Technique for evaluating left ventricular performance with apical two-dimensional echocardiography: Progress report

A technique of modelling the left ventricle for the purpose of volume determination has been devised. Two-dimensional echocardiographic data from the apical four chamber and two chamber views are used to pattern the ventricle as a stack of elliptical discs. The method has been validated for an array of regular geometric shapes commonly associated with ventricular architecture. The relative advantages of this model are discussed.     

Noninvasive assessment of the stenotic mitral valve orifice by two-dimensional echocardiography

Two-dimensional echocardiographic imaging of the mitral valve orifice was attempted in 26 patients with isolated mitral stenosis. The intention was to examine further the clinical usefulness and limitations of this technique for estimating the severity of mitral stenosis. Technically adequate recordings of the mitral orifice were obtained in 20 patients (77%). Mitral valve area calculated from echocardiography compared favorably to the valve area derived from cardiac catheterization with the use of the Gorlin formula (r = 0.95). The average difference between the two methods was 0.109 cm(2). Two-dimensional echocardiography does provide clinically useful data for predicting the degree of mitral stenosis in the majority of patients provided that critical technical limitations are recognized.     

Effects of density of larvae on the biology of the gypsy moth, Porthetria dispar

The crowding of larvae of Porthetria dispar in laboratory cultures incuced physiological and morphological differences. Larvae which were crowded developed faster than isolated larvae, but the development of instars varied in a characteristic manner. In crowded larvae (1) instar I was longer, (2) instars II–IV were shorter, (3) in males the penultimate and last instar were shorter, (4) in females the penultimate and last instar were longer, (5) in both sexes the pupal period was shorter. The pupal weights from crowded larvae were less, indicating a loss of fecundity. Crowding larvae increased the percentage of larvae which had increased survival. Phalaris tuberosa tended to cause high mortality in Rhopaea. Trifolium than the coloration of adults reared in isolated cultures.

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Zusammenfassung In Laboratoriumszuchten gedrängt aufgezogene Schwammspinner-Raupen entwickelten sich schneller als einzeln gehaltene. Die in dichten Freilandpopulationen beobachtete raschere Entwicklung ist daher wahrscheinlich eine dichteabhängige Wirkung. Die gesteigerte Entwicklungsrate der gedrängt aufwachsenden Larven war nicht das Ergebnis einer allgemeinen Wachstumsbeschleunigung aller Stadien. Das Stadium 1 gedrängter Raupen dauert länger, während die Stadien II–IV kürzer waren. Bei den Männchen waren das vorletzte und letzte Stadium kürzer, bei Weibchen länger. Die Puppenzeit war bei dicht aufwachsenden Larven in den beiden Geschlechtern kürzer, auch wenn die Puppen dann isoliert gehalten wurden. —Zusammenpferchung erhöhte den Prozentsatz der Raupen, die ein zusätzliches Larvenstadium durchliefen. Raupen, die zusätzliche Häutungen durchmachten, haben ein längeres erstes Stadium und wiesen höhere Puppengewichte auf. Auf Grund des verlängerten ersten Stadiums und eines veränderten Spinnverhaltens wurde kürzlich vermutet, daß diese Raupen sich leichter zerstreuen. Das Auftreten eines höheren Prozentsatzes von Larven mit überzähligen Stadien könnte ein Mechanismus zur Sicherung des Abwanderns aus Gebieten sein. wo die Nahrungsvorräte erschöpft sind. Höhere Fruchtbarkeit könnte dazu beitragen, die geringere Überlebenschance abwandernder Raupen auszugleichen.Die Falter von gedrängt aufgezogenen Raupen waren heller gefärbt. Dies steht im Gegensatz zu anderen Arten, von denen bei hoher Dichte eine Verdunkelung der Färbung angegeben wird.

     

Induction and development of increased ion absorption in corn root tissue

Washing excised or intact primary roots of corn (Zea mays L., WF9 × M14) in aerated distilled water or dilute salt solutions for 2 hours induced doubling of the rate of accumulation of various nutrient ions and solutes. This response to washing depended upon aerobic metabolism, but involved no increase in aerobic respiration. Excision of root tissue was not required as the effect could be obtained with intact root systems. Increased phosphate absorption followed after a lag period of 30 to 40 minutes and continued for 6 hours before leveling off at about 3.5 times the initial rate. Chloramphenicol was not inhibitory to the development of increased absorption, while inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis were. Auxins and kinetin were also inhibitory, but so was the antiauxin, 2,4,6-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid.     

Increased Membrane-bound Adenosine Triphosphatase Activity Accompanying Development of Enhanced Solute Uptake in Washed Corn Root Tissue

Washing of excised corn (Zea mays L., variety WF9×M14) root tissue is accompanied by an increase in (Mg²⁺ + K⁺)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase. This is the adenosine triphosphatase described by Fisher, Hansen, and Hodges as positively correlated with ion accumulation rates. The increase in activity is confined to the microsomal fraction. A close parallel exists between increases in adenosine triphosphatase and phosphate absorption, and they respond similarly to inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis. However, the amplitude of change is much smaller in adenosine triphosphatase. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

Studies of the orotidine 5′-monophosphate decarboxylase activity of crude extracts of human cells

The specific activity of orotidine 5-monophosphate (OMP) decarboxylase in cultured human fibroblasts is an exponential function of the concentration of cell protein in the extract. Low concentrations of uridylic or cytidylic acid augment the catalytic activity of dilute solutions of cell extract but not of concentrated ones. In the presence of urea, specific activity becomes independent of protein concentration, and uridylic or cytidylic acid augments activity over all concentrations of cell extract. These results, as well as other observations, suggest that the decarboxylase may be composed of subunits which are in dynamic equilibrium with an aggregate. At least one of the subunits is likely to have catalytic activity for the reaction, though less activity than the aggregate. The effect of the mutant gene for orotic aciduria on OMP decarboxylase is easily demonstrated when cell extracts are assayed in either the presence or the absence of urea.Supported by Program Project Grants 1-PO1-GM 15419 and GM 18153-1, National Institutes of Health, United States Public Health Service.     

Mucilage from a fresh-water red alga of the genus Batrachospermum

The gelatinous polysaccharides of a Batrachospermum species have been extracted from the alga. The major polysaccharide is acidic and has been separated from neutral polysaccharides by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The constituent sugars of the acidic polysaccharide include d- and l-galactose, d-mannose, d-xylose, l-rhamnose, d-glucuronic acid, and two O-methyl sugars, which have been characterized as 3-O-methyl-l-rhamnose (l-acofriose and 3-O-methyl-d-galactose. Partial acid hydrolysis of this polysaccharide has given a complex mixture of neutral and acidic oligosaccharides. The two preponderant acidic oligosaccharides contained galactose and glucuronic acid in 1:1 ratio, suggesting the presence of a repeating sequence of these two residues as a major structural feature of the polysaccharide.     

Cytochemistry of epinephrine and norepinephrine adrenomedullary cells

Summary Rat adrenomedullary tissue was fixed in 3% glutaraldehyde in a variety of buffers at different osmolarities. Incubations were performed in potassium dichromate (DC) at pH 4.1 to identify norepinephrine (NE) specifically and in osmium tetroxide to enhance contrast and to define membrane structures. Different buffer systems were also used for the DC and the osmium processes. It is evident from the results that both the osmolarity of the initial fixative and the incubation process itself are critical for adrenomedullary catecholamine (CAM) localization. Furthermore, the Schiff monobase formed by the amine and the aldehyde in the initial reaction was found to be reactive before and even after the tissue had been epoxy-embedded. Thus the technique of on-grid staining of tissue with DC has now been made possible and works sufficiently well to show a high degree of promise for future investigations. In vitro experiments were performed using purified CAMs. Reactions were conducted using the purified CAMs in solution with glutaraldehyde. The resulting reaction products then were incubated with DC and collected by centrifugation. The amount of chromium (Cr) present in the products was determined by the use of an electron probe as well as by chemical analyses by a commercial laboratory. In all cases it was evident that indeed Cr was in the reaction product, indicating this to be the electron-dense product seen microscopically in the tissue. In essence, as a result of this investigation, the specificity of the glutaraldehyde-DC pH 4.1 reaction has been made more sensitive, more utilizable cytochemically, and further substantiated by the chemical analyses of in vitro reaction products. Moreover, the on-grid staining technique leads to a new concept, not only in the electron microscopy of CAMs but in other heavy metal reactions as well.This investigation was supported by HEW Grant NS06980 and the Nathanael Henry Asten Fund for Research in Paralysis Agitans.