The relative effectiveness of three techniques to induce the trophotropic response

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of electromyographic biofeedback training(EMG BFT), remeditation, and progressive muscle relaxation(PMR) in eliciting a relaxation or trophotropic response as measured by frontalis muscle tension, heart rate, electrodermal response, respiration rate, and skin temperature. Fifty-four college students were randomly assigned to one of five groups:(1) control,(2) placebo control,(3) EMG BFT,(4) meditation,(5) PMR. After baseline measures were obtained subjects were trained in 10 30-minute training sessions and posttested. Comparisons by ANOVAs indicated there was a significant decrease in muscle tension in the EMG BFT and meditation groups and significant decreases in respiration rate in the meditation and PMR groups. No other changes were attributed to treatment.     

Synthesis of (±)-16-thioketal and 16-keto prostaglandins

The synthesis of ((±)-16-thioketal and 16-keto PGE₂ methyl ester ( and ) is herein described.     

Induction of lordosis behavior in female rats by intravenous administration of progestins

Progesterone is rapidly metabolized by neural cells in the rat. Progesterone could, therefore, act as a “prohormone,” stimulating lordosis behavior in estrogen-primed rats only after metabolic conversion. Were such the case, one might expect one or more of the naturally occurring metabolites of progesterone to be more potent than the parent compound. Estradiol benzoate-primed rats were therefore administered intravenously 200 μg of progesterone or one of five immediate metabolites of progesterone. The steroid 20α-dihydroprogesterone was found to be more potent than progesterone. Both 20α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-3-one and 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one were less potent than progesterone, but more potent than the vehicle propylene glycol. Neither 5α-pregnane-3α, 20α-diol nor 5α-pregnane-3,20-dione (dihydroprogesterone, DHP) differed from the vehicle in potency. The data suggest that 20α-dihydroprogesterone, which is secreted at high levels during the estrous cycle, could play a role in the regulation of sexual receptivity. The data also suggest that 5α-reduction is probably not crucial for progesterone's action.     

Sex and race differences in finger ridge-count correlations

Correlations between ridge-counts on the ten fingers were compared by race and sex in 11 samples representing Negroes and Caucasians: five from subsaharan Africa, one American Black, three European, one American White and one from India. The samples of European ancestry showed no consistent sex difference in mean correlation, although female American Whites significantly exceeded males. In three of the six Negro samples and in the Parsis of India males showed significantly higher average correlations than females. The pattern of sex and race differences suggests that the sex chromosomes, particularly the Y chromosome, play a role in dermal ridge development.     

Bacterial Growth Kinetics on Diphenylmethane and Naphthalene-Heptamethylnonane Mixtures

Experiments were carried out to determine if diphenylmethane is utilized by a species of Pseudomonas (Hydrogenomonas) in the dissolved state regardless of the physical state (liquid or solid) of the undissolved diphenylmethane suspended in the medium. Bacterial growth rates in the presence of various amounts of solid or liquid diphenylmethane indicate that liquid diphenylmethane is utilized at the aqueous-diphenylmethane interface but that solid diphenylmethane is not. A Pseudomonas sp. that was isolated on naphthalene (solid), but could not utilize heptamethylnonane, was grown in the presence of various amounts of a naphthalene-heptamethylnonane mixture (liquid). The growth rates indicate that the bacterium could utilize naphthalene at the aqueous-hydrocarbon interface, which is not the case in the absence of the heptamethylnonane.     

Ascorbic acid uptake in guinea pig intestinal mucosa

Cellular accumulation of ascorbic acid was investigated in vitro in distal intestinal mucosa of guinea pig. With ¹⁴C-ascorbic acid present at 8 μM/L in the bathing media, tissue/media (T/M) concentration ratios of at least 5 were routinely achieved. Recently absorbed ascorbic acid appeared to be free in solution in the cellular fluid in that it diffused from tissue exposed to poisons with a disappearance half-time of approximately 10 minutes. Ascorbic acid uptake was highly dependent on the presence of sodium in the bathing media; total Tris substitution resulted in a 97% decrease in uptake. Also, metabolically depleted tissue did not accumulate ascorbic acid against a concentration gradient. Uptake of ¹⁴C-ascorbic acid from a bathing solution concentration of 8 μM/L was reduced 67% in the presence of 0.8 mM/L nonlabeled ascorbic acid. Recently absorbed ¹⁴C-ascorbic acid moved more rapidly back into the lumen when the luminal solution contained nonlabeled ascorbic acid (5 mM) than when it contained mannitol (5mM). This demonstration of counter transport substantiates a carrier mechanism in the brush border.