On the trail of Dr. Fifer.

A gift from a patient drew Hope, BC, family physician Gerd Asche irrevocably into the local medical history of the 1858 Fraser River Gold Rush. Because of his interest in Dr. Max William Fifer, Asche undertook research missions in British Columbia, England and the US, converted his computer room to a research and writing centre, and wrote a biography of his predecessor and colleague. He recounts his experience and the growing satisfaction provided by his interest in medical history.     

On the function of sleep.

It is proposed that sleep serves the function of maintaining immobility in animals at times when immobility is an optimum behavioural survival strategem. Sleep is of great evolutionary age and is always carefully tailored to the life-style of each animal; abundant in some species and absent from others. The survival advantages conferred on an animal by the power of sleep to schedule behaviour effectively may justify its existence and persistence in the evolution of species.     

On the histochemistry of prostaglandin-dehydrogenase.

Using PGF2alpha as substrate the PGDH-activity was localised in the male and in the female rat kidney by histochemical technique. The reaction is independent of the presence of NAD, but with NAD the reaction intensity is enhanced. The effectors phenazine methosulphate, Triton X 100 and Tween 80 showed no enhancing effect on the enzyme activity. In the rat kidney we have found the reaction product predominantly in the inner cortex (straight portion of the proximal tubules), however, sex dependent differences of PGDH-activity and localization are visible.     

On the autoxidation of bilirubin.

The instability of oxygenated aqueous solutions of bilirubin in the dark is due to several distinguishable processes: autoxidation, surface phenomena and precipitation-aggregation. Autoxidation occurs in aqueous solutions over a pH range 7.4–13.2 in the presence of even traces of oxygen. Several autoxidation products have been isolated and identified. At pH 7.4–8.8 bilirubin precipitates from 2.5 × 10^?5 M solutions and adsorbs to the walls of the glass container. In ammoniacal methanol, chloroform and dimethyl sulfoxide aggregation phenomena do not occur and autoxidation is very slow.