Solubilization of phospholipids by detergents. Structural and kinetic aspects

Most amphiphiles in biological membranes including phospholipids, steroids, and membrane proteins are insoluble amphiphiles and would form liquid crystals or insoluble precipitates alone in aqueous media. Detergents are soluble amphiphiles and above a critical concentration and temperature form micelles of various sizes and shapes. Much of the recent progress in studying the insoluble amphiphiles is due to the formation of thermodynamically stable isotropic solutions of these compounds in the presence of detergents. This process, which is commonly denoted as "solubilization,' involves transformation of lamellar structures into mixed micelles. The information available to date on the solubilization of phospholipids, which constitute the lipid skeleton of biomembranes, by the common detergents is discussed in this review, both with respect to the kinetics of this process and the structure of the various phospholipid-detergent mixed micelles formed. It is hoped that this discussion will lead to somewhat more useful, although still necessarily fairly empirical, approaches to the solubilization of phospholipids by detergents.     

Conversion of sterigmatocystin to aflatoxin B 1 by Aspergillus parasiticus

¹⁴C-Sterigmatocystin isolated from cultures of $\text{Aspergillus}$$\text{versicolor}$ supplemented with (1-¹⁴C)acetate was shown to be efficiently converted to aflatoxin B₁ by the resting mycelium of $\text{A. parasiticus}$. The experimental results may indicate a biosynthetic pathway leading from 5-hydroxysterigmatocystin to sterigmatocystin and then to aflatoxin B₁.     

Repair Kinetics of Radiation-Induced Mitotic Delay

The recovery from radiation-induced mitotic delay in asynchronous sarcoma-180 (S-180) ascites tumor cells has been analyzed in a manner analogous to the repair of sublethal damage. 200-R increments were separated by various fraction intervals (not exceeding the time necessary for mitosis to return to control levels) for total exposures up to 1600 R. The accumulated mitotic delay after the last exposure increment, in percent of an equivalent single exposure, decreased exponentially with overall treatment time in a bimodal fashion. An initial repair process displayed a half time of 2.3 h of overall elapsed time and was followed by a slower process with a half time of 15.1 h. Such a bimodal recovery provides an explanation of why fractionation intervals long with respect to the amitotic period resulting from a single 200 R exposure enhance mitotic delay over that of equivalent single exposures, while shorter fractionation intervals diminish it. It also predicts that mitotic delay vs. dose curves should bend toward the abscissa as the exposure time is increased with large single exposures and large fractionated exposures given over short fraction intervals.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus release from decaying water milfoil

To evaluate the net N and P contribution to water from herbicide-killed aquatic weeds, water milfoil containing 1.5% N and 0.30% P was killed with endothal and allowed to decompose, in the dark, in water only or sediment-water systems. Changes with time in dry weight, total N and P, and organic C in the plant material, and organic and inorganic forms of N and P in the water were determined. Plant decompostion was limited by N. Inorganic N was released by the sediment, and decomposition was more rapid when sediment was present. A smaller N requirement for decomposition under conditions of low O₂ was postulated as a possible explanation of the more rapid decomposition observed in the absence of aeration. The presence of plant P in excess of decomposition requirements resulted in rapid accumulation of organic P, followed by inorganic P, in the water. Organic N appeared in the water early in the experiments, but was depleted rapidly, and inorganic N was apparently immobilized as soon as it was formed. In the presence of sediment, organic N and inorganic P levels were much lower. On treating of water milfoil with herbicide, rapid P release can be expected. This P can either be utilized in further biomass production or be sorbed by the sediment. Insufficient data were available to reach definite conclusions regarding N. It would appear, however, that N release from decaying weeds is much slower than P.     

The Hemodynamic Response of the Right Ventricle Following Acute and Chronic Partial Obstruction of the Main Pulmonary Artery in Dogs

In eight adult dogs the main pulmonary artery was constricted to elevate the right ventricular peak systolic pressure to 50% of the peak aortic pressure at rest. The response of the right ventricle was assessed immediately, at 30 minutes and at six months. The right ventricle responded to acute systolic loading by complete compensation. After 30 minutes there was a reduction in the right ventricular outflow tract resistance. The cardiac output, heart rate and aortic pressure were maintained. The right ventricular systolic ejection period, end-diastolic pressure, peak pressure time, mean systolic pressure, right ventricular—main pulmonary artery mean systolic gradient, right ventricular work index, systolic work and outflow tract resistance were all increased.The right ventricle in the dog was shown to have an immediate capacity to compensate for systolic loading and retains this capacity for long periods of time. The ability to increase work is accomplished by adaptations in right ventricular physiology which increase right ventricular mean systolic pressures and prolong the right ventricular ejection period.     

A probabilistic approach to the construction of competing-risk life tables

"This paper aims to identify net and partial-crude probabilities in the competing-risk life table context, by using probabilistic approaches. Five types of lifelength random variables are defined to formulate these nonidentifiable probabilities. General expressions for net and partial-crude probabilities are first derived under independent risks assumptions. Two sets of explicit formulas for estimating the net and partial-crude probabilities are then derived in terms of the identifiable overall and crude probabilities by making the additional assumption of piecewise uniform distribution of the lifelength random variables. A study of the degree to which nonidentifiability can affect the net and partial-crude probabilities in a variety of situations is developed. An example from cross-sectional studies is employed to illustrate the methodology developed."