Intersphincteric Abscess

In 33 patients with an intersphincteric abscess continuous anal pain was the commonest symptom and a lump in the wall of the anal canal the commonest sign.The importance of this condition as a cause of persistent undiagnosed anal pain is stressed.     

Determination of fetal biparietal diameter without the use of ultrasound in squirrel monkeys

This study evaluated manual caliper measurement of fetal BPD in Saimiri through the abdomen of the dam (TBPD) for correlation with paired ultrasound measurements, prediction of delivery date, subspecies variation, prediction of pregnancy outcome, and correlation between postpartum BPD and TBPD. Regression analysis revealed a close relationship between TBPD measurements and those obtained by ultrasound (P < 0.001). TBPD for Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis increased from a mean of 14.8 ± 0.3 mm for 11 weeks prepartum to a delivery week measurement of 33.2 ± 0.2mm. Delivery-week TBPD of Saimiri boliviensis peruviensis were significantly smaller than Saimiri sciureus sciureus (P < .05). Delivery week TBPD had a correlation coefficient of 0.64 with paired post-patrum measurements. No complications were associated with the technique. Delivery date could be predicted within two weeks. TBPD is an inexpensive, safe, rapid method of approximating fetal growth during the last half of pregnancy in Saimiri.     

Facile autoplast generation and transformation in Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki.

We describe a method for maximizing the rate of conversion of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki vegetative cells to osmotically fragile forms in the absence of exogenously added enzymes. Optimal generation of autoplasts occurred in 50 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 7.0) at 37 degrees C with 10% (wt/vol) polyethylene glycol as an osmotic stabilizer. The maximum autolytic rate resulted in a conversion of greater than 90% of bacilli to spherical autoplasts in 6 min. Autoplasts regained bacillary morphology upon plating on DM3-G regeneration medium, with reversion frequencies ranging from 1.2 x 10(-1) to 5.3 x 10(-3). The autoplasts could efficiently take up exogenously added plasmid DNA. The presence of plasmids was verified by Southern hybridization analysis.     

Expression of mouse mammary tumor viral polypeptides in milks and tissues.

A 14,000-dalton polypeptide (p14) from RIII murine mammary tumor virus (MMTV) has been isolated by column chromatography in 6 M GuHCl. Antiserum prepared in rabbits specifically precipitated 125I-labeled p14; in double antibody competition, radioimmunoassays performed with limiting amounts of antibody, both purified p14 and disrupted MMTV, competed specifically with labeled antigen. The expression of this MMTV type B virus antigen could be measured by competition radioimmunoassays in milks, mammary glands, tumors, and tissue culture cells. MMTV expression measured by p14 immunoassay correlated well with the spontaneous incidence of mammary adenocarcinomas in different murine strains but not with type C MuLV p30 antigen expression. Levels of MMTV gp52, the major type-B viral glycoprotein, corresponded to p14 levels, suggesting that their control is comparably regulated. Evidence that this low m.w. polypeptide is present in feral and inbred strains of widely differing geographic origin and in MMTV with apparently different biologic properties suggests surprising conservation of MMTV protein homology.     

Identification and properties of a sterol-binding polysaccharide isolated from Saccharomyces Cerevesiae

A sterol-solubilizing polysaccharide isolated from yeast has been described (Adams, B. G. and Parks L. W. (1967) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 28,490–494) which greatly simplifies the addition of sterolsto aqueous media. The polysaccharide has now been identified by gas-liquid chromatography and carbazole reactions as yeast cell wall mannan. The cell wall mannan has been purified and binding constants for several sterols have been determined. Binding of sterols is a biphasic function of mannan concentration and is independent of pH over a range of 5 to 8.     

Quantitative Proteomic Analysis of Biological Processes and Responses of the Bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132 upon Deletion of Its Mercury Methylation Genes

Recent studies of microbial mercury (Hg) methylation revealed a key gene pair, hgcAB, which is essential for methylmercury (MeHg) production in the environment. However, many aspects of the mechanism and biological processes underlying Hg methylation, as well as any additional physiological functions of the hgcAB genes, remain unknown. Here, quantitative proteomics are used to identify changes in potential functional processes related to hgcAB gene deletion in the Hg‐methylating bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132. Global proteomics analyses indicate that the wild type and ΔhgcAB strains are similar with respect to the whole proteome and the identified number of proteins, but differ significantly in the abundance of specific proteins. The authors observe changes in the abundance of proteins related to the glycolysis pathway and one‐carbon metabolism, suggesting that the hgcAB gene pair is linked to carbon metabolism. Unexpectedly, the authors find that the deletion of hgcAB significantly impacts a range of metal transport proteins, specifically membrane efflux pumps such as those associated with heavy metal copper (Cu) export, leading to decreased Cu uptake in the ΔhgcAB mutant. This observation indicates possible linkages between this set of proteins and metal homeostasis in the cell. However, hgcAB gene expression is not induced by Hg, as evidenced by similarly low abundance of HgcA and HgcB proteins in the absence or presence of Hg (500 nm ). Taken together, these results suggest an apparent link between HgcAB, one‐carbon metabolism, and metal homeostasis, thereby providing insights for further exploration of biochemical mechanisms and biological functions of microbial Hg methylation.     

ELEVATIONAL VARIATION IN FOLIAR FLAVONOIDS OF QUERCUS RUBRA L. (FAGACEAE)

Foliar extracts of high elevation Quercus rubra contain 20 major flavonol-3-0-glycosides based primarily on the aglycones myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol. These compounds display an altitudinal cline in the Appalachian mountains, with quercetin-rich low elevation chemotypes intergrading into myricetin-rich high elevation forms. These chemotypes appear to be correlated with previously documented variation in foliar morphology. The degree of interpopulation variation also differs with elevation. At higher elevations flavonoids differ only quantitatively between sites, while below 3,000 ft there is site-to-site variability in the hydroxylation level of the aglycones.     

Immunological Cross-Reactions Between Two Low-Molecular-Weight Polypeptides from A Murine Type C Virus

Two low-molecular-weight type-specific virion polypeptides from the Kirsten strain of Murine leukemia virus, polypeptides p10 and p12, are immunologically related by radioimmunoassay competition techniques.