A new non-steroidal drug for long-acting contraception.

A new contraceptive compound had been prepared with the common ingredients and it was applied in female rats. The efficacy and toxicity tests of this compound showed that this drug has along-acting contraceptive value not causing any side-effects.     

Spontaneous segregation of a heterozygous diploid ofAspergillus niger

A case of spontaneous segregation of a heterozygous diploid was observed withAspergillus niger, giving rise to a somatic recombinant. Assuming an independence of markers, its genotype is suggested to bebrw+lys pab+brw lys+pab.     

Synthesis and degradation of proteins during wheat endosperm development

Synthesis of proteins rich in lysine declines progressively with endosperm development and these proteins appear to be degraded preferentially at later stages. The proteolytic enzymes in extracts of endosperms at a late stage of development release considerably more lysine radioactivity from labelled endosperm proteins as compared with the enzymes in endosperms at an early stage.     

An interactive nonrandom-mating two-sex model whose intrinsic growth rate lies between one-sex rates.

In a recent paper, the author has presented an interactive two-sex model and applied it to the U.S. population, 1940–1971. While the model has removed many inconsistencies in the one-sex models for males and females, it has two major limitations. First, the model assumes random mating of men and women within their reproductive ages. Second, it gives an intrinsic growth rate that is not necessarily intermediate between the male and the female intrinsic growth rates, as obtained from the one-sex models. A new two-sex model is provided in this paper that removes both these limitations. The new model is applied to the U.S. population for the years 1940–1974.     

Amino acid starvation in Escherichia coli K-12: characteristics of the translation process.

Some characteristics of the translation process during amino acid starvation in Escherichia coli have been examined. Once starvation has been established, premature termination of polypeptides is negligible and complete proteins are formed. There is some preference for the synthesis of shorter proteins. The number of ribosomes involved in protein synthesis appears to decline to about half during amino acid-starvation. The assembly time of proteins during amino acid starvation is increased to only about fourfold, though protein synthesis maintained by turnover is reduced to 10%. To explain these observations, a model has been proposed for the course of events that possibly take place from the onset of starvation.     

The potential of Cystatin C and small dense LDL as biomarkers of coronary artery disease risk in a young Indian population

Coronary artery disease (CAD) affects Indians 5–6 years earlier than in the west, is diffuse and malignant, and poses a heavy burden on India’s developing economy. Traditional risk factors have failed to explain this high incidence of premature CAD and hence this study investigated the association of two novel risk biomarkers, cystatin C and small dense LDL (sdLDL) with the presence and severity of CAD. Cystatin C and sdLDL were estimated in 204 CAD patients ≤45 years of age and compared with 161 age-matched healthy controls. The traditional lipid profile parameters, i.e., cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, apolipoproteins A1 and B, and Lp(a) were also measured in both groups. Cystatin C was significantly raised and mean LDL particle size significantly reduced in CAD patients as compared to controls. 62.7 % of CAD patients showed pattern B while 37.3 % patients showed pattern A. Of the traditional lipid tests, only HDL and apolipoprotein A1 showed a significant decrease in the CAD group. sdLDL was significantly associated with the severity of CAD, while cystatin C was not. Both cystatin C and sdLDL emerged as independent risk factors, however, of the two, sdLDL was a more sensitive predictor of CAD events. Cystatin C and mean LDL particle size are significantly and independently associated with the presence of CAD events in patients ≤45 years with normal kidney function. Hence, these novel risk biomarkers can be useful tools in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with CAD in the productive Indian workforce.     

Fluorographic detection of tritiated glycopeptides and oligosaccharides separated on polyacrylamide gels: analysis of glycans from Dictyostelium discoideum glycoproteins

Previous workers have shown that oligosaccharides and glycopeptides can be separated by electrophoresis in buffers containing borate ions. However, normal fluorography of tritium-labeled structures cannot be performed because the glycans are soluble and can diffuse during equilibration with scintillants. This problem has been circumvented by equilibration of the gel with 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) prior to electrophoresis. The presence of PPO in the gel during electrophoresis does not alter mobility of the glycopeptides and oligosaccharides. After electrophoresis, the gel is simply dried and fluorography performed. This allows sensitive and precise comparisons of labeled samples in parallel lanes of a slab gel and, since mobilities are highly reproducible, between different gels. The procedure is preparative in that after fluorography the gel bands can be quantitatively eluted for further study, without any apparent modification by the procedure. In this report, the procedure is illustrated by fractionation of both neutral and anionic glycopeptides produced by the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum.