Tryptophan, copper and zinc in hair of healthy subjects. Correlation with differences in hair pigmentation

Tryptophan, copper and zinc levels were determined in the hair of 300 healthy subjects divided by sex, age and hair colour. Sex influences tryptophan content in hair, the levels of this amino acid being higher in males than in females. Tryptophan is also higher in infancy (2-5 years) and in both males and females aging around 80 years and over. Hair colour also influences tryptophan levels, which increase from fair to black hair. Copper levels are similar in hair of both males and females, while those of zinc are higher in women. Age influences the distribution of these two metals in human hair. Copper contents in hair of males are higher at the age 20-40 years. In females, values decrease over the age of 60 years. Instead, zinc levels are higher between 20 and 60 years in males, and between 13 and 19 years in females. As regards hair colour, copper is slightly higher in black hair in males and in fair hair in females, and lower in white hair in both sexes. Zinc values appear to be higher in red and lower in white hair in males. In females they are higher in black hair.     

An epidemiological assessment of lens opacifications that impaired vision in patients injected with radium-224

The incidence of lens opacifications that impaired vision (cataract) was analyzed among 831 patients who were injected with known dosages of 224Ra in Germany shortly after World War II. The dependence of the incidence on dosage, i.e., injected activity per unit body weight, and on time after treatment was determined. The observations are equally consistent with proportionality of the incidence of cataract to the square of dosage or with a linear dependence beyond a threshold of 0.5 MBq/kg. The possibility of a linear dependence without threshold was strongly rejected (P less than 0.001). The analysis of temporal dependences yielded a component that was correlated with the injected amount of 224Ra and a component that was uncorrelated. The former was inferred by a maximum likelihood analysis to increase approximately as the square of the time after treatment. The component unrelated to the treatment was found to increase steeply with age and to become dominant within the collective of patients between age 50 and 60. The relative magnitudes of the two components were such that a fraction of 55 to 60% of the total of 58 cataracts had to be ascribed to the dose-related incidence. Impaired vision due to cataract was diagnosed before age 54 in 25 cases. In terms of injected activity per unit body weight no dependence of the sensitivity on age was found; specifically there was no indication of a faster occurrence of the treatment-related cataracts in patients treated at older ages.     

An atrial hematopoietic locus in the heart of the cave salamander (urodele amphibian)

Lungless Salamanders of the family Plethodontidae have a reduced interatrial septum. The pulmonary vein is lacking. In these species, the septum as a membranous thin sheet attaches near the dorsal lip of the sino-atrial valve where a connective and muscular column, supporting the valve, extends its branches over the upper wall of the undivided atrial cavity where a sponge-like structure is formed. The meshes of this structure are the site of a erythropoietic activity as shown in the plates. Early stages in active reproduction are found in the external acid layer while in the basic inner layer the red cells undergo differentiation. This locus may be correlated to the particular anatomy of the heart concerning the lacking of the pulmonary vein, the position of the sino-arterial aperture shifted to the left side and the reduced interatrial septum. In the large upper cavity of the atrium a certain degree of blood stagnation could be possible which could allow the settlement of this locus. No ventricular erythropoiesis nor epicardial granulopoiesis have been found. This hemopoietic locus is lacking in the family Salamandridae and Anura.     

Floral abnormalities in field grown “Tigrina” plants from xHaynaldoticum sardoum Meletti et Onnis (Gramineae)

A ‘tigrina’ mutant stock of xHaynaldoticum sardoum Meletti et Onnis grown under field conditions produced high frequency spikes with abnormal stamens and pistils. The abnormalities occurred mostly in the stamens, which frequently changed to either pseudoovaries, or leaf-shaped structures or, in extreme cases, did not form at all. The developmental abnormalities of the stamens resulted in male sterility in the whole or in part of the spike. It is proposed that the “tigrina” status changes the physiology of the plant (e.g. photosynthetic activity) in such a way that it responds with floral abnormalities brought about by environmental conditions which permit normal flower development in control (non-mutant) plants.     

Human IgG subclass study. II. The levels of the individual IgG subclasses in paired sera from mothers and newborn infants as well as in the blood sera of inhabitants of an isolated northern village]

The levels of the first 3 subclasses of IgG, as determined by the radial immunodiffusion test, proved to be similar in the blood sera obtained from mothers and newborns in Moscow. The concentration of IgG4 was 0.64 +/- 0.02 g/l iently indicative of a limited passage of IgG4 molecules through the placenta. The inhabitants of an isolated northern village were found to have the inheritable combined deficit of IfG2 and IgG3 synthesis in their blood sera, which was probably due to the prolonged processes of inbreeding and the progenitor effect.     

Performance of a floating treatment wetland for in-stream water amelioration in NE Italy

Floating treatment wetlands are innovative systems and their processes are still scarcely known within the traditional methods of phytodepuration. To gain initial information on their performance and potential in removing pollutants, two experiments have been conducted in northeast Italy, in a Natural Park with resurgent water. Barriers formed by a new patented floating element were tested in real climatic and water flow conditions. One experiment was conducted in a channel receiving aquaculture effluents, while the other was set in two cleaner channels to test two installation designs (two barriers composed of two lines of elements—2 × 2 design and two composed of three lines of elements—2 × 3 design). Different macrophyte species were used (Phragmites australis, Carex elata, Juncus effusus, Typha latifolia, Chrysopogon zizanioides, Sparganium erectum, and Dactylis glomerata). The floating systems were easily installed and required few maintenance operations. Native plants grew successfully, developing roots 90–135 cm deep 1 year after planting. Conversely, Chrysopogon zizanioides showed scarce adaptation to local conditions. In the first experiment, median chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water passing through the floating wetland system was reduced by 66%, biochemical oxygen demand by 52%, and total phosphorus by 65%. In the second experiment, the 2 × 3 design had a slightly better performance than 2 × 2 in reducing COD (38 and 28% of removal, respectively). The two designs performed similarly on NO₃-N, reducing the incoming concentrations by 12% (2 × 3 design) and 14% (2 × 2). This form of nitrogen represents almost all the total nitrogen, which was abated by 13% by the 2 × 3 design and by 29% by 2 × 2 design.