Effect of rye embryo ribosome nuclease on double-stranded RNA

In extracts obtained by treating rye embryo ribosomes with 0.5 M NH₄Cl, nuclease activity was noted towards double-stranded RNA from virus of Penicillium chrysogenum and towards synthetic poly (A)-poly (U) and poly (I)-poly (C) complexes.     

Sialyl-transferase mitochondriale

A sialyl transferase activity is found in purified mitochondria. It is not due to residual contamination and this enzymatic system is located in the outer mitochondrial membrane. This proves mitochondrial autonomy in regard to glycoconjugate sialylation.     

Occurrence of subcutaneous zygomycosis (Entomophthoromycosis Basidiobolae) caused by Basidiobolus haptosporus with pulmonary involvement

A case of a two-year-old boy with multiple subcutaneous lesions caused by Basidiobolus haptosporus is presented.The child had also a non-toxic familial goiter and clinical and radiological features of a pulmonary illness. The pulmonary manifestations only disappeared with the treatment with potassium iodide. The authors think that the pulmonary lesions must have arisen by direct spread of the fungus from the subcutaneous lesions of the chest.     

Triplex gene dosage effect for β-glucronidase and possible assignment to band q22 in a partial duplication 7q

Summary A 2-year-old girl had a de novo duplication in the long arm of one chromosome 7 and an increased level of the enzyme -glucuronidase in cultured fibroblasts. The phenotype of the girl partly overlaps those of two presumptive syndromes due to secondary partial trisomies 7q. The ratio of the enzyme activity was 1.43 to the controls, and 1.37 to her parent's values. We could not define the abnormality but suggest two alternatives: either the patient is trisomic for region q112 to q22 or for the region q22 to q34. If the second alternative is correct the locus for -glucuronidase is possibly assigned to band 7q22.     

A Romanian-American dialogue

Conclusion These American anthropological studies both reflect and distort our own Romanian-conceptions. Paradoxically, this gives both Romanian and American researchers an opportunity to verify their validity and reliability. The studies are notable for their multiplicity of theoretical approaches to Romanian reality: each author brings in something new by way of interpretation and, at the same time, maintains a dialectical conception as a methodological frame of reference.The authors are certainly conversant with present and future strategies of development in Romania. But their main problem is that they do not always understand the spirit of the latter and consequently fail to interpret contemporary Romanian realities in a deeply humanistic way.And now, some proposals. For a more active dialogue between Romanian and American scientists I suggest a more comprehensive use of the Romanian sources of information, including historical, beletristic, sociological, and political works. With reference to their reflections on history, the American anthropologists could have discussions with Romanian historians, and could use Romanian historical periodization, especially for the contemporary period. For us, the following sequence is basic: the moment of the armed insurrection as the beginning of the popular democratic revolution (August 23, 1944); proclamation of a Peoples' Republic of Romania (December 30, 1947); unification of Social Democratic Party with the Communist Party to form the Romanian Workers Party (Spring 1948); at this time it is possible to speak of a socialist revolution. The analysis of the Americans should take into consideration these important dates in Romanian history and structure their studies accordingly. Sometimes they must pay more attention to the affective connotation of words, especially for a Romanian reader. Such words would be, for example, their use of elite, rather than leaders, bureaucracy rather than administration, pressure rather than social necessities with the consciousness of development, patronclient instead of using interpersonal relations with mutual benefit, etc.I would also urge that substantive discussions between Romanians and Americans begin, built around specific topics of mutual interest, rather than ceremonial meetings which occur when the parties have neither the language skills, data nor social conceptions to interact fruitfully.I suggest to the American researchers that they maintain and strengthen their contacts with Romanian administrators at local, regional and national levels, so that their studies may contribute to our social praxis.Finally, the Americans should always take into account the economic constraints that shape political, juridical, moral, and philosophical phenomena, and try also to grasp more fully the interaction between elements of the superstructure and between superstructure and base in contemporary Romanian socialist society.Above all, along with Professor Cole , I hope that the scientific effort at interpreting Romanian reality, with its lights and shadows, will be used only for reciprocal knowledge and cooperation.Maria Cobianu-Bacanu is Scientific Researcher at the Center for Sociology, Academy of Social and Political Sciences, Bucharest, Romania.

---

     

Effects of Chlorine Concentration on the Structure of Poliovirus

Chlorine concentrations below 0.8 mg/liter inactivated poliovirus without causing separation of the viral components. These results indicate that the release of RNA from the capsids is the result, not the cause, of virus inactivation by chlorine.     

Protection against acute paraquat toxicity by ambroxol

An expression vector for G-CSF, pASLB3-3, was constructed and introduced into Namalwa KJM-1 cells (Hosoi et al., 1988), and cells resistant to 100 nM of methotrexate (MTX) were obtained. Among them, the highest producer, clone SC57, was selected and the productivity of this clone was further characterized. The maximal production of G-CSF was at the most 1.8 g/ml/day using a 25 cm² tissue culture flask, even though the cell number was above 7×10⁵ cells/ml. The limiting factors at high density were analyzed as the deficiency of nutrients, such as glucose, cysteine and serine, and pH control. The depression of specific G-CSF productivity per cell under the batch culture conditions was overcome by using a perfusion culture system, Biofermenter^TM (Sato, 1983) with modifications of nutrients supplementation by a dialysis membrane and/or dissolved oxygen (DO) supplementation by microsilicone fibers. ITPSGF medium was modified to elevate concentrations of amino acids and glucose by 2.0- and 2.5-times, respectively. Under the control of pH at 7.4 and DO at 3 ppm, the specific G-CSF productivity was not depressed even at high cell density (above 1×10⁷ cells/ml), and the amount of G-CSF reached 41 g/ml. These results indicated the possibility of finding the optimum culture conditions for the production of recombinant proteins by Namalwa KJM-1 cells.Abbreviations ABTS 2,2-Azino-di-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid - BSA Bovine Serum Albumin - BSA-PBS Phosphate-buffered Saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ containing Bovine Serum Albumin - dhfr Dihydrofolate Reductase - DO Dissolved Oxygen - G-CSF Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor - HEPES 4-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethansulfonic Acid - IFN Interferon - MTX Methotrexate - PBS(-) Phosphate-buffered saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ - Tween-PBS Phosphate-buffered saline without Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ containing 0.05% of Tween 20     

A new microtitration method for the enumeration of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) vaccines.

A new method is proposed for the microtitration of CBPP vaccines by performing eight parallel endpoint two-fold dilutions. When performed on a 96-well plate, it gives a titre with a precision of +/- 0.2 log10. By comparison, the established method, performed in tubes, gives a precision of only +/- 0.6 log10. The adaptation to microtitre plates allows much more economical culture of larger numbers of samples. Statistical analysis permits determination of vial-to-vial homogeneity of a batch and calculation of a titre with a precision of +/- 0.09 log10. The new method may be applied for the titration of mycoplasmas.