An unusual pontine mass lesion.

A 27-year-old Puerto Rican man presented to Yale-New Haven Hospital with a six-week history of left-sided headache, diplopia, and drooping of the left side of his face. Cerebrospinal fluid examination showed a lymphocytic pleocytosis and a CT scan of the brain revealed an unusual intrapontine mass lesion requiring systemic antifungal therapy. This case emphasizes many of the diagnostic and therapeutic considerations required for effective therapy of fungal disease in the central nervous system.     

Use of Metabolic Inhibitors to Estimate Protozooplankton Grazing and Bacterial Production in a Monomictic Eutrophic Lake with an Anaerobic Hypolimnion

Inhibitors of eucaryotes (cycloheximide and amphotericin B) and procaryotes (penicillin and chloramphenicol) were used to estimate bacterivory and bacterial production in a eutrophic lake. Bacterial production appeared to be slightly greater than protozoan grazing in the aerobic waters of Lake Oglethorpe. Use of penicillin and cycloheximide yielded inconsistent results in anaerobic water and in aerobic water when bacterial production was low. Production measured by inhibiting eucaryotes with cycloheximide did not always agree with [³H]thymidine estimates or differential filtration methods. Laboratory experiments showed that several common freshwater protozoans continued to swim and ingest bacterium-size latex beads in the presence of the eucaryote inhibitor. Penicillin also affected grazing rates of some ciliates. We recommend that caution and a corroborating method be used when estimating ecologically important parameters with specific inhibitors.     

Hemophilus vaginalis bacteremia.

During 1975--77 Hemophilus vaginalis bacteremia occurred post partum in eight previously healthy women. Seven had been admitted for delivery at term and one because of threatened abortion. Six underwent cesarean section. Post-partum pyrexia and neutrophilia were the main features. All the patients recovered uneventfully while receiving antibiotics. H. vaginalis is an infrequent agent of bacteremia; it affects predominantly women after obstetric trauma.     

Novel surface lipids of diapausing Manduca sexta pupae. Long chain oxoalcohol esters of acetoacetic, hydroxybutyric, and acetic acids

Ester components in the surface wax from diapausing tobacco hornworm pupae, Manduca sexta L., were separated by thin layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography, and characterized by infrared spectroscopy and gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three groups of esters were identified as natural derivatives of acetic acid, acetoacetic acid, and 3-hydroxybutyric acid. The major ester fraction was identified as a mixture of C26 (10%), C27 (5%), and C28 (85%) oxoalcohol esters of acetoacetic acid. The major homolog consisted of equal amounts of 11-oxooctacosanyl 3-oxobutanoate and 12-oxooctacosanyl 3-oxobutanoate. Lesser amounts of 11- and 12-oxooctacosanyl and n-octacosanyl esters of acetic and 3-hydroxybutyric acids were also identified. The chain length distributions of these C26, C27, and C28 oxoalcohol and n-primary alcohol ester moieties, as well as the isomeric ratios for the 11- and 12-oxoalcohol isomers, were similar to the oxoaldehydes and unesterified oxoalcohols previously identified by Buckner et al (Buckner, J. S., Nelson, D. R., Haak, H., and Pomonis, J. G. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 8452-8470) as lipid components of the surface wax of M. sexta pupae.     

Studies on human uterine cervix and rat uterus using S-, X- and Q-band electron-spin-resonance spectroscopy.

In previous studies we have reported on the detection of a strong e.s.r. signal in samples of normal human cervix; the signal is much reduced or absent in samples of invasive cancer of the cervix. In order to identify the species responsible for the strong signal, we have used X-, S- and Q-band e.s.r. spectroscopy. The major signal that is detectable in ground-up samples of cervix preserved at -196 degrees C has features consistent with the presence of a peroxy free radical. Good agreement with the experimental findings was obtained by computer simulation, using values for the g-tensor of gx = 2.002, gy = 2.005 and gz = 2.036. The peroxy radical is produced on grinding the normal cervix samples to a powder under liquid N2, and appears to be formed by modification of a pre-existing oxygen-containing complex. Control experiments eliminated the possibility that the strong signals seen in frozen powders prepared from normal cervix were artefacts only of the grinding procedure. Experiments with rats in vivo and with cervix samples in vitro are consistent with the conclusion that the peroxy radical is formed by disturbing the cyclo-oxygenase system that is involved in prostaglandin synthesis.     

Gas-liquid chromatography for the determination of acetylcholinesterase activity

Method has been modified and used for quantitative gas chromatographic determination of microtraces in a large volume of test mixture under study. The method can be applied for the differentiated determination of genuine and false blood cholinesterase by final products of specific substrate hydrolysis.     

Accumulation of malto-oligosaccharides in the syncytiotrophoblastic cells of first-trimester human placentas.

A cell-surface microvillar fraction that was isolated from the syncytiotrophoblastic cells of first-trimester human placentas was found to contain very high concentrations (890 +/- 32 microgram of hexose/mg of protein) of a class of low-molecular-weight oligosaccharides that were comprised entirely of glucose. T.l.c. and gel filtration showed that the saccharides contained from one to six glucose residues. The structures of the most prominent members of the series, a tetra- and a tri-saccharide, were determined. The anomeric configuration of the glucose residues was alpha, and methylation linkage analysis gave terminal and 4-linked hexose residues. These malto-oligosaccharides contained one reducing terminus per molecule, indicating that they were free and not bound to other structural elements of the cells. Within the placenta they appeared to be concentrated in the first-trimester trophoblastic cells, since crude membrane and particulate fractions isolated from either term trophoblastic cells or cultured placental fibroblasts did not contain detectable amounts of glucose oligomers. This series of oligosaccharides was similar to the products that are formed when glycogen is degraded by alpha-amylase in liver homogenates and may be indicative of a similar, highly active enzymic reaction closely associated with the brush border of the syncytiotrophoblastic cells of the first-trimester human placenta. Although the role of these oligosaccharides remains obscure they are probably involved in foetal metabolism.     

Recent decrease in carbon sink to Russian forests

Regional Evaluation of Carbon Budget of Forests (RECBF), was used to study the dynamics of carbon balance in Russian forests in 1988–2015. The carbon sink (excess of absorption over losses) to forests was minimal in 1988. Since the first half of the 1990s, its increase has started. This increase was associated with the reduction of logging volume in connection with socioeconomic reforms. Since 2008, the carbon sink was gradually reduced due to increasing losses in logging operations, forest fires, and decreased carbon absorption.