inhibition and the gradual decay of lateral and self-inhibition. Emphasis is laid on the calculation of responses to excitation fields which are periodic in time and either spatially uniform or of traveling wave type. The analytical solutions given are intended to help experimenters determine the range in which certain linearized equations and reduced measures of excitation are useful for the design and interpretation of experiments. Certain of the numerical solutions obtained describe intrinsically non-linear effects, such as "periodic bursting" under constant excitation.


The error catastrophe hypothesis and aging. A theory of the propagation of errors in the system of enzymes translating genetic information into proteins developed earlier is extended to include errors at the transcription level. The theory is compared to other statistical theories. The properties are defined of the protein synthesizing machineries, especially those of the erroneous enzymes, which give catastrophe, stable self-replication containing errors, recovery from errors, etc. Experimental data are analyzed in light of the theory to determine the validity of the error catastrophe hypothesis of aging.


Convergence of genetic compositions assuming infinite population-size and overlapping generations. The assumptions for the model treated in this paper are based on a population of hypothetically infinite size, which has reached its optimum density within a limited habitat. The aim has been to derive sufficient conditions for the genetic composition of a population to converge to a limit if generations overlap and time is measured in discrete intervals. Trivially the genetic composition does not change if at the starting point of time the compositions within all age-classes are the same; otherwise global convergence of the age-class distributions implies uniform convergence of the genetic compositions within the single age-classes if mating takes place between at least two age-classes, or within the first age-class only. Excluding age-class 1 mating within one age-class only results in periodical change of genetic compositions.


On a transcendental equation in the stability analysis of a population growth model. We consider the rate equation n = rn for the density n of a single species population in a constant environment. We assume only that there is a positive constant solution n*, that the rate of increase r depends on the history of n and that r decreases for great n. The stability properties of the solution n* depend on the location of the eigenvalues of the linearized functional differential equation. These eigenvalues are the complex solutions gamma of the equation gamma + alpha integral of 0-1exp[gamma a] ds (a) = 0 with alpha greater than 0 and s increasing, s(-1) = 0, s(0) = 1. We give conditions on alpha and s which ensure that all eigenvalues have negative real part, or that there are eigenvalues with positive real part. In the case of the simplest smooth function s (s = id + 1), we obtain a theorem which describes the distribution of all eigenvalues in the complex plane for every alpha greater than 0.