Quantitative pathologic analysis of first and second primary cancers in double tumors of the lung

In spite of the frequent occurrence of double tumors of the lung, pathologic reports on these tumors are rare. In this study, 34 patients with double tumors (10 metachronous and 24 synchronous) were quantitatively analyzed; in all cases, both the first and second tumors had been completely resected and had adequate archival material. One aim of the study was to investigate whether there was a difference in the malignancy of the first and second tumors, as evaluated from their pathologic features. A second question was whether the length of the disease-free interval between the first and second tumors or the survival could be predicted on the basis of any of the investigated features. It was found that the first and second tumors, whether synchronous or metachronous, were strikingly similar: there was no difference in any of the quantitative pathologic features studied (epithelial percentage, DNA index, mean nuclear area and standard deviation of the nuclear area). It was not possible to predict by either univariate or multivariate analysis from any of the parameters either the length of the disease-free interval between the first and second tumors or the survival. These quantitative pathologic similarities suggest that the malignancy of the second tumor (synchronous as well as metachronous) is not higher than that of the first tumor. Thus, in the case of metachronous tumors, the fact that most of the second tumors (60%) are detected at a higher (inoperable) stage is probably caused by inadequate follow-up and not by increased malignancy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

BUMBLE BEE POLLINATION AND FLORAL MORPHOLOGY: FACTORS INFLUENCING POLLEN DISPERSAL IN THE ALPINE SKY PILOT,POLEMONIUM VISCOSUM (POLEMONIACEAE)

Pollen dispersal success in entomophilous plants is influenced by the amount of pollen produced per flower, the fraction of pollen that is exported to other flowers during a pollinator visit, visitation frequency, and the complementarity between pollen donor and recipients. For bumble bee-pollinated Polemonium viscosum the first three determinants of male function are correlated with morphometric floral traits. Pollen production is positively related to corolla and style length, whereas pollen removal per visit by bumble bee pollinators is a positive function of corolla flare. Larger-flowered plants receive more bumble bee visits than small-flowered individuals. We found no evidence of tradeoffs between pollen export efficiency and per visit accumulation of outcross pollen; each was influenced by unique aspects of flower morphology. Individual queen bumble bees of the principal pollinator species, Bombus kirbyellus, were similar in male, female, and absolute measures of pollination effectiveness. An estimated 2.9% of the pollen that bumble bees removed from flowers during a foraging bout was, on average, deposited on stigmas of compatible recipients. Significant plant-to-plant differences in pollen production, pollen export per visit, and outcross pollen receipt were found for co-occurring individuals of P. viscosum indicating that variation in these fitness related traits can be seen by pollinator-mediated selection.     

Assessment of Chronic Sublethal Effects of Imidacloprid on Honey Bee Colony Health

Here we present results of a three-year study to determine the fate of imidacloprid residues in hive matrices and to assess chronic sublethal effects on whole honey bee colonies fed supplemental pollen diet containing imidacloprid at 5, 20 and 100 μg/kg over multiple brood cycles. Various endpoints of colony performance and foraging behavior were measured during and after exposure, including winter survival. Imidacloprid residues became diluted or non-detectable within colonies due to the processing of beebread and honey and the rapid metabolism of the chemical. Imidacloprid exposure doses up to 100 μg/kg had no significant effects on foraging activity or other colony performance indicators during and shortly after exposure. Diseases and pest species did not affect colony health but infestations of Varroa mites were significantly higher in exposed colonies. Honey stores indicated that exposed colonies may have avoided the contaminated food. Imidacloprid dose effects was delayed later in the summer, when colonies exposed to 20 and 100 μg/kg experienced higher rates of queen failure and broodless periods, which led to weaker colonies going into the winter. Pooled over two years, winter survival of colonies averaged 85.7, 72.4, 61.2 and 59.2% in the control, 5, 20 and 100 μg/kg treatment groups, respectively. Analysis of colony survival data showed a significant dose effect, and all contrast tests comparing survival between control and treatment groups were significant, except for colonies exposed to 5 μg/kg. Given the weight of evidence, chronic exposure to imidacloprid at the higher range of field doses (20 to 100 μg/kg) in pollen of certain treated crops could cause negative impacts on honey bee colony health and reduced overwintering success, but the most likely encountered high range of field doses relevant for seed-treated crops (5 μg/kg) had negligible effects on colony health and are unlikely a sole cause of colony declines.     

Short reviews

Hasia R. Diner. IN THE ALMOST PROMISED LAND, AMERICAN JEWS AND BLACKS, 1915–1935, Westport, Connecticut and London, England. Greenwood Press, Contributions in American History, Number 59, 1977. 271 pp. n.p.

Astri Suhrke and Lela Gamer Noble (eds) ETHNIC CONFLICT IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. (Praeger Special Studies in Politics and Government), Praeger Publishers, New York and London, 1977, 248 pp., n.p.

Laurence D. Loeb, OUTCASTE: JEWISH LIFE IN SOUTHERN IRAN, Gordon and Breach, New York, 1977, 328 pp., $20.

Elizabeth McTaggart Almquist, MINORITIES, GENDER AND WORK, Lexington Books (Lexington, Mass., 1979), £11.50.

Phyllis A. Wallace and Annette M. LaMond (eds), WOMEN, MINORITIES, AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION, Lexington Books (Lexington, Mass., 1979), 222 pp., £12.75.

Jeremy R. Azrael (ed.), SOVIET NATIONALITY POLICIES AND PRACTICES, New York and London, Praeger, 1978, 393 pp., £17.50.

Edward Dew, THE DIFFICULT FLOWERING OF SURINAM: ETHNICITY AND POLITICS IN A PLURAL SOCIETY, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1978, X + 234 pp., n.p.

John Edwards &; Richard Batley, THE POLITICS OF POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION: AN EVALUATION OF THE URBAN PROGRAMME 1967–77, London, Tavistock, 1978, 287pp., £9.95.     

Modulation of activated oncogene <Emphasis Type="Italic">c-kit</Emphasis> expression with RNA-interference

Overexpression of oncogene c-kit is detected in 80% patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A transgenic model cell line expressing oncogene c-kit was obtained by transduction with a recombinant retrovirus. We have designed small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that efficiently suppress the expression of activated oncogene c-kit. Further, small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeting c-kit mRNA were designed and expressed in lentiviral vectors. We report a stable reduction in c-kit expression following the introduction of shRNAs into model cells, as well as Kasumi-1 cells from a patient with AML.     

PU.1 Level-Directed Chromatin Structure Remodeling at the Irf8 Gene Drives Dendritic Cell Commitment

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Influence of Volume of Nutrient Agar Medium on Development of Colonies of Marine Bacteria

Zusammenfassung Bei der Bestimmung der Anzahl Bakterien in frisch genommenen Seewasserproben mit dem Plattengußverfahren reduziert eine Agarmenge von über 10 ml die Anzahl sich entwickelnder Kolonien. Die erhaltenen Zahlen sind im allgemeinen am höchsten und die Ergebnisse am besten reproduzierbar, wenn genau 10 ml des Nähragars benutzt wird im Gegensatz zu unbestimmten Mengen zwischen 5 und 30 ml. Obgleich auch andere Faktoren eine Rolle spielen, wird der ungünstige Einfluß von Agarmengen, die merklich größer als 10 ml sind, in erster Linie den langsameren Abkühlungsraten während des üblichen Plattengußverfahrens zugeschrieben. Wenn Nähragar von 42° C bei Raumtemperatur (22–24° C) in Pyrex-Petrischalen gegossen wurde, kühlten 10 ml in ca. 1 min. auf 30° C ab, während 5 bis 24 min. gebraucht wurden, um Agarmengen von 20 bis 50 ml von 42° C auf 30° C abzukühlen. Viele marine Bakterien werden geschädigt, wenn sie Temperaturen ausgesetzt werden, die über 30° C liegen, wobei das Ausmaß der Schädigung von der Einwirkungszeit abhängt. Deswegen ist es überaus wichtig, daß der Agar vor dem Gießen auf 42° C gekühlt wird. Die Abkühlungsrate des Agarmediums in den Platten wird von der Beschaffenheit und der Temperatur der Tischoberfläche, auf der die Platten stchen, beeinflußt.

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Plating the heterogeneous bacteria occuring naturally in samples of raw sea water with volumes of molten nutrient agar exceeding 10 ml reduces the number of colonies which develop. Plate counts on replicate samples of sea water are generally highest and results are more nearly reproducible when 10 ml of nutrient agar is used rather than volumes ranging randomly from 5 to 30 ml. Although other factors are involved, the adverse effects of volumes of nutrient agar appreciable larger than 10 ml are attributed primarily to the slower cooling rates during conventional plating procedures. When nutrient agar medium at 42° C was poured into pyrex Petri dishes at room temperature (22–24° C), 10 ml of the medium cooled to 30° C in about one minute, whereas from about 5 to 24 minutes were required for 20 to 50 ml of the medium to cool from 42° C down to 30 ° C. Many marine bacteria are injured by being subjected to temperatures higher than 30° C, the extent of the injury being a function of time. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that agar be cooled to 42° C prior to pouring. The rate at which agar medium cools in plates is influenced by the composition and temperature of the table top on which the plates rest.

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Contribution from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, La Jolla, California.