Book reviews

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Book reviews

     

Equations for the age structure of growing populations

Generalized equations are developed for the age structure of growing cell populations when other parameters besides chronological age are taken into account. These are summarized in a parameter which we call “chronological age”. The theory is Markovian in spirit and leads to an integro-differential equation for population density which generalizes several equations now appearing in the literature. Approximations to the fundamental equation are suggested.     

A new method for the quantitative determination of monosaccharides, amino sugars and N-acetylneuraminic acid and of 6-deoxyhexose (fucose) in the presence of other sugars

1. Monosaccharides, amino sugars and N-acetylneuraminic acid were determined by using an original colorimetric assay procedure, based on the detection of formaldehyde released after periodate oxidation. A range of these compounds was investigated by this method and they were all found to obey Beer's law within the concentration range 0-0.6mumole/ml. 2. A simple method for the determination of 6-deoxyhexose concentration in the presence of other monosaccharides is also described. 3. The optimum pH for the release of formaldehyde from sugars by periodate oxidation was 7.0-7.5. 4. The methods described have considerable advantages over existing assay systems and their particlar value in automatic colorimetry, where the use of concentrated acids is undesirable, is discussed.     

Zur Morphologie der braunen Inguinaldrüse des Kaninchens

Zusammenfassung Die braune Inguinaldrüse des Kaninchens ist eine einfach gebaute tubulöse Drüse. Das Epithel der Drüsenschläuche ist einschichtig kubisch bis hochzylindrisch und wird von spindelförmigen Myoepithelzellen unterlagert. Die Drüsenzellen besitzen nahezu organellenfreie, fein granulierte Cytoplasmaprotrusionen, die weit in das Lumen hineinragen; in der Lichtung werden häufig isolierte Cytoplasmabereiche gefunden. Der Sekretionsmodus ist somit deutlich apokrin (decapitation secretion).Das endoplasmatische Retikulum ist überall in der Zelle zu erheblich zerklüfteten Cisternen erweitert; Golgi-Apparate sind spärlich. Große, matrixreiche Mitochondrien zeichnen sich durch Armut an Cristae aus. Elektronendichte Sekretpfützen liegen vornehmlich supranukleär; Sekretvakuolen kommen nicht vor.

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On the morphology of the brown inguinal gland of the rabbit

Summary The tubular brown inguinal glands of the rabbit have been studied by light and electron microscopy. The apocrine secretory cells are columnar elements with prominent apical cytoplasmic caps and protrusions extending into the glandular lumen. These protrusions contain neutral mucopolysaccharides demonstrable by light microscopy. The secretory cells are characterized by the presence of large mitochondria with scant cristae and an electron dense matrix. Electron dense plaques, presumably secretory masses, are present in the supranuclear cytoplasm. The cytoplasm contains cisternae of a granular endoplasmic reticulum. Myoepithelial cells are situated between the secretory cells and the basal lamina.

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Mit dankenswerter Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Dynamic adhesion and separation of cells in vitro. II. Interactions of cells with hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces

Experiments made on the passage of cells through untreated and siliconized glass beads, and on the adhesion and spread of cultured cells on glass and Teflon surfaces show that, in the absence of serum and in its presence in low concentrations, cell adhesion and spread is sensitive to substratum wettability. On the other hand, in the presence of 100% serum, no differences in adhesive parameters are detectable. It is concluded that arguments correlating cell adhesion to surface wettability, and, by inference, surface free energy, are unsubstantiated in 100% serum, which may well approximate to the in vivo situation. The results also show no correlation between parameters of cell adhesion and cell separation, and thereby support the hypothesis that these are different processes.     

Some Properties of Heat-Resistant and Heat-Sensitive Strains of Clostridium perfringens I. Heat Resistance and Toxigenicity

Heat resistance at 100 C (D-values), sporulating ratios, toxigenicity for mice, and lecithinase activity (as micrograms per milliliter of enzyme, ascertained by the lecithovitellin reaction) were determined for four strains of Clostridium perfringens. A definite inverse relationship between thermal resistance and toxigenicity was found. The D-values ranged from 17.6 for the most heat-resistant strain to 0.3 for the strain possessing the least heat resistance, with corresponding lecithinase activities from 25 to 133 mug/ml of enzyme. The sporulating ratios did not differ greatly between the strains. The heat stability of the toxin was greater at 100 C than at 75 C. There was a noticeable difference between the heat stabilities of the toxin in the culture fluids of the heat-sensitive and heat-resistant strains at pH 7.0 when the toxic filtrates were held at 100 C. At a holding temperature of 75 C, a similar but lesser difference was observed at pH 5.5. Heat resistance and lecithinase activity did not change when a substrain of the least heat-resistant parent strain was obtained through heat selection by a single transfer, or when the most heat-resistant strain was transferred serially 12 times.     

On the proposed energy switch in photosynthesis

This paper analyzes the “energy switch” that has often been proposed to direct quanta absorbed by a given photosynthetic unit alternately to the site of one and then the other primary reaction. Such a device is essential to the Franck-Rosenberg theory, but not to the Duysens-Witt-Kok (DWK) model, which needs to assume only that the reactions occur in series. If there is no energy switch, an incident quantum absorbed at any time by any particular pigment molecule stands a chance of ending up in the reactive site of either primary reaction. The “separate packages” model is a special case of this general picture. Without an energy switch, a series model requires a storage device to insure that a quantum will not be wasted if it arrives at the site of one reaction while the photosynthetic unit is set up to perform the other. Such a storage device can be appended to the DWK model. Alternatively, this model can be augmented by an energy switch. This gives what is commonly known as the “spillover model,” a confusing name which we suggest be abandoned. As a clear-cut-though perhaps technically unfeasible-test of the energy switch hypothesis, we imagine a quantum injector, a hypothetical source of flashing light which delivers a single quantum to every photosynthetic unit with each flash. We aim this useful figment at an (equally hypothetical) photosynthetic system all of whose units are set up to perform the same primary reaction. If there is an energy switch, we can now prepare a “synchronous” photosynthetic apparatus in which each photosynthetic unit is undergoing the same reaction at the same time.