Populations of the spinach wilt pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. spinaciae, in the root tissues, rhizosphere, and soil in the field.

Populations of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. spinaciae in root tissues and rhizosphere soil of diseased spinach plants were higher than in the root tissues and rhizosphere soil of healthy plants. Populations in soil rhizosphere were higher than in nonrhizosphere soil. The fungus populations were very low in the root tissues of the nonsusceptible strawberry, broccoli, chinese cabbage, and mustard grown in the infested field. The populations were low at the beginning of the season, increased, and remained high during the summer, then dropped in the fall. The fungus populations ranged from 1600 to 2600 propagules/g in the top 10 cm of soil, declined sharply between 11 and 20 cm, and were nondetectable between 41 and 60 cm.     

Development of the small intestine in the hypophysectomized rat. I. Growth histology, and activity of alkaline phosphatase, maltase, and sucrase.

Rats hypophysectomized at 6 days of age continue to grow but at a subnormal rate. At 24 days, when maturation of the intestinal epithelium normally culminates, the intestine is disproportionately small. The crypts are shallow and the mitotic rate low. The villi are short, and they fail to achieve the broad, leaflike form found in controls. The absorptive cells acquire a deep subnuclear zone, and their surfaces apparently cease to carry on pinocytosis. Rough endoplasmic reticulum is however sparse, and the Golgi complexes are small and atypical in structure. Duodenal alkaline phosphatase remains at the low level characteristic of the neonatal intestine. Sucrase activity appears in the jejunum, and maltase activity increases slightly, but both activities are less than a third of those in intact animals at 24 days. If the pituitary is removed later than 6 days, enzyme activities are higher than after early ablation, but they remain deficient even when the operation is performed at 16 days.     

Development of the small intestine in the hypophysectomized rat. II. Influence of cortisone, thyroxine, growth hormone, and prolactin.

The intestinal deficiencies caused by hypophysectomy of rats at 6 days of age can be repaired to varying degrees by thyroxine or cortisone but not by growth hormone or prolactin. Administration of daily doses of thyroxine alone from 19–22 days raises duodenal alkaline phosphatase activity to normal levels at 24 days; it has a strong effect on jejunal sucrase and maltase, although these activities remain below those of controls. Thyroxine causes a marked increase in rough endoplasmic reticulum and restores the Golgi complexes to their normal appearance. It also elicits an intensification of periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stainability of the brush border. Cortisone acetate given from 19 to 22 days elevates sucrase and maltase to normal levels but does not fully restore phosphatase activity. Like thyroxine, cortisone causes intensification of PAS staining of the brush border and also increases rough endoplasmic reticulum. It seems to stimulate Golgi activity, but results in the appearance of a variety of abnormal forms. The defects in Golgi configuration, brush border carbohydrate content, and activity of glycoprotein enzymes that are bound to the brush border may all reflect impaired glycosylation in the hypophyseoprivic state; the results of thyroxine or cortisone administration suggest that both hormones may affect glycosylation but in different ways.     

Science,medicine, and the future. Hypertension.

The abundance of drugs now available for treating hypertension, and evidence that small reductions in blood pressure reverse the associated risk of stroke have shifted clinical concerns away from hypertension. However, we do not understand the cause of hypertension in 95% of patients, fail to achieve a normal blood pressure in 50% of patients, and are unable fully to reverse the cardiac and vascular changes that predate the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Consequently, hypertension remains the commonest cause of strokes in Britain and of renal failure in the United States. Essential hypertension is a polygenic disease whose understanding can now be advanced through molecular genetic analyses. Several different syndromes are likely to be recognised; most will be due to interactions between genetic and environmental factors, but there are also likely to be further monogenic syndromes in families with multiple affected members. Recognition of these syndromes will permit accurate genetic prediction of prognosis and optimal treatment and perhaps lead to new and more powerful classes of antihypertensive treatment.     

Immigration,Christian faith communities,and the practice of multiculturalism in the U.S. South

Recent scholarship has declared multiculturalism to be in retreat, yet multiculturalist discourses and practices remain salient in many realms of social reproduction. This paper explores multiculturalism in predominantly white churches in the U.S. South, a region that has seen significant demographic transformations due to immigration. Church outreach to immigrants draws on theologies that reject racial prejudice and that call for the accommodation and celebration of cultural differences. Drawing on qualitative research with pastors and congregants, this article explores how multiculturalist practice is both re-working and reinforcing existing social relationships in Christian faith communities. Multiculturalist practices, we show, disrupt racialized hierarchies long embedded in white churches. But they simultaneously leave racialized distinctions and inequalities intact, in part by maintaining separation between immigrants and non-immigrants. This case illustrates the everyday politics of multiculturalism and the ways in which the boundaries of social membership take shape in ordinary, seemingly non-political spaces.     

Health,illness, and immigration. East Indians in the United States.

East Indian immigrants to the United States represent the diversity in religion, language, and culture that exists in India, so it is difficult to make unequivocal statements about their health beliefs and behaviors. Despite the diversity, an understanding of Ayurvedic humoral concepts of health and illness provides a key to some pervasive and persistent ideas and practices. India has a pluralistic medical system in which Western medicine, which is increasingly popular for some ailments, is one option among many. Even those who are familiar with the "Western" medical system in India may find American medicine alien.     

Science,medicine, and the future. Prospecting for gold in the human genome.

Doctors struggling with the daily problems of clinical medicine usually have little time for molecular and cell biology. But genetic research is producing an explosion of knowledge which doctors will need to understand in order to join in the ethical and financial debates that will inevitably follow the new treatments discovered. There may, indeed, be therapeutic gold hidden in our genes, but the price for it could be more than we can afford. This is the first of three articles introducing a series which aims to convey the excitement and potential power of biomedical science by speculating how current research will impinge on clinical management of common conditions.     

Longitudinal qPCR Study of the Dynamics of L. crispatus,L. iners,A. vaginae, (Sialidase Positive) G. vaginalis,and P. bivia in the Vagina

Background

To obtain more detailed understanding of the causes of disturbance of the vaginal microflora (VMF), a longitudinal study was carried out for 17 women during two menstrual cycles.

Methods

Vaginal swabs were obtained daily from 17 non-pregnant, menarchal volunteers. For each woman, Gram stains were scored, the quantitative changes of 5 key vaginal species, i.e. Atopobium vaginae, Lactobacillus crispatus, L. iners, (sialidase positive) Gardnerella vaginalis and Prevotella bivia were quantified with qPCR and hydrogen-peroxide production was assessed on TMB+ agar.

Results

Women could be divided in 9 subjects with predominantly normal VMF (grades Ia, Ib and Iab, group N) and 8 with predominantly disturbed VMF (grades I-like, II, III and IV, group D).VMF was variable between women, but overall stable for most of the women. Menses were the strongest disturbing factor of the VMF. L. crispatus was present at log7–9 cells/ml in grade Ia, Iab and II VMF, but concentrations declined 100-fold during menses. L. crispatus below log7 cells/ml corresponded with poor H₂O₂-production. L. iners was present at log 10 cells/ml in grade Ib, II and III VMF. Sialidase negative G. vaginalis strains (average log5 cells/ml) were detected in grade I, I-like and IV VMF. In grade II VMF, predominantly a mixture of both sialidase negative and positive G. vaginalis strains (average log9 cells/ml) were present, and predominantly sialidase positive strains in grade III VMF. The presence of A. vaginae (average log9 cells/ml) coincided with grade II and III VMF. P. bivia (log4–8 cells/ml) was mostly present in grade III vaginal microflora. L. iners, G. vaginalis, A. vaginae and P. bivia all increased around menses for group N women, and as such L. iners was considered a member of disturbed VMF.

Conclusions

This qPCR-based study confirms largely the results of previous culture-based, microscopy-based and pyrosequencing-based studies.     

Nervostroma, gen. nov. in the Sclerotiniaceae, the teleomorph of Cristulariella, and Hinomyces anam. gen. nov. to accommodate the anamorph of Grovesinia: reassessment of the genus Cristulariella

Taxonomy of the genus Cristulariella is revised, retaining Cristulariella (Crist.) depraedans as the type. Two new species, Crist. cercidiphylli and Crist. corni, are additionally described under the genus. The new anamorphic genus Hinomyces is erected to accommodate Botrytis (Cristulariella) moricola and Cristulariella pruni. A new genus and species, Nervostroma depraedans, is erected in the Sclerotiniaceae to accommodate the teleomorph of Crist. depraedans, with an additional species, Nervostroma cercidiphylli.     

Altered retinal metabolism in diabetes. I. Microanalysis of lipid, glucose, sorbitol, and myo-inositol in the choroid and in the individual layers of the rabbit retina

Total lipid, sucrose, glucose, sorbitol and myo-inositol contents in individual layers from normal and alloxan-diabetic rabbit retinas were measured using gravimetric and enzymatic microtechniques. Pure samples of nine retinal layers were microdissected from freeze-dried retinal cryosections. The lipid content was measured by loss of weight after ethanol and hexane extraction. Retinal lipid varied 3-fold across the retina and was not influenced by diabetes. Sucrose, glucose, sorbitol, and myo-inositol were measured with fluorimetric microassays. Sucrose infused intravenously prior to sampling the tissue did not traverse the outer blood retinal barrier of the normal or the diabetic retina. In both normals and diabetics, glucose followed a diffusional curve, with outer and inner retinal concentrations, respectively, equal to choroidal blood and vitreal glucose concentrations. Sorbitol was elevated in all retinal layers of diabetic animals. The peak sorbitol concentrations, of 2 mmol/kg defatted dry weight in diabetics, were not high enough to be osmotically significant. Retinal myo-inositol, of the order found in brain tissue (10-30 mmol/kg defatted dry tissue), was decreased by 22-40% in all retinal layers of the diabetics. The results indicate that diabetes affects the metabolism of retinal structures independently of the small blood vessel disease that is the hallmark of diabetes of long duration. It is conceivable that primary intraretinal metabolic alterations cause, aggravate, or perpetuate the well known degenerative processes that occur in retinal blood vessels in diabetes.