Preliminary results from the self-regulatory treatment of high-medication-consumption headache

Data are presented from a prospective clinical replication series of ten consecutive high-medication headache patients who presented for nondrug treatment of their headaches. For the first eight, an attempt was made to withdraw the patients from medication, with the assistance of relaxation training, prior to entering a comprehensive self-regulatory treatment program. For the last two, drug withdrawal accompanied the treatment. Six of the ten patients showed clinically significant reductions in headache activity, which held up over follow-ups of up to 12 months. Psychological tests provide some discrimination between success and failures.This research was supported in part by a grant from NINDS, No. NS-23340. Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Kenneth A. Appelbaum and Ms. Denise Michultka for their roles in this study.     

Localization of immunoreactive prolactin in ependyma and circumventricular organs of rat brain

Summary Immunoreactive prolactin (IMP) has been localized in the male rat brain using the soluble peroxidase-anti-peroxidase (PAP) technique. In normal untreated animals, reaction product was seen in choroid plexus (CP) and in ependymal cells of the ventricular lining with heaviest concentrations of positively staining cells in the 3rd ventricle near the subcommisural organ (SCO), in the lateral ventricles near the subfornical organ (SFO), and in the 4th ventricle near the area postrema (AP). IMP was also present in numerous ependymal cells resembling tanycytes in the cerebral aqueduct, central canal of the spinal cord at the level of the AP, the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT) and the floor of the infundibular recess. Immunoreactive cells resembling neurons were localized within the substance of the AP, SCO, and OVLT. IMP was also present in fibers of the zona externa of the median eminence and infundibular stalk; a few cells of the pars tuberalis contained reaction product. Hypophysectomized rats and bromocriptine-treated rats exhibited a similar staining pattern except that bromocriptine treatment eliminated IMP from most CP cells. Hypophysectomy, bromocriptine or estrogen treatment enhanced staining for IMP in cells of the pars tuberalis; estrogen treatment or hypophysectomy produced an increase in the number and distribution of immunoreactive cells as well as increased density of reaction product in cells of the medial habenular nucleus. The functional relevance of prolactin in these locations in the brain, the possible routes of transport of prolactin from the pituitary gland to the central nervous system, and the strong suggestion of extra-pituitary sites of synthesis of a prolactin-like hormone are discussed.     

Kinetics of sugar transport byThiobacillus A2

ApparentK _s andV _max values, for the transport byThiobacillus A2 of¹⁴C-labelled sucrose, hexoses and pentoses, were estimated using flow dialysis and membrane filtration techniques. Transport systems of varying degrees of specificity could be inferred from the data. For most sugars tested including glucose, fructose and arabinose, there was a close correlation between maximum rate of sugar transport and observed growth rate. Differences in transport rate were sufficient to explain slow and fast growth on glucose by wild type and GF strains ofThiobacillus A2.Abbreviations Butyl PBD 2-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-5-(4-biphenylyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole - Tris tris(hydroxymethyl)-amino-methane - PEP phosphoenolpyruvate     

MITOSIS AND CYTOKINESIS IN THE PRASINOPHYCEAE. I. MANTONIELLA SQUAMATA (MANTON AND PARKE) DESIKACHARY

Mitosis in Mantoniella squamata (Manton and Parke) Desikachary, a small scale-covered green monad, is presented. Organelle replication precedes nuclear division and begins with the replication of the chloroplast. As the chloroplasts separate, the Golgi and flagellar apparatuses divide. The discoid microbody enlarges and becomes ‘V'-shaped, with the arms extending toward depressions in the pyrenoid stalks of the chloroplasts. At prophase, microtubules produced by an amorphous microtubule organizing center enter the nucleus via polar fenestre. The nuclear membrane remains intact. As the chloroplasts migrate further apart, the spindle pole-to-pole distance increases. By metaphase, daughter-cell lobes are discernible as a cleavage furrow, which appears as early as prophase, and begins to incise the cell. A single Golgi apparatus is situated near the spindle pole; the flagellar apparatus lies adjacent to the pole. The cleavage furrow continues to constrict the cell, resulting in a narrowing isthmus containing the elongate microbody, nucleus and a rootlet system connecting the basal bodies of the daughter flagella. At telophase, no extra-nuclear microtubular systems other than the previously observed rootlet are present and the nuclei remain separated from each other. In cells undergoing multiple divisions to produce more than two daughter cells, the orientation of organelles changes somewhat, with the basal bodies and the Golgi apparatus separating daughter nuclei prior to the onset of cytokinesis. The mechanics of mitosis in Mantoniella are compared with other green monads and the evolutionary implications discussed.     

Seedling dynamics of some cotton grass tussock tundra species during the natural revegetation of small disturbed areas

The dynamics of seedling establishment, and growth of native cotton grass-tussock tundra species were studied during the natural revegetation of small bare areas excavated in tussock tundra. The seedlings of Eriophorum vaginatum spp. spissum and Carex bigelowii , two sedge species, established most successfully. Few seedlings of nonsedge species emerged with the small disturbances. Most seedling emergence occurred early in the first growing season following the excavation of the bare areas. The density of emerged seedlings was higher in bare areas excavated in the autumn preceding the observations, rather than in bare areas excavated at the start of the first season of observation. After two growing seasons, survival of seedlings was not affected by the time the seedling emerged within the growing season. Eriophorum vaginatum was the most abundant species because it: (1) had the highest seedling emergence rates, particularly early in the growing season: (2) produced more tillers per seedlings; and (3) had a higher growth rate per seedling than C. bigelowii .     

Respiration in air and water of four mediterranean trochids

Data on the morphology and behavior of five species of spionid polychaete from muddy sand habitats in both the United Kingdom and the northwest coast of North America are presented. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that browsing predation by visual predators is important now and has been important in the evolutionary past. As predicted by such a hypothesis, regenerating individuals are common in all the populations examined. Individuals belonging to species that expose their anterior ends while feeding and/or defecating have cryptic anteriors (Pygospio elegans Claparède, Rhynchospio glutaeus (Ehlers), Malacoceros fuliginosus (Claparède), and Spiophanes bombyx (Claparède)). Individuals belonging to species that do not expose their anteriors while feeding and/or defecating do not have cryptic anteriors (Pseudopolydora kempi (Southern)). Given these data it is still unclear as to how many of the geographic patterns of coloration that have been reported for infauna are associated with the presence of visual predation. Further investigations are suggested.