Bacterial Contamination of a Phenolic Disinfectant

Twenty ward stock bottles of aqueous 1% Printol were examined and 17 were found to be contaminated with Alcaligenes faecalis. Organisms were present in dead space behind the plastic liners of the bottle caps, where they could have survived washing. A. faecalis was also isolated from 31 out of 34 1% Printol solutions in use in the hospital. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was grown from two samples of 1% Printol in one ward, but not from stock bottles.The minimal bactericidal concentration (M.B.C.) in aqueous solution of Hycolin, Sudol, and Stericol for A. faecalis and Ps. aeruginosa was 1 in 320. The M.B.C. of Printol for both organisms was 1 in 80. The activity of all four disinfectants was reduced in the presence of large amounts of organic matter. Sudol was the least affected. Polyethylene, of which stock bottles were made, did not reduce the activity of the disinfectants. It is suggested that, ideally, stock bottles of disinfectant diluted ready for use should be autoclaved before they are refilled.     

Immunological Studies on Dermatophytes IV. Chemical Structures and Serological Reactivities of Polysaccharides from Microsporum praecox, Trichophyton ferrugineum, Trichophyton sabouraudii, and Trichophyton tonsurans

The chemical structures and serological specificities of polysaccharides isolated from four species of dermatophytes, Microsporum praecox, Trichophyton ferrugineum, T. sabouraudii, and T. tonsurans, were investigated. Each of these species yielded a mixture of crude polysaccharides which could be separated into three water-soluble, neutral polysaccharides free of nitrogen. These were grouped as galactomannan I, galactomannan II, and glucan. The galactomannans I were quite similar in chemical structure. When measured by complement fixation, their serological cross-reactivities were similar with rabbit antisera to each of these species except T. sabouraudii. The differences in their relative reactivities with this antiserum could be correlated with differences in structure and specificity of this antiserum for galactofuranose end groups. The galactomannans II differed both in chemical structure and in their serological reactivities with antisera to each of these species. The galactomannan II from T. ferrugineum differed most in chemical structure and was the least reactive serologically. The glucans also differed in both structure and serological reactivities.     

Subunits of flagellar accessory tubules

Many sperm flagella contain a central pair of singlet tubules surrounded by nine doublet tubules. Insect sperm flagella, however, usually contain in addition to the typical 9+2 arrangement of tubules, an additional row of nine singlet tubules which are called accessory tubules. Each of these accessory tubules in the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)) contains a single central prototubule surrounded by an array of 15 or 16 peripheral prototubules. The number of prototubules in the accessory tubules of Leptinotarsa decemlineata was determined with an electron microscope and image details were reinforced by the rotation techniques of Markham.     

Potentiation of Inhibitory Activity of Colistin on Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Sulphamethoxazole and Sulphamethizole

Potentiation of colistin by sulphamethoxazole and sulphamethizole was demonstrated with 19 out of 20 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This enhancement was bactericidal as well as bacteriostatic. Synergy between trimethoprim and sulphamethoxazole was also demonstrated with four strains of Ps. aeruginosa, but even when the two drugs were combined high concentrations of trimethoprim were still required to produce a bactericidal effect. Combinations of sulphamethoxazole and gentamicin appeared to be synergistic when the bacteriostatic effect was measured, but the combined bactericidal effect was indifference. The bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect of combinations of carbenicillin with sulphamethoxazole was also indifference.     

CHLOROPLAST DEVELOPMENT IN OCHROMONAS DANICA

When dark-grown cells of Ochromonas danica are placed in the light, the amount of chlorophyll a per cell increases 82-fold; the content of carotenoid pigment, 24-fold. Concomitantly with this increase in chlorophyll and carotenoid pigment, the small proplastid of dark-grown cells develops into a large lamellate chloroplast. During the first 12 hours in the light, vesicles appear within the loose clusters of dense chloroplast granules, enlarge, align themselves into rows (plates in three dimensions), and fuse into discs. Double discs may form from the more or less simultaneous fusion of two adjacent plates of vesicles or by the addition of vesicles to an already formed single disc. Three-disc bands arise by the addition of a disc to an already formed two-disc band through the approach and fusion of more vesicles. After 24 hours in the light, most of the chloroplast bands contain three discs, but the chloroplasts are still small. After 48 hours in the light, almost all the cells contain full-sized chloroplasts with a full complement of three-disc bands. However, at this time the amount of chlorophyll a and carotenoid pigment is only one-half of maximum. During the next 3 days in the light, as the number of chlorophyll and carotenoid molecules per chloroplast approximately doubles, there is a compression of the discs in each band (from 180 to 130 A) and a precise alignment of their membranes. Changes also occur in the nucleus when dark-grown cells are placed in the light. There is an increase in the number of small nucleolar bodies, many of which lie directly against the nuclear envelope, and in a few cells a dense mass of granules is seen between the two membranes of the nuclear envelope.     

An electron microscopic study of the cerebral blood vessels of the opossum

Summary Blood vessels of the opossum brain are paired, artery and vein, and end in a closed loop. Both anatomically and physiologically they are true end-arteries. The two limbs are enclosed within a single basement membrane and are separated from each other by an intercapillary cell thought to be analogous to the usual capillary pericytes. The similarity of this vascular arrangement to that in the rabbit placenta and in the medulla of the kidney is discussed in relation to the counter-current multiplier system.This work was supported in part by the Beaumont-May Institute of Neurology and by a grant, B-425, from the United States Public Health Service.Research Fellow of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.     

FINE STRUCTURE OF THE NEUROHYPOPHYSIS OF THE OPOSSUM (DIDELPHIS VIRGINIANA)

The neurohypophysis of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) was studied by electron microscopy in order to amplify Bodian''s classic light microscopic observations in which he demonstrated a definite lobular pattern. The lobule of the opossum neurohypophysis is divided into three regions: a hilar, a palisade, and a septal zone. The hilar portion contains bundles of nerve fibers, the extensions of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal tract containing neurofilaments but few neurosecretory granules. In the opossum, pituicytes have a densely fibrillar cytoplasm. Herring bodies are prominent in the hilar region. They are large bodies packed with neurosecretory granules that have been described as end bulb formations of axons. From the hilar region, axons fan out into a palisade zone where the nerve terminals packed with neurosecretory granules, mitochondria, and microvesicles abut upon basement membranes. The neurosecretory granules are similar to those present in the neurohypophysis of other mammals, except for an occasional huge granule of distinctive type. Material morphologically and histochemically resembling glycogen occurs as scattered particles and as aggregates within nerve fibers. The septal zone, containing collagen, fibroblasts, and numerous small capillaries, is separated from the adjacent glandular tissue by a basement membrane.