Use of the esophageal balloon in the diagnosis of carcinomas of the head, neck and upper gastrointestinal tract

A study was undertaken to demonstrate the safety, efficacy and value of esophageal balloon cytology in the diagnosis of esophageal lesions and as a tool in screening a high-risk patient population. The sampling was performed 110 times on 96 patients, 11 with known obstructive carcinoma of the esophagus and 85 thought to be at risk for esophageal cancer: 74 with treated or untreated cancer of the head and neck area and 11 with dysphagia or other findings requiring clarification. The method was well tolerated by the patients, and the cytologic smears were of excellent quality. Malignant or suspicious cells were found in smears from 7 to 11 patients with documented esophageal cancer and in 7 of 85 patients believed to be at risk. In the latter group there were three unsuspected recurrent cancers of the oropharyngeal region and one unsuspected carcinoma in situ of the esophagus. There were no false-suspicious or false-positive results. This noninvasive technique of esophageal cytology obviously deserves additional trials as an adjunct in the diagnosis of carcinoma of the head and neck and upper gastrointestinal tract, especially in high-risk patients.     

Genetic diversity and climatic determinants of tree frogs in Israel

Summary Allozymic variation in proteins encoded by 27 loci was analyzed electrophoretically in 218 adult specimens, mostly males, representing 8 populations, 5 central and 3 marginal, of lemon yellow treefrogs, Hyla arborea savignyi, in Israel along two transects of increasing aridity: (a) north to south and (b) west to east. The results indicate that (a) Of the 27 loci examined, 5 are monomorphic in all 8 populations; 9 are locally and weakly polymorphic; 6 are regionally and weakly polymorphic; and 7 are regionally and strongly polymorphic; (b) In the populations studied, no alternative fixations were found in any of the 27 loci, except in the Wasit population. The commonest allele predominates across all populations, except Wasit, central as well as marginal; (c) Clinal patterns associated with increasing aridity southwards and eastwards occur in polymorphism, P, heterozygosity, H, and in allele frequencies of Ldh-1, Fum, Got-1, and Sdh; (d) For habitat generalists, treefrogs have above average number of alleles per locus, A, and polymorphism, P, while the heterozygosity, H, is average. All three estimates A, P, and H exhibit wide geographic variation decreasing progressively southwards and eastwards; (e) Central populations harbor more genic variation then marginal populations; (f) Genic similarity between populations is high; (g) Significant gametic phase disequilibria were found in several tests in 2 populations; (h) P, H, and allozymic variation in several gene loci are significantly correlated and predictable by environmental variables, primarily those related to water; (i) Morphological and allozymic variations are uncorrelated.The spatial patterns and environmental correlates and predictors of genic variation in Hyla arborea savignyi in Israel suggest that (i) protein polymorphisms are largely adaptive and are molded primarily by climatic selection rather than by stochastic processes or neutrality, and (ii) the environmental variation model seems to be the best predictor of genic variation in treefrogs.     

巴拉巴按蚊人工交配中雄蚊蚊龄与受精率的关系

自McDaniel和Horsfall(1957)介绍了伊蚊的人工交配法后,许多原来在实验室内不易自然交配,因而无法繁殖的蚊种,已可在室内大量繁殖以供实验研究之用。1966年Esah和Scanlon用人工交配法,在室内饲养巴拉巴按蚊获得成功。国内四川医学院及成都生物制品研究所亦于1976年在室内同时建立了海南白沙巴拉巴按蚊品系。由于工作的需要,我们通过人工交配对该蚊种进行了饲养繁殖。但在多次人工交配中,雌蚊受精率常不一致,有时只有30％左右,有时则可高达80％以上。这种受精率的不稳定是否与雄蚊蚊龄有相应关系?为此,我们用羽化后12天以内不同日龄的雄蚊,分别进行了人工交配,以观察雄蚊日龄与其对雌蚊授精率之间,有无必然的相应关系。     

十三种农田常见步(虫甲)的食性

步科昆虫食性比较复杂,有的种类猎食害虫,有的为害农作物。所以,在天敌昆虫资源调查和开发利用上,有必要查明农田步(虫甲)的种类和它们的食性。鉴于多种步(虫甲)喜土栖而夜出活动,其经济意义难以了解,我们于1980—1981年间,采取室内饲养试验的方法,初步查明13种农田常见步(虫甲)的食性及其猎食对象。现简要报道如下。     

Effector phenotype and immunologic specificity of T-cell-mediated adoptive therapy for a murine tumor that lacks intrinsic immunogenicity

The MCA 102 sarcoma has been defined by a variety of immunologic studies as a tumor lacking intrinsic immunogenicity. Nevertheless, we have recently demonstrated the feasibility of generating therapeutically effective lymphocytes for adoptive immunotherapy of this tumor. Procedures to achieve this required in vivo priming of syngeneic mice to elicit preeffector cells followed by in vitro sensitization (IVS) with tumor cells in the presence of IL-2. By selective depletion of T cell subsets in vivo, we identified the involvement of both CD4+ (L3T4+) and CD8+ (Lyt-2+) T cells in mediating tumor regression. The CD4+ cells exerted their helper function via the secretion of IL-2 because antitumor effects abrogated by depletion of CD4+ cells could be reconstituted by exogenous IL-2. In order to elicit preeffector cells with reactivity against the MCA 102 tumor, we found that in vivo sensitization could be accomplished with either the MCA 102 or MCA 106 tumor but not with the MCA 101 or MCA 105 tumor. Analysis of specificity of tumor stimulation during IVS of MCA 102 tumor-primed preeffector cells demonstrated cross-reactivity between not only the MCA 102 and MCA 106 tumors but also the MCA 105 tumor whereas the MCA 101 tumor was ineffective. In adoptive immunotherapy, transfer of IVS cells generated from MCA 102 tumor-primed and stimulated lymph node cells was able to mediate reductions of pulmonary metastases established from the MCA 102, MCA 105, and MCA 106 tumors but not from the MCA 101 tumor. We conclude that regression of the MCA 102 tumor is probably mediated through T cell recognition of a set of common tumor-associated Ag shared by several other syngeneic tumors. Immunologically, the tumor-associated Ag are characteristically different from classical tumor-specific transplantation Ag (TSTA) because immunity to TSTA on the MCA 105 or MCA 106 tumor does not cross-react with the MCA 102 tumor. Thus, this study demonstrates that Ag other than TSTA on chemically induced tumors can serve as target molecules for T cell-mediated adoptive immunotherapy.     

中华按蚊在实验室内的自然交配习性

1973年我们在上海曾对宝山县中华按蚊(Anopheles sinensis)进行了室内饲养,通过自然交配繁殖了8代。1975年又对重庆郊区的中华按蚊同样地进行了室内累代饲育。近几年来文献上报道:未经驯化的中华按蚊,在实验室内常规饲养条件下,不易发生自然交配(Oguma和Kanda,1976;潘家复和韩罗珍,1979)。这一报道与我们的经验很不一致。为了弄清引起这种不一致的原因,以便改进饲养工作,我们特别对第一代中华按蚊在实验室内自然交配的某些规律,进行了观察。现将观察结果报告如下。     

“人与生物圈”国际科学会议侧记

一、概况联合国教科文组织(UNESCO)于1981年9月22日至10月2日在法国巴黎召开了“人和生物圈”(MAB)成立十年科学大会和MAB第七届国际协调理事会。这次大会有67个国家、375人参加,包括科学家、政策决定者和规划管理等方面的人员以及一些有关国际组织(如FAO、ICSU、IUCN等)的代表。我国派出了以中国教科文全国委员会副主任、中国“人与生物圈”国家委员会副主席秦力生为团长、中国MAB委员会秘书长阳含熙教授为副团长的六人代表团出席了会议。     

Adenosine deaminase polymorphism among the Semai, Temuan, Semelai, and Jakun groups of West Malaysian Orang Asli

812 West Malaysian Orang Asli belonging to four ethnic groups were surveyed for adenosine deaminase (ADA; EC 3.5.4.4) using starch gel electrophoresis. Only the common ADA1 and ADA2 alleles were found, with the frequencies of the latter being 0.025, 0.103, 0.115 and 0.028 in the Semai, Semelai, Temuan, and Jakun groups, respectively. A new 'breeding genetic distance' was applied to these gene frequencies and the Semelai and Temuan were found to be more closely related to each other, and to have considerably more evolutionary flexibility on this scale of 'micro-evolution' than the other two groups. The Semai and Jakun were more similar to each other on the basis of these ADA gene frequencies.     

Protection against oxidative stress by vitamin D in cone cells

Photoreceptor degeneration (PD) refers to a group of heterogeneous outer retinal dystrophies characterized by the death of photoreceptors. Both oxidative stress and inflammation are involved in the pathogenesis of PD. We investigate whether vitamin D has a potential for the treatment of PD by evaluating the anti‐oxidative stress and anti‐inflammatory properties of the active form of vitamin D₃, 1,α, 25‐dihydroxyvitamin D₃, in a mouse cone cell line, 661W. Mouse cone cells were treated with H₂O₂ or a mixture of H₂O₂ and vitamin D; cell viability was determined. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in treated and untreated cells was measured. The expression of key anti‐oxidative stress and inflammatory genes in treated and untreated cells was determined. Treatment with vitamin D significantly increased cell viability and decreased ROS production in 661W cells under oxidative stress induced by H₂O₂. H₂O₂ treatment in 661W cells can significantly down‐regulate the expression of antioxidant genes and up‐regulate the expression of neurotoxic cytokines. Vitamin D treatment significantly reversed these effects and restored the expression of antioxidant genes. Vitamin D treatment also can block H₂O₂ induced oxidative damages. The data suggested that vitamin D may offer a therapeutic potential for patients with PD.