Studies of Long-Range Density Effects on the Proliferation of 3T3 and RLCW Cells in Recirculated Medium

Swiss mouse 3T3 cells and rat liver-derived RLCW cells were grown in monolayers and perfused with culture medium. A flow-rate dependent increase in the growth rate was observed both by ³H-thymidine uptake and by a rise in cell numbers. The characteristics of the response were dependent on the recirculating volume and on whether serum was present in the culture medium. In RLC cultures perfused with serum-supplemented medium the growth promoting effect decreased with increasing density of the cells. In the absence of serum, recirculation of NCTC medium had no effect on RLCs but increased growth was observed in recirculated MEM. In 3T3 cultures, a linear response was observed over a limited density range in the presence of 10% serum-supplemented medium indicating that substances present in the serum substantially modify the behaviour of the monolayer to perfusion. In serum-free medium the effect of perfusion on 3T3 cultures was confined to a small density range and was consistent with the more rapid removal of a diffusible inhibitor from the pericellular environment by recirculating the medium. Treatment of the perfusing medium with immobilised proteinases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, protease) did not alter the response except in the presence of putrescine.     

Diseases of the heart in a working population; a study of morbidity and mortality in relation to cardiac status and nature of job

A sample consisting of 2,252 persons among 20,199 Los Angeles civil service employees was observed for the occurrence of heart disease. The first examination measured the prevalence. Based upon the diagnosis of 165 cases of heart disease, the prevalence was 73 per 1,000 persons examined. Two reexaminations, at intervals of 12 to 18 months, of persons with normal heart on the first examination were carried out and 52 additional cases were diagnosed. There were also 13 deaths of heart disease in persons first diagnosed as having normal heart, making a total of 65 "new" cases (36.6 per 1,000) during the 30-month period of observation. An annual estimated heart disease incidence of 15 per 1,000 appears reasonable. Based on 89 deaths, the cardiovascular disease death rate was 11 per 1,000 among persons entering the study with normal heart, and 133 per 1,000 persons diagnosed as having heart disease at entry. The ratio of newly diagnosed cases to deaths of heart disease was 4 to 1.Among men diagnosed as having normal heart there was little difference in death rates whether their jobs were physically strenuous or sedentary. Among the men with heart disease, however, the highest death rates are observed among those employed at sedentary jobs and at light exertion. This may, of course, be an indication of the employee's selection of the job rather than the effect of inactivity. The relative usefulness of minifilm x-ray, electrocardiograms and questioning as to history were considered.     

A field study of the pattern of local spread of ryegrass mosaic virus in mown grassland

In a field experiment at Hurley, small areas of old ryegrass sward, known to be infected with ryegrass mosaic virus (RMV) were partially surrounded by newly-sown Italian ryegrass. The experiment was harvested by mowing on five occasions. Samples of Italian ryegrass taken when it was 11 months old showed a very marked increase in the levels of RMV close to the areas of old sward. Thus, 84% of the Italian ryegrass plants bordering the old sward to the north contained RMV, compared with 63% of plants only 2.7 m away. The corresponding values to the south were 68% and 39%. The much higher values encountered to the north are presumed to be caused by the movement of the mite vector of RMV (Abacarus hystrix) in relation to the prevailing wind. Two different mowers were used, a rotary mower and a reciprocating knife mower. We could demonstrate no increase in the level of RMV as a result of mowing from the infected sward and on to the new sowing and could demonstrate no difference in the infection levels as a result of using the different mowers. We conclude that in mown swards migration by the mite is responsible for all or nearly all of very local spread of RMV.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SHELL SHAPE, WATER RESERVES, SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF HIGHSHORE LITTORINIDS UNDER EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS IN NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

The shell morphologies of the highshore littorinids, Littorinaunifasciata Gray and Nodilittorina pyramidalis (Quoy & Gaimard)have previously been shown to vary at a variety of spatial scales,including among replicate sites at the same height, from heightto height and from shore to shore. In this study, the relationshipsbetween morphology of the shell, the reserves of water heldwithin the shell, the size of the foot and survival on differentshores and rates of growth in different habitats were examinedfor L. unifasciata and, to a lesser extent, N. pyramidalis.Reserves of water were not consistently related to size or shapeof the shell, but did increase as relative weight of shell increased.This may be due to the relatively smaller body providing moreinternal volume for extra-corporeal water. Water reserves andthe amount of free water held in the shell were also not relatedto loss of water or survival during extended periods of emersion.Although the shape of the shell on sheltered and exposed shoreswas correlated with size of the foot, with the snails on anexposed shore having larger apertures and feet than those ona sheltered shore, transplant experiments did not show differentialmortality between morphs from the different shores. All translocatedand transplanted snails disappeared from the exposed shore ata greater rate than from the sheltered shore, but this was probablydue to the snails dispersing out of the experimental areas ratherthan due to mortality. Therefore, many of the large-scale modelsthat have previously been used to describe patterns of shellshape in intertidal gastropods do not appear to be importantin these highshore littorinids. Finally, field experiments ongrowth of juvenile L. unifasciata indicated that rate of growth,largely governed by opportunity to feed rather than type andquantity of food, is the most likely explanation for the small-and large-scale patterns of shell shape that have been previouslydescribed in this species. (Received 22 October 1996; accepted 19 February 1997)     

Sucrose Suppression of Chlorophyll Synthesis in Tissue Culture: Changes in the Activity of the Enzymes of the Chlorophyll Biosynthetic Pathway

Chlorophyll synthesis in carrot root tissue cultures grown ona medium containing sucrose is inhibited. Examination of theactivities of the first enzymes in the chlorophyll biosyntheticpathway shows that the major effect of sucrose upon chlorophyllsynthesis occurs at the stage controlling 5-aminolevulinic acid(ALA) synthesis. The toxic nature of ALA in this tissue precluded its use toalleviate the sucrose inhibition effect but the utilizationof various other precursors for chlorophyll synthesis was consistentwith a block occurring at the level of ALA synthesis. The activities of other enzymes involved in chlorophyll synthesisdecreased in activity paralleling decreases in chlorophyll amount.These latter changes are thought to result as a consequenceof chloroplast degeneration rather than representing a primecause in the loss of greening.