Ultrastructural localization of zinc in rat exocrine pancreas by autoradiography

Summary ⁶⁵Zn was infused at a constant rate for 10 days into a rat. Glutaraldehyde fixed, Epon-araldite embedded ultrathin sections of pancreatic tissue were coated with Ilford L4 emulsion and at 211 days exposure were developed. Silver grains were found over the zymogen granules and over the rough endoplasmic reticulum of exocrine cells. Islet tissue was not observed in these studies. The failure of other zinc localization methods to demonstrate zinc in acinar tissue is discussed as are some of the pitfalls of the autoradiographic method and suggestions for future improvement.Published with the approval of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Madison. Supported in part by USPHS Research Grant AM-05606 from the Nat. Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases.Supported by an NIH post-doctoral fellowship.     

The Physician and Industry

Many employers are interested in helping their employees improve and maintain health through a program of preventive medicine designed to supplement health services which already exist in the community. The objectives of such a health program can be attained only through team work between physicians, both within and outside industry. Such specific objectives as the development of measures for the maintenance and improvement of health and the prevention of disease; the provision of readily available diagnostic, treatment and counselling services; the rehabilitation of disabled employees; and the effective administration of sick-benefit plans require the closest communication and co-operation among the occupational health service, the private physician, and other health and welfare agencies. Only by such liaison can the maximum benefits of both preventive and curative medicine be extended to the employee—in his best interest as well as that of the community and the employer.     

Functional organization of cerebral microvasculature in a marsupial, the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus)

Capillaries within the central nervous system (CNS) of eutherian mammals form meshworks with numerous anastomoses, whereas capillaries in the CNS of marsupials consist entirely of hairpin-like loops, without anastomotic interconnections. Counter-current blood flow in capillary loops may have been important in the evolutionary development of a cerebral vascular supply. However, loops are not found in eutherian mammals, perhaps because of a limited benefit to the diffusive conductance of gases.     

High-pressure, high-temperature bioreactor for comparing effects of hyperbaric and hydrostatic pressure on bacterial growth.

We describe a high-pressure reactor system suitable for simultaneous hyperbaric and hydrostatic pressurization of bacterial cultures at elevated temperatures. For the deep-sea thermophile ES4, the growth rate at 500 atm (1 atm = 101.29 kPa) and 95 degrees C under hydrostatic pressure was ca. three times the growth rate under hyperbaric pressure and ca. 40% higher than the growth rate at 35 atm.     

Cellular source of soluble interleukin 2 receptors in serum of mice after recombinant interleukin 2 administration.

Previous studies have shown that peripheral blood mononuclear cells activated in vitro not only express cell-associated interleukin 2 receptors (IL2R) but also release a soluble form of this receptor. In this study, we demonstrate that administration of human recombinant IL 2 (rIL 2) to mice results in increased spleen weights, splenic natural killer (NK) cell cytolytic activity, and serum levels of soluble IL2R. However, compared with rIL 2-treated heterozygote controls, beige mice treated with rIL 2 displayed similar elevations in serum soluble IL2R but significantly less splenic NK activity. Likewise, administration of anti-asialo GM1 antiserum to rIL 2-treated mice resulted in a dramatic reduction in splenic NK cytolytic activity, but no reduction in serum soluble IL2R. Conversely, while rIL 2 treatment of BALB/c mice produced increased splenic NK activity and serum soluble IL2R, similar treatment of BALB/c nude mice resulted in elevation of only splenic NK activity. These studies demonstrate that administration of rIL 2 to normal mice can elevate both serum IL2R levels and splenic NK cytolytic activity. However, the results suggest that T cells are likely to be the source of elevated serum IL2R after rIL 2 administration.     

Effect of site-specific modification on restriction endonucleases and DNA modification methyltransferases.

Restriction endonucleases have site-specific interactions with DNA that can often be inhibited by site-specific DNA methylation and other site-specific DNA modifications. However, such inhibition cannot generally be predicted. The empirically acquired data on these effects are tabulated for over 320 restriction endonucleases. In addition, a table of known site-specific DNA modification methyltransferases and their specificities is presented along with EMBL database accession numbers for cloned genes.