Thermography as a predictive tool for laser treatment of port-wine stains

The argon laser, which has been proven both useful and safe for port-wine stain therapy, interacts with the hemoglobin of the vessels. In a percentage of cases, this treatment is still inefficient, and there is a lack of correlation between these bad results and clinical or histologic criteria. Thermography, which explores the vascularization of the port-wine stain, leads us to consider port-wine stains from a physical point of view. This very simple test shows no correlation with the clinical parameters of port-wine stain but is closely related to the results obtained with laser therapy. It seems to be a good criterion to estimate the argon laser treatment prognosis.     

Expression of the adrenergic phenotype by dorsal root ganglion cells of the quail in culture in vitro

From the results of previous studies, we have suggested that "autonomic" cell precursors exist in latent form in sensory ganglia of avian embryos. The potentialities can be expressed when the ganglia are transplanted into a young embryo host. In the present study, we have observed a similar transformation in cultures of dissociated dorsal root ganglia taken from quail embryos of 7-15 days of incubation. From the 4th day of culture onward, numerous adrenergic cells appear. They display tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity, synthesise and store catecholamines and generally differ in size and shape from primary sensory neurons. They and/or their precursors can actively proliferate in culture. The differentiation of these catecholaminergic cells, which can not be detected in quail dorsal root ganglia during normal development in vivo, is dependent on one or more factors present in 9-day chick embryo extract.     

Redistribution of Lyt-bearing T cells in acute murine experimental allergic encephalomyelitis: selective migration of Lyt-1 cells to the central nervous system is associated with a transient depletion of Lyt-1 cells in peripheral blood

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in SJL/J mice by using two injections of spinal cord homogenate in incomplete Freund's adjuvant supplemented with mycobacteria. Analysis of circulating Lyt-bearing subsets by indirect immunofluorescence during the course of acute EAE revealed the following: 1) during the pre-clinical phase of EAE (1 to 2 days before the onset of paralysis), there was a decrease in the percentage of Lyt-1- but not of Lyt-2-bearing cells in peripheral blood, and of both Lyt-1- and Lyt-2-bearing cells in spleen; 2) with the onset of clinically evident EAE, there was a decrease in both Lyt-1 and Lyt-2 cells in peripheral blood and an increase in the percentage of Lyt-1-bearing cells in pooled inguinal and axillary lymph node; and 3) after these early changes, there was a rapid reconstitution of the percentages of total Lyt-bearing cells and of both Lyt-1- and Lyt-2-bearing cells in peripheral blood. Immunohistochemical analysis of the central nervous system infiltrate revealed that the earliest lesions consisted predominantly of Lyt-1 T lymphocytes, with few Lyt-2 cells present. These results demonstrate that the influx of cells of the Lyt-1 inducer subset to the central nervous system in acute EAE is accompanied by a transient decrease in Lyt-1 cells in peripheral blood.     

Characterization and expression of collagen-like genes in Drosophila melanogaster

We have used a cloned chicken collagen cDNA sequence to help identify hypothetic members of the collagen gene family from Drosophila melanogaster. Several experimental evidences have been obtained which indicate that the Drosophila genome contains numerous collagen-like sequences. We have characterized in more detail ten distinct DNA sequences that hybridized strongly to the heterologous collagen probe. By in situ hybridization we have shown that these sequences are dispersed throughout the Drosophila genome. Two of them are shown to originate from the previously described DCg 1 and DCg 2 collagen genes. In other respects, we show that in addition to DCg 1 and DCg 2, at least five putative collagen genes are expressed during the Drosophila lifetime. These genes are unique, and some of them are seen to be transcribed into different size classes of mRNAs. Additionally, the data presented so far demonstrate that the expression of these genes is regulated temporally and/or quantitatively during the Drosophila life cycle.     

Kinetic studies of aminoglycoside acetyltransferase and phosphotransferase from Staphylococcus aureus RPAL. Relationship between the two activities

In the Staphylococcus aureus strain harbouring the plasmid RPAL, the resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics results from two inactivating reactions catalyzed by a 6'-N-aminoglycoside acetyltransferase and a 2"-O-amino-glycoside phosphotransferase. These enzymes are copurified with a constant ratio between the two activities, the purification process consisting in affinity chromatography, native electrophoresis and gel exclusion chromatography. The kinetic mechanisms of each activity have been determined from studies of initial velocities, as well as product and dead-end inhibitions. Both activities follow a random rapid equilibrium mechanism. The substrates and cofactors of one reaction have been tested as effectors of the other reaction. No interaction between the two activities has been observed. However, the GTP cofactor of phosphotransferase protects, at weak concentrations, the acetyltransferase against thermal inactivation, which suggests that the two activities may be associated.     

CCK nerve terminals in the rat striatal and limbic areas originate partly in the brain stem and partly in telencephalic structures

After direct injection of colchicine into the rat rostral caudateputamen, levels of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactive (CCK-IR) material in this part of the nucleus are significantly lowered, and CCK-IR neuronal cell bodies are not demonstrable in the caudateputamen, although numerous ones are revealed in some adjacent telencephalic regions. Direct injection of kainic acid into the rostral caudate-putamen is not followed by a decrease of CCK-IR material in the lesioned region. Twenty one days after injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the rat ventral mesencephalon, a significant decrease of CCK-IR material is observed in the frontal pole, the pyriform cortex, the nucleus accumbens and the ventral mesencephalon itself, but not in the caudate-putamen. After brain stem hemitransection, no decrease in CCK-IR material is observed in the rostral caudate-putamen.     

Some properties of pea enation mosaic virus isolated from field pea and broad bean plants in Bohemia

Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) was isolated from disea sed field pea (Pisum sativum L.ssp. arvense A.Gr.) and broad bean (Faba vulgaris Moench) plants grown as filed crops at Bohumilice in Bohemia. The virus proved to be pathogenic for the following plant species:Pisum sativum L. cv. Raman,Faba vulgaris Moench,Lens culinaris Med.,Vicia sativa L.,Lathyrus odoratus L.,Glycine soja L.,Phaseolus vulgaris L.,Chenopodium amaranticolor Coste andReyn,Nicotiana clevelandi Gray,Trifolium incarnatum L. The dilution end point of the isolate was higher in pea plants (10^?4) than in broad bean plants (10^?2). The thermal inactivation point was 65–68° and the longevityin vitro between 10 and 14 days. According to the host range, symptoms on pea plants and physical properties the virus isolate studied resembles some isolates described in the U.S.A. and represents a PEMV strain different from those reported so far in Czechoslovakia.     

Nuclear activity during oogenesis in sea urchins

Summary Early meiotic stages of Arbacia punctulata oocytes have revealed the presence of synaptinemal complexes in the chromosomes, which persist through zygotene-pachytene. The synaptinemal complexes conform broadly to the usual tripartite structures found in other higher forms. In addition, nuclei at these stages consist of a small nucleolus and dense bodies of varying sizes. The nucleolus is fibrillar in texture throughout and does not seem to incorporate Uridine-5-³H after pulse labeling, whereas the chromosomes are labeled. The nucleolar label is visualized at diplotene stages and onwards. The nuclear envelope differentiates by the appearance of numerous nuclear pore complexes with dense material in the annuli, and the chromosomes become markedly diffused. At vitellogenesis stage the nucleolus and chromatin become highly labeled after pulse incorporation of Uridine, indicating synthesis of ribosomal and chromosomal RNAs.This investigation was supported by grants No. A-5049, A-3624 and D-17 from National Research Council, Canada, grant No. DRB-9340-05 (U6) from Defense Research Board, Canada, and grant No. DRG-918 AT from Damon Runyon Memorial Fund for Cancer Research.     

The Latex Serologic Test for Syphilis—A New Screening Procedure

A new macroscopic screening test for syphilis, the Latex-sts test, is extraordinarily simple. After inactivation of the patient''s serum for 30 minutes at 56°C the test is performed by mixing the patient''s serum with latex particles coated with cardiolipin and a protein fraction obtained from the non-pathogenic Reiter strain of Treponema pallidum. Two to three minutes after mixing, the result of the test is observed on a ringed serologic plate. The sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the new test are equivalent to those of the qualitative Venereal Disease Research Laboratory tube test. The advantages of the Latex-sts are that it can be done in a short time, it is simple and it requires a minimum of laboratory equipment. The coated latex particles are stable for 12 months.