SURROGATE MOTHERING:EXPLOITATION OR EMPOWERMENT?

The morality of surrogate mothering is analyzed from a "consequentialist" framework which attempts to separate those consequences that invariably accompany a given act from those that accompany it only in particular circumstances. Critics of surrogacy argue that it transfers the burden and risk of pregnancy onto another woman, separates sex and reproduction, and separates reproduction and childrearing; none of these acts is necessarily wrong, either morally or for women's or society's basic interests. While surrogate mothering can be rendered immoral if women are coerced into the practice or become victims of subordinating or penalizing contracts, it has the potential to empower women and increase their status in society by providing a job that is less risky and more enjoyable than other jobs women are forced to take and by achieving greater social recognition for reproductive labor.     

ARE PREGNANT WOMEN FETAL CONTAINERS?

Purdy explores the argument that women's rights to control their bodies should be subordinated to the welfare of their fetuses. She gives examples ofinstances where women's decisions about pregnancy and childbirth have been overridden by physicians and judges. She examines the nature of the mother fetus relationship, the social context of the current conflict between maternal and fetal rights, and the extent of a woman's legally enforceable duty to her fetus. Purdy acknowledges that women may owe a reasonable duty to their fetuses to try to prevent disease or handicap. However, given the uncertainties of modern medicine, the value-laden nature of many physicians' decisions, and the lack of adequate adequate prenatal care, women should not be held responsible for situations that are due largely to society's shortcomings. Purdy concludes that it is unjust to use the law to coerce women into accepting medical advice.     

Estrogen hydroxylase activity in the human placenta at term

Placental estrogen hydroxylase (EH) enzyme activity was measured at term using the catechol-O-methyl transferase coupled method in normal and high risk conditions. The identity and ratio of products formed during incubation of microsomes as analysed by high performance liquid chromatography in chronic hypertension, toxemia and diabetes mellitus was not different from controls. The mean enzymatic activity was also not different among the conditions studied as expressed mean +/- SE pmol/min/mg, protein: chronic hypertension (7.8 +/- 1), toxemia (8 +/- 1.6), diabetes mellitus (6.1 +/- 0.9) and controls (8.3 +/- 1.5). The cofactor dependence of EH was studied showing that NADPH is a better substrate for the enzyme than NADH.     

Isolation and characterization of a large,neurite-associated glycoconjugate from neuroblastoma cells

A high molecular weight glycoconjugate has been isolated from neurite-producing neuronal tumor cells in culture and has been designated as I(0) based on its elution characteristics in gel filtration chromatography. This molecule cannot be found in a variety of nonneuronal cells. I(0) is found in the substratum-attached material or cell fraction of neurite-producing neuroblastoma cells, depending upon culture conditions. It is found in the substratum-bound fraction of B104 rat neuroblastoma cells during serum starvation and in the EGTA-detached cell fraction of B104 cells grown in chemically defined N2 medium. It occurs only in the cell fraction of the human neuroblastoma line Platt. Examination of behavioral variants of the B104 rat line further strengthens the association of I(0) with neurite production; the constitutive neurite-producing E(R)B9 variant contains I(0) while the non-neurite-producing E(R)A11 variant does not. I(0) is large, eluting in the void volume of sepharose-CL2B columns. Radioiodination of intact cells with lactoperoxidase shows I(0) to be a cell surface component. Metabolic radiolabeling studies show that it contains a high proportion of polysaccharide to protein, does not contain mannose, and is unsulfated. Alkaline borohydride reduction release two size classes of large polysaccharide chain. The alkaline reduction results, along with the mannose incorporation studies, show the presence of O-glycosidic linkages and few, if any, N-linkages. Resistance to nitrous acid deamination, insensitivity to glycosaminoglycan lyases, and the absence of sulfation, indicate that I(0) does not contain the glycosaminoglycans hyaluronic acid, chondroitin-, dermatan-, or heparin- sulfates. Affinity column chromatography reveals high binding affinity of I(0) to polyornithine and no binding to gelatin (collagen) or the glycosaminoglycans hyaluronate and heparin. These studies describe a unique high molecular weight glycoconjugate on the surface of neurite-producing neuroblastoma cell lines from two species.     

Rapid Extraction of DNA and rRNA from Sediments by a Novel Hydroxyapatite Spin-Column Method

We describe a novel hydroxyapatite spin-column method of nucleic acid extraction from natural sediments by which DNA and rRNA can be extracted separately. This very rapid method produces pure nucleic acid that can be utilized in some of the most common molecular biological procedures used in the analysis of natural microbial communities.     

Relative apparent synapomorphy analysis (RASA). I: The statistical measurement of phylogenetic signal

We have developed a new approach to the measurement of phylogenetic signal in character state matrices called relative apparent synapomorphy analysis (RASA). RASA provides a deterministic, statistical measure of natural cladistic hierarchy (phylogenetic signal) in character state matrices. The method works by determining whether a measure of the rate of increase of cladistic similarity among pairs of taxa as a function of phenetic similarity is greater than a null equiprobable rate of increase. Our investigation of the utility and limitations of RASA using simulated and bacteriophage T7 data sets indicates that the method has numerous advantages over existing measures of signal. A first advantage is computational efficiency. A second advantage is that RASA employs known methods of statistical inference, providing measurable sensitivity and power. The performance of RASA is examined under various conditions of branching evolution as the number of characters, character states per character, and mutations per branch length are varied. RASA appears to provide an unbiased and reliable measure of phylogenetic signal, and the general approach promises to be useful in the development of new techniques that should increase the rigor and reliability of phylogenetic estimates.      

Chromatographic techniques for the isolation and purification of lipoproteins

Various modes of chromatography are available for lipoprotein separation. Gel permeation and affinity chromatography are used for preparative purposes and to separate lipoproteins according to size and apolipoprotein content, respectively. Development of rigid supports for gel permeation has led to large improvements in speed and resolution. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of apolipoproteins offers the best performance in terms of speed and resolution of structural variants. Due to its high speed and superior resolving power, the recently developed technique of capillary electrophoresis should emerge as an important method for lipoprotein analysis.     

Genetic variation,breeding system evolution,and conservation of the narrow sand dune endemic Stellaria arenicola and the widespread S. longipes (Caryophyllaceae)

Genetic variation was examined by electrophoresis in 14 populations of Stellaria arenicola, an endemic of the Athabasca sand dunes in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, and seven populations of S. longipes, its progenitor. Three of the 5. longipes populations were sympatric with the endemic. Populations of the endemic were found to have fewer alleles per polymorphic locus (2.21 vs. 2.37), fewer polymorphic loci (29.9 vs. 33.8), and lower genetic diversity (0.087 vs. 0.107) than populations of the progenitor. Genetic identities for all pairs of populations were high (0.932 to 1.000). The endemic had one novel allele and shared ten alleles with progenitor populations from the sand dunes that were not found in other populations of S. longipes. Populations of both species were found to partition most of their genetic variation within populations. An investigation of the multilocus outcrossing rates revealed that S. arenicola had higher rates of selling and biparental inbreeding than S. longipes. This study suggests that partial genetic isolation through a shift in the breeding system, in addition to previously reported strong directional selection, has been important in the sympatric evolution of the endemic S. arenicola. The close genetic relationship between populations of S. arenicola and S. longipes found on the Athabasca sand dunes supports the suggestion that the endemic evolved while sympatric to the gene pool of the progenitor species that is found presently in the region.