Asymptomatic Significant Bacteriuria in the Non-pregnant Woman: II. Response to Treatment and Follow-up

Short courses of nitrofurantoin and ampicillin produced an immediate cure in 80% of adult non-pregnant bacteriuric women. Of the subjects so treated, 55% remained cured at the end of one year. Over the same follow-up period 36% of untreated bacteriuric women developed a spontaneous remission of bacteriuria. Treatment failed to prevent the development of symptomatic infection, and the reinfections which followed successful treatment were more commonly associated with the development of symptoms than the persistent or relapsing infections in untreated or unsuccessfully treated subjects.It is concluded that a search for bacteriuria in non-pregnant women is unlikely to be of value as a preventive measure, since in many instances it fails to detect urinary tract infection at an early stage and since treatment by methods suitable for large-scale use is ineffective.     

Thyroid stimulation test with serum thyroxine concentration as index of thyroid response

A thyrotropin (T.S.H.) test is suggested which relies on the change in the concentration of serum thyroxine as the index of thyroid response to T.S.H. stimulation. Ten such tests have been carried out in healthy volunteers and 39 in patients referred for routine thyroid stimulation tests. Among the advantages of such a test are that the patient does not receive ionizing radiation; it is independent of the presence of iodide-or mercury-containing compounds; and it minimizes the number of patient visits. In remote areas the patient need not attend the specialist centre, because the T.S.H. injection can be given and the serum samples taken locally, the samples then being sent to the appropriate laboratory for assay.     

Characterisation of amino acid incorporation by subcellular fractions from sterile beet disks

Summary The optimum concentrations of leucine, ATP, GTP and Mg²⁺ ion for the incorporation of leucine into protein by the microsomal fraction isolated from sterile disks of red beetroot are 0.06 mM, 5 mM, 0.5 mM, and 12 mM respectively. Incorporated ¹⁴C-leucine does not exchange with an excess of soluble-¹²C-leucine. Incorporation into protein is partly dependent on the addition of a high speed supernatant fraction which incorporates leucine into a product with the properties of aminoacyl RNA. Addition of polyuridylic acid to microsomes isolated from fresh disks stimulates the incorporation of phenylalanine into protein nine-fold but has no effect on leucine incorporation. Polyuridylic acid — stimulated incorporation is not inhibited by chloramphenicol. Preincubation of fresh microsomes with trypsin does not increase their activity. These results suggest that the low activity of fresh microsomes may be due to a lack of messenger RNA. The mitochondrial fraction shows a rise and fall in leucine-incorporating ability during aging similar to that shown by the microsomal fraction. Studies with inhibitors suggest that about 25% of this incorporation is due to the mitochondria themselves, the rest being attributable to large microsomes. Fractions isolated from disks aged under non-sterile conditions show large incorporations of leucine which are not dependent on an added energy source. This result confirms the importance of using aseptic techniques when studying the aging of storage tissue disks.     

Sulfhydryl and Disulfide Patterns Associated with Vernalization of Wheat

Analyses of plumules from seedlings of a winter wheat variety (Elgin) and a spring wheat variety (Red Bobs) indicated that SH and SS contents based on protein levels were similar in the whiter and spring wheat tissues grown at 20 C. Boll) varieties, when grown nt 3 C, contained greater concentrations of SH and SS groups, based on protein levels, than those present in the tissues grown at 20 C. The spring wheat tissues at 3 C maintained relatively constant levels of SH and SS during the growth period. Sulfhydryl (SH) and SS groups based on fresh weights were present in greater quantities in the tissues of the spring wheat grown at 20 C than in the winter wheat tissues grown at 20 C. The high SH and SS concentrations present in the warm-grown spring wheat tissues were due to a high concentration of protein extracted from that tissue. The SH and SS contents per unit fresh weight were quite similar in the cold-grown tissues of both varieties during the growth period. Both varieties at both temperatures showed a similar decrease in SH and SS contents, based on fresh weights, as maturation progressed. The spring wheats grown at 3 C and 20 C and the winter wheat grown at 3 C all showed similar characteristics and differed considerably from the winter wheat grown at 20 C. These data were positively correlated with the flowering potential of the wheat varieties.