ARAGONITE CRYSTALS IN SPIROGYRA SP. (CHLOROPHYTA)

Intracellular crystals of aragonite have been identified by selected area electron diffraction (SAED) in a species of the freshwater filamentous alga Spirogyra from the Thames River, Ontario, Canada. The crystals are 2 to 24 μm in diameter, and characterized by a unique cross-shaped morphology, in which needle-like, or prismatic outgrowths develop from a common axis. Crystals may be dispersed throughout filaments, but tend to cluster as aggregates towards the centre .     

A homologous radioimmunoassay for guinea pig corticosteroid-binding globulin

A rapid, specific, and sensitive (requiring only 20 fmole of antigen equivalent to 0.007 microliter of serum) radioimmunoassay (RIA) was developed for the measurement of guinea pig corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG). CBG was purified to homogeneity from guinea pig serum by affinity chromatography and used for immunization, as the standard and as the radiolabeled trace in the RIA. The antiserum to CBG was raised in rabbits. It was judged specific by immunoelectrophoresis and by comparison of RIA values with steroid-binding assay profiles obtained on serum separated on the basis of size and ion-exchange properties. The results of the radioimmunoassays agree with those of a steroid-binding assay run on identical samples. The sensitivity of the assay allows detection of CBG in serial serum samples, other biologic fluids such as milk, and cell culture supernatants.     

Effects of P-fertilization and inoculation by two vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on growth and nodulation ofCalopogonium caeruleum

The growth response ofCalopogonium caeruleum, a leguminous covercrop in plantation agriculture, to inoculation with two vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi was investigated in five phosphorus (P)-deficient soils supplied with various levels of rock phosphate. Significant shoot yield increases over the uninoculated controls were obtained in most sterilised or unsterilised soils at all applied P levels, although the inoculant VAM fungi differed in their effectiveness in the soils used. Responses in mycorrhizal root infections, P and nitrogen (N) concentrations in tops and plant nodulation varied. The results are discussed in relation to the edaphic environment of the mycorrhizal association.     

Hynes pharyngoplasty revisited

The treatment of velopharyngeal incompetence remains unsatisfactory because the causes are many, as are the variations in anatomic and physiologic defects. Therefore, full assessment and investigation are essential in tailoring the surgery to the defect. A modified Hynes pharyngoplasty has been used in 40 patients, aged 4 to 52, over a 4-year period for velopharyngeal incompetence of varying etiologic causes. Speech was assessed before and at least 6 months after pharyngoplasty. At the same time, radiologic and, when possible, nasendoscopic investigations were undertaken. Thirty-eight patients had no or variable nasal escape (variable defined as achieving intermittent closure), whereas 33 had normal or slight hyponasal resonance. There was only one complication, an asymptomatic dehiscence of the "bucket handle" flap from the posterior wall. Thirteen patients had an assortment of side effects, none requiring surgical treatment. We believe that patients who are suitable for the described sphincter pharyngoplasty are those with slight or moderate nasal escape having a mobile palate with an anteroposterior gap of 5 mm or less.     

The effects of ionizing radiation on the pulmonary vasculature of intact rats and isolated pulmonary endothelium

We studied the effects of ionizing radiation on the morphology of the pulmonary circulation using an in vivo rat model and an in vitro pulmonary artery endothelial cell model. Gamma radiation was given as either an acute (30 Gy) or fractionated (5 X 6 Gy) dose to one hemithorax of rats. An acute 30-Gy dose delivered resulted in a 70% decrease in pulmonary arterial perfusion, using technetium-99m microaggregated albumin (99mTc-MAA), in the irradiated lung by 2-3 weeks after irradiation. Pulmonary microradiographs, using a barium sulfate perfusion method, obtained 2-3 weeks after irradiation demonstrated widespread loss of capillary filling and segmentation of the vessels. Histologic examination demonstrated intact capillaries, suggesting that the alterations in pulmonary perfusion were at the precapillary level. Similar abnormalities in lung perfusion and morphology were found after delivery of fractionated doses of radiation, but the onset of the changes was delayed, occurring 4-6 weeks postirradiation. Using cultured pulmonary endothelial cell monolayers, cell sloughing and retraction from the surface substrate were observed within 24 h after in vitro delivery of 30 Gy. Similar findings occurred in monolayers given fractionated doses (5 X 6 Gy) of radiation 2-3 days after the final dose. The in vivo animal and in vitro endothelial cell models offer a useful means of examining the morphologic alterations involved in radiation lung vascular damage.     

Aspirin and acetaminophen use by pregnant women and subsequent child IQ and attention decrements

In a longitudinal prospective study of 1,529 women pregnant in 1974-1975, aspirin and acetaminophen were the two medications most frequently taken during the first half of pregnancy (46 and 41%, respectively). In a selected cohort of 421 offspring of these women, examined at 4 years of age, maternal aspirin use during the first half of pregnancy was significantly related to IQ and attention decrements in the exposed children. Multiple regression analyses were used to statistically adjust for a variety of potentially confounding factors including demographic characteristics, child characteristics, other exposures, and lifestyle/environmental variables. Continuous dose-response and step-function parameterizations of aspirin exposure were both statistically significant and not clearly distinguishable from each other. The estimated aspirin effect is significantly greater for girls than boys. Aspirin effects on offspring function were found in the absence of effects on physical size both at birth and at 4 years. Maternal acetaminophen use was not significantly related to child IQ or attention. As this exploratory research originated from observations of a data set gathered for other purposes, it would be desirable to have these findings replicated in other studies. Further follow-up of the children at a later age is planned.     

Phorbol ester binding and protein kinase C activity in normal and transformed human keratinocytes

Normal keratinocytes, SV40-transformed keratinocytes (SVK14), and various squamous carcinoma cell (SCC) lines have been used as an in vitro model system to study the properties of phorbol ester receptor and protein kinase C expression during keratinocyte differentiation. The cell lines used exhibit a decreasing capacity to differentiate in the order of keratinocytes approximately SVK14 greater than SCC-12F2 greater than SCC-15 greater than SCC-4; moreover, all cell lines respond to a low external Ca2+ concentration by a decreased capacity to differentiate. Normal keratinocytes exhibited the highest number of phorbol ester receptors as compared to the other cell lines, while each individual cell line exhibited a higher number of phorbol ester receptors during growth under normal Ca2+ conditions as compared to cells grown under low Ca2+ conditions. The apparent dissociation constant (Kd) demonstrated only small variations in the various cell lines. In contrast, the cytoplasmic protein kinase C activity, was found to be higher in cells grown under low Ca2+ conditions than in cells grown under normal Ca2+ conditions, indicating the absence of a causal relationship between cytoplasmic protein kinase C activity and phorbol ester receptor expression. Therefore the properties of protein kinase C have been determined in more detail in normal keratinocytes and SCC-15 cells. These studies revealed differences between protein kinase C properties from the two cell lines grown under normal and low Ca2+ conditions. The differences included the effect of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) on the redistribution pattern of protein kinase C between the cytoplasmic and particulate fractions as well as the activating effect of diolein in vitro on protein kinase C activity, partly purified from particulate or cytoplasmic fractions. These observations demonstrate that the functional protein kinase C activity of keratinocytes is determined by various endogenous and exogenous activators and that these activators are modulated differently in various cell lines, under various growth conditions (low Ca2+ versus normal Ca2+).     

The physiology of Clostridium sporogenes NCIB 8053 growing in defined media

The physiology of Clostridium sporogenes was investigated in defined, minimal media. In batch culture, the major end products of glucose dissimilation were acetate, ethanol and formate. When L-proline was present as an electron acceptor, acetate production was strongly enhanced at the expense of ethanol. As judged by assay of the relevant enzymes, glucose was metabolized via the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. The growth energetics of Cl. sporogenes were investigated in glucose- or L-valine-limited chemostat cultures. In the former case, the addition of L-proline to the medium caused a significant increase in the molar growth yield (as calculated by extrapolation to infinite dilution rate). This finding adds weight to the view that the reduction of L-proline by Cl. sporogenes is coupled to the conservation of free energy.     

The influence of diet on the growth of Stenonema vicarium (Walker) (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae)

Laboratory studies compared the growth rate of Stenonema vicarium (Walker) nymphs on diets of detritus and natural stream periphyton. In three consecutive runs of the experiment, growth rates were consistently higher on periphyton (mean growth rate = 2.1% wet wt. d⁻¹) than detritus (mean = 1.8% wet wt. d⁻¹). The starting date of each run also significantly influenced growth rates. In each treatment growth rates generally decreased over the course of the 3 runs, and ca. one-half of the nymphs in the last run did not molt or grow. It appeared that growth of S. vicarium may be partially controlled by seasonal factors.