N-dealkylation of chlorimipramine and chlorpromazine in patients undergoing chronic treatment with both drugs: preliminary results

Data obtained in this preliminary study show that in patients chronically treated either with Chlorimipramine (n = 6) or with Chlorpromazine (n = 2), significant amounts of the corresponding Nor1- and Nor2-metabolites were detected in plasma. The role of these metabolites in the overall therapeutic effect is under investigation.     

Keratinophilic fungi isolated from the air at Pavia

The presence of keratinophilic fungi was revealed by sampling the air of Pavia (Italy) from March 1981 to February 1982. The species isolated were: Chrysosporium indicum, Geomyces pannorum var.pannorum, Microsporum gypseum, Myceliophtora vellerea and Trichophyton terrestre. Several filamentous fungi tolerating high levels of cycloheximide were also recovered.     

Water relation parameters of the CAM plant Kalanchoë daigremontiana in relation to diurnal malate oscillations

Summary In the CAM plant Kalanchoë daigremontiana, kept in an environmental rhythm of 12 h L: 12 h D in a growth chamber at 60% relative humidity and well watered in the root medium, decreasing water potentials and osmotic potentials of the leaves are correlated with malate accumulation in the dark. In the light increasing water and osmotic potentials ( _W and _S ) are associated with decreasing malate levels. Transpiratory H₂O loss is high in dark and low in light.In continuous light, the CAM rhythm rapidly disappears in the form of a highly damped endogenous oscillation. Malate levels, and water and osmotic potentials of the leaves remain correlated as described above. However, transpiration is very high as malate levels decrease and water and osmotic potentials increase.It can concluded, that water relation parameters like total water potential ( _W ) and osmotic potential ( _S ) change in close correlation with changes of malic acid levels. As an important osmotically active solute in CAM plants, malic acid appears to affect water relations independently of and in addition to transpiration. The question remains open, whether turgor ( _P ) is involved in CAM regulation in intact plants in a similar way as it determines malate fluxes in leaf slices.Abbreviations CAM Crassulacean Acid Metabolism - L Light - D Dark     

Hasel-Pollengehalt der Luft in Mitteleuropa

Jahreszeitliche und tageszeitliche Veränderungen des Haselpollengehalts der Luft nach Untersuchungen aus den Jahren 1967 bis 1972 an elf mitteleuropäischen Meßstellen. Vergleich mit einigen anderen europäischen Daten über den Haselpollengehalt der Luft. In Mitteleuropa kamen die meisten Haselpollen zu Beginn oder gegen Ende des Monats März vor. Stündliche Höchstwerte wurden in den Tag- und Abendstunden gemessen. Morgens kamen keine hohen Stundenwerte vor. Temperaturmessungen lassen vermuten, daß für hohe Haselpollengehalte der Luft in Norddeutschland höhere Temperaturen nötig sind als in südwestdeutschen Gebieten.     

Cold hardiness of the green gemmules of Spongilla lacustris L. (Porifera: Spongillidae)

Most green gemmules of Spongilla lacustris survived enclosure in ice at –20 °C for up to 30 days; however, their rate of germination at 20 °C was less rapid than that of control gemmules. The length of time spent at low temperature had little effect on gemmule survival. In contrast, repeated cooling to –20 °C and warming to 4 °C led to a progressive decline in gemmule viability. These results indicate that cold injury occurs primarily during transitions between high and low temperatures.     

Physical mapping of the human carbonic anhydrase gene cluster on chromosome 8

A cluster of genes encoding the three cytoplasmic carbonic anhydrase isozymes CAI, CAII, and CAIII lie on the long arm of chromosome 8 (8q22) in humans. These genes have been mapped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The genes lie in the order CA2, CA3, CA1. CA2 and CA3 are separated by 20 kb and are transcribed in the same direction, away from CA1. CA1 is separated from CA3 by over 80 kb and is transcribed in the direction opposite to CA2 and CA3. The arrangement of the genes is consistent with proposals that the duplication event which gave rise to CA1 predated the duplication which gave rise to CA2 and CA3. The order of these three genes differs from that suggested for the mouse based on recombination frequency.     

Culture and growth of Lessonia trabeculata (Phaeophyta,Laminariales) juvenile sporophytes in La Herradura de Guayacan Bay,northern Chile

Lessonia trabeculata is one of the major kelps found along the northern coast of Chile. In addition to its ecological and economic importance, L. trabeculata may be severely affected by environmental disturbances such as El Níño, which during 1982–1983 cleared wide areas along the coast of Peru and Chile. The main goal of this work was to mass culture L. trabeculata and to observe the growth of sporophytes obtained in the laboratory and cultured in the sea. Juvenile sporophytes obtained in the laboratory were attached between 1 and 6 m in depth. The linear growth rate, as blade elongation, was recorded weekly for seven months. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in sporophyte blade linear growth at different depths. The best elongation growth rate was 7.5 ± 1.6 mm d^–1 at 3 m during March. This preliminary work suggests that L. trabeculata follows an annual growth cycle similar to that of other Laminariales with a high rate of blade elongation during the summer and decreasing towards autumn. This species can be considered a potential candidate for aquaculture to increase the availability of raw material and aid in repopulation of overexploited areas.     

Proton-translocating Mg2+-dependent ATPase activity in insulin-secretory granules

Insulin-secretory granules isolated from a pancreatic islet-cell tumour by centrifugation on Percoll density gradients exhibited a membrane-associated Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity. In granule suspensions incubated in iso-osmotic media, activity was increased 2-3-fold by carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone, the combination of valinomycin, nigericin and K(2)SO(4) or by the addition of a detergent. Permeant anions also increased Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity under iso-osmotic conditions when combined with K(+) and nigericin, or NH(4) (+). It was deduced that a major component of the activity was coupled to the translocation of protons into the granule interior. The granule membrane appeared poorly permeable to H(+), K(+), NH(4) (+) and SO(4) (2-) but permeable, in increasing order, to phosphate or acetate, Cl(-), I(-) and SCN(-). Like the proton-translocating ATPase of mammalian mitochondria the granule enzyme when membrane-bound was inhibited by up to 85% by tributyltin or NN'-dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide and was solubilized in a tributyltin-insensitive form after extraction with dichloromethane. It was clearly not a mitochondrial contaminant as evidence by the distribution of marker proteins on density gradients. Unlike mitochondrial activity it was insensitive to oligomycin, efrapeptin, atractyloside, azide and oxyanions. Its properties, however, were indistinguishable from those of the proton-translocating ATPase found in the chromaffin granules of the adrenal medulla. Moreover, insulin granules and chromaffin granules exhibited similar levels of activity. This indicated that in spite of the differences in their internal composition, granules from tissues involved in polypeptide and amine hormone secretion possess catalytic components in common. Only a minor role for the ATPase in amine transport in insulin granules was apparent. Rather, its presence here may relate to the process of secretory vesicle morphogenesis or to the exocytotic mechanism.     

Conversion of allyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranoside into 2-methyl-(3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-1,2-dideoxy-α-d- galactopyrano)-[2′,1′:4,5]-2-oxazoline

2-Methyl-(3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-1,2-dideoxy-α-d-galactopyrano)-[2′,1′:4,5]-2-oxazoline (7) was prepared from 1-propenyl 2-acetamido-3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-2- deoxy-β-d-galactopyranoside (6). The latter was prepared from allyl 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranoside (1) through selective benzoylation at O-3 and O-6, conversion into the 4-p-bromobenzenesulfonate 4, inversion of configuration at C-4 to afford allyl 2-acetamido-3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-β-d-galactopyranoside (5), and subsequent isomerization with palladium-charcoal to give 6.