Conductimetric assessment of the biomass content in suspensions of immobilised (gel-entrapped) microorganisms

Summary The problem of obtaining a rapid estimate of the microbial content of an immobilised cell suspension is addressed. The low-frequency conductivity of free-living cell suspensions of Clostridium pasteurianum is lower than that of the medium in which they are suspended, by an amount conforming to the Bruggeman relation. The conductivity of the cell wall makes a negligible contribution to the measured conductivity under the conditions used. Calcium alginate beads (lacking microbial cells) lower the conductivity of a solution with which they have been equilibrated by an extent which is a function of the concentration of alginate gel used in forming the beads. When this is taken into account, the ratio of the conductivity of a suspension of gel-immobilised cells to that of the suspending medium can be used to give a rapid and convenient assessment of the amount of microbial biomass present.     

Zur Frage der Verteilung des Rh(D)-Faktors bei erstgeborenen und nachgeborenen Kindern

Summary The frequency of the occurrence of the Rh(D)-factor was compared in 1185 first-born babies with that among 2246 children from 2nd and later pregnancies. Among the first-born children 14,2% were Rh(D)-negative, and among the later-born 14,7% were Rh(D)-negative. In children with the Blood group O the distribution of the Rh(D) bloodgroup was the same in both first-born and later-born children. Among the Rh(D)-positive children there seem to be less boys.     

Beitrag zur Kenntnis der österreichischen Sippen desValeriana officinalis-Aggregats und ihrer Chromosomenzahlen

Zusammenfassung Die vonWalther im wesentlichen für Deutschland ausgearbeitete Gliederung vonValeriana officinalis agg. ist in ihren Grundzügen auch in Österreich anwendbar. Die Chromosomenzahlen der Sippen sind in diesem Land die gleichen wie auch in anderen Teilen Europas.Valeriana officinalis L. s. str. — die in Österreich häufigste Art — ist mit 2n=14 diploid,V. collina Wallr. mit 2n=28 tetraploid. Ob die beiden in Österreich weniger häufigen, einander sehr ähnlichen oktoploiden Sippen mit 2n=56 —V. sambucifolia Mikan fil. undV. procurrens Wallr. — wirklich Artrang verdienen, ist zu diskutieren.V. procurrens wächst in Österreich unter anderem in den Nordtiroler Alpen.

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Summary The subdivision ofValeriana officinalis agg. established byWalther especially for Germany is found to be practicable in its main features in Austria too. The chromosome numbers of the taxa are the same in Austria as in other parts of Europe.Valeriana officinalis L. s. str. is a diploid (2n=14),V. collina Wallr. is a tetraploid species (2n=28). As to the nearly related octoploid taxaV. sambucifolia Mikan fil. andV. procurrens Wallr. (2n=56) it is still to be discussed, if they should be recognized as species or not.

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Herrn Professor Dr. L.Geitler zum 70. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Multiple Innervation der Chromatophorenmuskelzellen von Loligo vulgaris

Zusammenfassung Die Chromatophorenmuskelzellen von Loligo vulgaris bestehen aus einer äußeren, von Sarcoplasma umgebenen Schicht scheinbar spiralig gewundener Myofibrillen und einem zentralen, hyalin erscheinenden Innenraum. Jede Muskelzelle wird von Bindegewebe umhüllt. Im distalen Abschnitt der Muskelzelle ist die kontraktile Randzone mit flügelartigen Fortsätzen versehen. An der Zellbasis öffnet sie sich zu einem schmalen Spalt, dadurch wird eine direkte Verbindung zwischen dem Sarcoplasma und dem zentralen Strang des Muskels hergegestellt. — Mittels Silberimprägnation wird eine multiple Innervation von Chromatophoren nachgewiesen. Die Pasern treten in synaptischen Kontakt mit dem Sarcoplasma und folgen der Muskelzelle in zentripetaler, gelegentlich auch in zentrifugaler Richtung. An der Zellbasis dringen Nervenfasern durch den Spalt der Randzone in das Innere des Muskels und weiter bis in die Nähe der Pigmentzelle vor. Innerhalb des Zentralstranges läßt sich eine weitere Nervenfaser darstellen und bis zur Kernregion verfolgen. Fragen einer möglichen Variabilität des Innervationsmodus der verschiedenen Chromatophoren sowie funktioneile Gesichtspunkte werden kurz diskutiert.

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Multiple innervation of the chromatophore muscle cells of Loligo vulgaris

Summary The chromatophore muscle cells of Loligo vulgaris consist of a marginal zone of apparently helically arranged myofibrils, surrounded by sarcoplasm and a central hyalinous core. Each muscle element is covered by a connective tissue sheath. In the distal part of the muscle cell the marginal zone shows a wing-shaped protrusion; at the cell basis a narrow gap is visible, establishing a close connection between the sarcoplasm and the central core of the muscle, cell. — By means of silver impregnation a multiple innervation of the chromatophores has been shown. The fibers form a synaptic contact with the sarcoplasm and follow the muscle cell in a centripetal, occasionally even in a centrifugal direction. At the cell basis nervous structures penetrate through the gap of the marginal zone and may be followed to the vicinity of the pigment cell. Within the core of the muscle another nerve fiber can be distinguished and followed up to the region of the nucleus. Questions concerning a possible variability in the mode of innervation of different chromatophores and functional aspects are briefly discussed.

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Mit Unterstützung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

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Zur weiteren Aufklärung der hier angedeuteten morphologischen und physiologischen Probleme sind Untersuchungen im Gange.     

Cytocatalytic evolution in plants

Low fertility and vigor, and requirements of ecological niches distinct from diploids are not universal characteristics of autoploids. InClaytonia, Hedyotis, Oldenlandia, and other genera, occurrence and frequency of both polyploids and aneuploids within species populations suggest a greater role of such mutations in the evolution of vascular plants than heretofore presumed.     

A method for estimating the number of invariant amino acid coding positions in a gene using cytochrome c as a model case

This paper shows, within the limitations of the assumption stated below, that approximately 27–29 of the unmutated codons which determine the amino acids of cytochrome c are invariant because of biological requirements. A mutation is defined here as the change of a single base in the sequence of a trinucleotide codon, which change alters the amino acid coded for. Codons, if any, in which mutations would be vigorously selected against are termed invariant codons. We assume that, subject to one adjustment, those mutations in the cytochrome c gene which survived in the descent of today's species are randomly distributed among the variable codons. The one adjustment arises from the possibility that a very few codon positions may exhibit frequencies of mutation sufficiently great to justify the exclusion of these codons from the overall distribution on the grounds that the frequency of mutation occurring in these few positions is clearly inconsistent with the assumption of randomness. There are 5 out of the total 110 codons in the cytochrome c structural gene which have clearly sustained an abnormally large number of mutations.This project received support from grants to W.M.F. from the National Institutes of Health (NB-04565) and the National Science Foundation (GB-4017).     

The flow of a viscous liquid in a converging tube

The problem of the viscous flow of an incompressible Newtonian liquid in a converging tapered tube has been solved in spherical polar coordinates. The method of the solution involves the Stokes' stream function and a technique introduced by Stokes in the study of a sphere oscillating in a fluid. The theory for the flow in a rigid tube includes: (1) the pulsatile flow with both radial and angular velocity components; (2) the steady state flow with both radial and angular velocity components and (3) the very slow steady state flow with only a radial velocity component present. For a tapered elastic tube, the velocity of the propagated pulse wave is determined. The solution given is in terms of the elastic constants of the system and the coordinates for this type of geometry. The pulse velocity is then related to the velocity in an elastic cylindrical tube with the necessary correction terms to account for the tapered tube. Supported in part by the American Heart Association (No. 62F4EG). This work was done during the tenure of an Established Investigatorship of the American Heart Association.