Vital microscopy and histochemical study of the autonomic nervous system of the small intestine in animals with thermal burns

By means of vital microscopy a possibility of histochemical detection of redox enzymes and of study of changes in their activity in intramural nerve plexuses of the small intestine on a live animal was demonstrated. Severe thermal trauma induced a disturbance of permeability of mitochondrial membranes of the Auerbach's plexus nerve cells; as a result, there was a change in the activity of redox enzymes localized within the mitochondria. Lumbar novocain block performed soon after the burn trauma normalized the state of the mitochondrial membranes of the nerve cells.     

Epiedmiologic significance of the distribution of corynephages in different collectives]

Corynephage distribution was studied in the nasopharyngeal washings of 252 persons infected with C. diphtheriae of gravis type, toxigenic (21 patients and 147 carriers) and non-toxigenic ones (84 carriers), and in 468 uninfected persons in collective bodies under different epidemic conditions. Corynephages were isolated from the nasopharyngeal washings only in persons infected with toxigenic C. diphtheriae--in 4 (of 21) patients, and in 21% (of 147) carriers. Phages tox+ (4--6.2%) were revealed only in carriers of toxigenic C. diphtheriae with numerous bacteria in the nasopharynx and in diphtheria patients. Carriers of nontoxigenic diphtheria bacilli can become infected with phage tox+ only together with the toxigenic strains (reinfection). The data obtained indicated that toxigenic and nontoxigenic C. diphtheriae strains were individual variants.     

Pathologic anatomy of experimental diseases of small laboratory animals caused by encephalomyocarditis virus (strain EMK-70)]

The results of pathomorphological investigation of the disease in small laboratory animals experimentally induced by the EMC-70 strain of encephalomyocarditis virus isolated from monkeys are presented. Irrespective of the mode of virus injection, the newborn and juvenile mice developed some lesions in the brown fat, transverse-striated muscles, as well as in the brain and heart. In guinea pigs the changes were characterized by the development of severe myocarditis and encephalitis accompanied by viral antigen accumulation. The disease induced by the EMC-70 strain could not be differentiated from the Coxsackie infection by the pathomorphological data. This fact should be taken into consideration in solving some problems pertinent to pathoanatomical diagnosis of viral diseases.     

Production of an extracellular proteinase and α-amylase byBacillus subtilis in chemostat

The formation of two extracellular enzymes (α-amylase and a proteinase) ofB. subtilis was investigated in batch and continuous cultures. Differences were observed in the production of both enzymes in batch culture when studied in flasks and in a fermentor. The values of proteinase activity from continuous cultivation never reached those obtained during batch cultivation. The optimal dilution rate for proteinase synthesis was 0.1 – 0.2/h. The optimal dilution rate for the production of α-amylase was 0.2 –0.3/h.     

Staining of sulphatides in metachromatic leukodystrophy with Alcian blue at high salt concentrations.

Alcian blue combines with purified sulphatide in 1.OM magnesium chloride. In tissue sections from patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy, sulphatide is stained by Alcian blue in 0.8 M magnesium chloride, and the staining can be abolished by prior treatment with chloroform and methanol. The simplicity of the technique, its specificity and ease of interpretation recommend Alcian blue staining at high salt concentrations as a routine method in the diagnosis of metachromatic leukodystrophy.