Natural History of Isolated Patent Ductus Arteriosus and the Effect of Surgical Correction: Twenty Years' Experience at The Hospital for Sick Children,Toronto

Seven hundred and forty-four cases of patent ductus arteriosus were diagnosed at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, in the 20-year period from 1947 to 1966. Of these 705 have been treated surgically. It is concluded that operation is best performed between 6 and 12 months of age. Isolated ductus arteriosus is rarely a cause of congestive heart failure, and is more likely to be so in the presence of the rubella syndrome. Failure associated with the anomaly in the neonatal period can usually be successfully managed by medical treatment. Spontaneous closure after one month of age is not to be expected. Surgical treatment at the appropriate time prevents the subsequent development of Eisenmenger''s complex.     

Examination of Market Foods for Coliform Organisms

Food specimens (490) in nine categories were examined for total aerobic plate count and numbers and types of coliform organisms, including the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EEC). The total counts were compared with various suggested standards, and a limit of 100,000/g appeared to be a realistic goal, except for certain food types with a high level of natural flora. Plate counts in VRB were compared to counts obtained by isolation by enrichment in LST Broth, and the latter method produced a higher percentage of isolations. The presence of E. coli was determined by use of EC Medium incubated at 44.5 +/- 0.1 C. Only 40.4% of the positive EC tubes, however, contained E. coli. It appeared that a limit of 10 coliform organisms per g as a suggested standard could be met with several types of foods. Isolation of EEC was obtained only three times, or in 0.6% of the specimens.     

INTESTINAL TRIGLYCERIDE ABSORPTION IN THE RAT : An Electron Microscopical Study

This report provides information on the morphology of fat absorption in rat intestinal epithelial cells. Three types of experiments were performed: (a) intubation of corn oil into fasted rats, (b) injection of physiological fatty-chyme prepared from fat-fed donor rats into ligated segments of jejunum of fasted animals, and (c) administration of electron-opaque particles in corn oil and markers given concurrently with the fat. These results support the hypothesis that fat is absorbed by selective diffusion of monoglycerides and fatty acids from micelles rather than by pinocytosis of unhydrolized triglycerides. Evidence is presented that the pits between the microvilli, previously believed to function in the transport of fat, are not involved in this process. Instead they appear to contribute their contents to lysosomes in the apical cytoplasm. Arguments are offered that the monoglycerides and fatty acids diffuse from the micelle while the latter is associated with the microvillous membrane of the absorptive cell. These micellar components penetrate the plasma membrane and diffuse into the cytoplasmic matrix where they encounter the SER. Triglyceride synthesis occurs in the SER and results in the deposition of fat droplets within its lumina. The synthesis of triglycerides and their sequestration into the SER establishes an inward diffusion gradient of monoglycerides and fatty acids.     

Effect of Phenolic Acids and Esters on Respiration and Reproduction of Bacteria in Urine

Vanillic, syringic, gallic, and protocatechuic acids, methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate, and propyl-p-hydroxybenzoate generally inhibited respiration in vitro of Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Aerobacter aerogenes in human urine. In the absence of any other available carbon source, certain of the phenolic compounds were utilized. Reproduction was generally suppressed in urine buffered to pH 7, 5.6, 4.5, and 4.0. The phenolic compounds were used in the range of 0.11 to 0.99 μmole/ml.     

Sites of Tubulin Polymerization in PC 12 Cells

The site at which tubulin enters into polymer in the neuritic process is a very important datum in terms of our understanding of the mechanism of transport of the microtubular cytoskeleton out the axon. If the form of tubulin being transported out the axon is the microtubule, then assembly of tubulin into microtubules should occur at or near the cell body; if, however, the form of tubulin transported is free tubulin dimer, then assembly can occur at any free microtubule end out the neurite. We have injected a fluorescent analog of tubulin into differentiated PC 12 cells and used differential extraction protocols to extract free dimer but not microtubules. We have imaged these cells before and after extraction by low-light-level video fluorescence microscopy and have used image analysis to examine the sites of tubulin incorporation into polymer or other unextracted components as a function of time. We find that tubulin in the distal reaches of the neurite is found initially as monomer and that its appearance in the unextracted component occurs later. This pattern of appearance of fluorescent tubulin initially in the soluble fraction and later in the unextractable component is qualitatively similar to that reported by other workers for biotinylated tubulin, but we see a larger gap between the rates of appearance in soluble fraction and in polymer. Quantitative analysis of fluorescence intensities in the two compartments with distance out the neurite reveals substantial variation between different neurites: In some neurites, the pattern of variation of unextracted/total tubulin suggests that tubulin enters into the unextracted component primarily near the cell body and that this unextracted component moves out the neurite with time, and in other neurites it suggest that monomer adds into microtubule ends staggered out the neurite. In no case do we see a pattern suggesting that distal addition predominates. These analyses of fluorescence intensities in extracted and unextracted neurites suggest that both transport of polymerized microtubules and monomer addition onto staggered microtubule ends occur in PC12 neurites and that in individual neurites one or the other of these two behaviors may predominate.