The Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People of Waalo, Northern Senegal

The Oral History and Literature of the Wolof People of Waalo, Northern Senegal. Samba Diop. Lewiston, Canada; Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. 389 pp.     

Strongyloidiasis in Canadian Far East war veterans

A survey was done of Canadians who had been interned by the Japanese during World War II to assess the prevalence of latent infection with Strongyloides stercoralis in this group. Packages containing three mail-in kits and a questionnaire were sent to 992 men, 694 (70%) of whom responded. Larvae were found in the stool specimens of four of the respondents. Examination of stool specimens after formalin-ether concentration was the most successful method of detecting Strongyloides larvae. The Baermann concentration technique yielded negative results in all four men. Three of the four cases of strongyloidiasis were detected after sampling of three fecal specimens. In the fourth case additional specimens were requested on the basis of data derived from the questionnaire. The most frequently cited clinical manifestations were abdominal pain, weight loss, diarrhea and rashes.     

Evidence that the nigrotegmental GABAergic projection mediates stereotypy induced by apomorphine and intranigral muscimol

The substantia nigra plays a pivotal role in the relay of output from the striatum. One neural pathway from substantia nigra projects GABAergic fibers to the caudal mesencephalic tegmentum, terminating in the vicinity of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN). To evaluate the functional importance of this projection in the mediation of stereotyped behaviors of striatal and nigral origin, we microinjected low doses of the GABA agonist, muscimol, bilaterally into the vicinity of the PPN. This muscimol treatment resulted in a total blockade of all stereotyped behaviors normally elicited by systemic apomorphine or by intranigral muscimol. Blockade was not observed in animals microinjected with muscimol into the dorsal reticular formation, 1 mm above the level of the PPN. Our results indicate that the nigrotegmental projection may play a crucial role in the expression of stereotyped and dyskinetic behaviors of basal ganglia origin.     

A bayesian approach to the design of phase II clinical trials

A new strategy for the design of Phase II clinical trials is presented which utilizes the information provided by the prior distribution of the response rate, the costs of treating a patient, and the losses or gains resulting from the decisions taken at the completion of the study. A risk function is derived from which one may determine the optimal Bayes sampling plan. The decision theoretic/Bayesian approach is shown to provide a formal justification for the sample sizes often used in practice and shows the conditions under which such sample sizes are clearly inappropriate.     

Kinetics of Ca+ adsorption and cationic selectivity with a synaptic membrane protein

A study was conducted on the adsorption of ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ to a surface film of a hydrophobic protein derived from synaptic membranes isolated from bovine cerebellum. A kinetic analysis of Ca²⁺ displacement from the protein by various metal and organic cations could be described by a rate law based on diffusion and displacement. The relative rate constants for the displacement of bound Ca²⁺ were in the order Li⁺ <Na⁺, Rb⁺ <Cs⁺ <K⁺, NH₄⁺. Among the alkaline earth series the sequence was Mg²⁺, Sr²⁺ <Ba²⁺. Ca²⁺ adsorption could be described by a theoretical formulation which takes into account an interfacial energy and potential barrier as well as the diffusional process. An attempt was made to consider the effect of energy of hydration of the cations, surface charge, and the chemical environment at the interface on catonic selectivity. The behavior of the cations in this system significantly resemble their behavior in natural membranes, particularly excitatory ones. The structural and physicochemical environment of the protein at the interface is discussed in relation to Ca²⁺ binding and cationic selectivity.     

The use of agarose bead culture for the regeneration of single cell-derived colonies from protoplasts isolated from suspension cultures of Humulus lupulus

A cell-wall digestion medium has been devised to isolate protoplasts from suspension cultures of Humulus lupulus. Conditions have been developed for colony formation from protoplasts and the plating efficiency determined in three types of agar and by two culture methods. Viable calli were produced only when protoplasts embedded in Seaplaque agarose were incubated in a defined liquid medium. HPLC analysis showed that none of the isolated colonies accumulated -acids.     

Autologous antibodies to human bladder cancer

Summary The autologous serologic reactivity of 13 patients with bladder cancer was evaluated using cell lines derived from each individual's own tumor as targets. Protein A and immune adherence assays were employed to determine antibody binding to the tumor targets at varying passage numbers. Autologous reactivity was found in 6 of the 13 cell lines tested. However, the titer was usually low regardless of the passage number. Seven autologous serum/cell line combinations were tested using both low and high passage cells as targets. In six of these combinations, the degree of antibody binding was similar with both low and high passage target cells. The incidence of autologous reactivity in the 12 patients with urothelial tumors was 50%.This investigation was supported by PHS Grant number CA36933, awarded by the National Cancer Institute, DHHS.