Molecular organization of the cholesteryl ester droplets in the fatty streaks of human aorta. X-ray diffraction patterns from human arterial specimens containing atherosclerotic fatty streak lesions exhibited a single sharp reflection, corresponding to a structural spacing of about 35 A. Specimens without lesions did not. When specimens with fatty streaks were heated, an order-to-disorder phase transition was revealed by the disappearance of the sharp reflection. The transition was thermally reversible and its temperature varied from aorta to aorta over a range from 28 degrees to 42 degrees C. Since cholesteryl ester droplets are a major component of fatty streaks, comparison studies were made of the diffraction behavior from pure cholesteryl esters. We found that the diffraction patterns of the fatty streak material could be accounted for by the organization of the cholesteryl esters into a liquid-crystalline smectic phase that melts from the smectic to a less ordered phase upon heating. When combined with the conclusions of others from polarized light microscopy, our study shows that a droplet in the smectic phase has well-defined concentric layers of lipid molecules. In each layer, the long axes of the molecules have a net radial orientation with respect to the droplet, but the side-to-side organization is disordered. We suggest that the accessibility of portions of the lipids for specific binding to enzymes or transport proteins may be restricted when they are in the smectic state, and that exchange of lipids with surrounding membranes or other potential binding sites may likewise be inhibited. The restriction in the smectic phase should be greater than in the less ordered phases that exist at higher temperatures.


Psychotic children's free-choice selection of natural and distorted speech. The relative preferences of psychotic, language-handicapped, and linguistically normal children for natural intelligible speech or various forms of distorted speech were assessed by a two-choice operant procedure. The stimulus preferences of the psychotic group were found to be qualitatively different from those of either nonpsychotic group. The nonpsychotic children preferred natural intelligible speech in every case, although the language-handicapped children were less sensitive than the normals to the distinctions between communicative speech and unintelligible speech. In contrast, the psychotic group showed an overall preference for unnatural, distorted speech. They apparently attended primarily to the acoustic novelty of the stimuli and had little regard for linguistic intelligibility. These results suggest that speech and language may have distinctly different functional significance for these psychotic children than for normals.


Confusions in recognizing phonemes spoken by esophageal speakers: I. initial consonants and clusters. A methodology was developed to determine the patterns of phonemic errors that listeners would make in receiving the initial consonants and clusters of monosyllables spoken by esophageal speakers. Analyses of the features preserved in the errors were performed. The identified phonemic error patterns and the features found to be poorly preserved in the errors were used to structure multiple-choice intelligibility practice materials for esophageal speakers.


Punishment contingencies for the reduction of incorrect responses during articulation instruction. A comparison was made between the effects of punishment combined with positive reinforcement and reinforcement alone for the reduction of incorrect articulation responses. Three different punishers (a buzzer, response cost, and "No!") were studied for six young children while they were receiving programmed articulation instruction. The results indicated (1) that punishment in combination with positive reinforcement was generally more effective than positive reinforcement alone; (2) that whether or not a particular stimulus acted as a punisher could be determined only be empirical demonstration; and (3) that the introduction of punishment contingencies did not produce increased rates of disruptive, off-task behaviors. Conversely, off-task behaviors tended to increase in rate when punishement contingencies for articulation responses were removed.


Nasalance in utterances of hearing-impaired speakers. Instrumental comparisons of sound from the nose and mouth expressed in percent nasalance, articulation errors, and speech rate are used in this study to contrast utterances of 50 speakers with severe hearing impairment and 64 with normal hearing. Results of the study revealed that 54% of the hearing-impaired subjects had nasalance ratio scores greater than two standard deviations above the mean of the group with normal auditory acuity. No general relationship was found between the number or type of articulation errors and the nasalance scores. Rate of speaking was significantly related to the nasalance scores of the normal group but not those of the hearing-impaired group. Tonagrams displaying the variations in nasalance revealed small, 1 to 50% spike-shaped fluctuations in the displays of the utterances from both groups. Additional prolonged bursts of nasalance in excess of a 30% change in the ratio between the nasal and oral signal were common in the displays from the hearing-impaired group did not in those of the group with normal acuity. Possible sources and perceptual effects of these phenomena are discussed.


Development of acoustic cue discrimination in children. Three groups of twelve subjects each, ages four, five and six years, respectively, made same-different judgments on six speech discrimination tests. On each test, a single acoustic cue signaled a phonemic difference in minimal pairs which were otherwise acoustically identical. On three of the tests, the independent variable was a spectral cue and on three others a temporal cue was manipulated. With one exception, all subjects passed tests involving a spectral cue, however, significant developmental differences were apparent on tests in which a temporal cue signaled a phonemic difference. The probable contribution of these cues to the perception of speech in young children is discussed.


The frequency of disfluencies during phonatory transitions in stuttered and nonstuttered speech. The hypothesis that stuttering and nonstuttering adults have fewer disfluencies during voiced-voiced phoneme-to-phoneme phonatory transitions than during voiced-voiceless, voiceless-voiced, or voiceless-voiceless transitions was investigated. The speech of 11 adult stutterers and a matched group of nonstutterers was analyzed according to the occurrence of disfluencies during the above categories of phonatory transtions. Each subject's speech was recorded individually while reading several passages. The percentage of disfluencies varied significantly (p less than 0.001) across the four phonatory transition categories for both groups of subjects. Both stutterers and nonstutterers demonstrated a lower percentage of disfluencies during voiced-voiced transitions than during voiced-voiceless, voiceless-voiced, and voiceless-voiceless phonatory transitions. Furthermore, both groups of subjects demonstrated a similar distribution of disfluencies across the four phonatory transitions categories. An inability to successfully complete phoneme-to-phoneme phonatory transitions does not appear to fully explain the pattern of disfluencies for stuttering or nonstuttering adults.


Voice initiation characteristics of normal children and children with vocal nodules: a preliminary investigation. Three types of vocal initiation (hard, soft, breathy) were produced by eight normal speaking children and eight children with vocal nodules. The results of the acoustic and aerodynamic measurements indicated systematically longer rise time values and greater air volumes during the initial few hundred milliseconds of phonation for vocal nodule children when compared with the normal speaking children across the three initiation conditions. A significant difference between the two groups was found for the amount of air volume expired in the first 200 msec of hard vocal initiation. Clinical implications of the results suggest reducing the abnormal glottal attack and abusive speaking habits of children with laryngeal dysfunction.


The cat optic nerve: fibre total count and diameter spectrum. An electron microscopic examination of two cat optic nerves indicates a mean total count of 193,000 fibres ranging from 0.5 mu to 13.5 mu in diameter. This count, although nearly double any previously reported, supports recent minimum estimates of the retinal ganglion cell population of the cat eye. A radial gradient of packing density exists across the nerve close to the globe; a high density "core" with a unimodal fibre diameter spectrum may be identified as the area centralis outflow and a peripheral low density region with a trimodal diameter spectrum contains the projection of the peripheral retina. Division of the peripheral fibre spectrum suggests the percentages of alpha, beta and gamma ganglion cells in the peripheral retina to be 5%, 42% and 53% respectively.


Effect of prestimulation on avoidance responding in rats, and hormonal dependence of the effect. Rats were tested daily in a free-operant avoidance task and were found to make more avoidance responses in sessions preceded by a brief period of prestimulation than in control sessions. Footshock, air blast, and handling were effective sources of prestimulation for this effect. Further experiments showed that the effect of prestimulation depended on the presence of circulating mineralocorticoid and not on any other adrenal or pituitary hormone. Adrenalectomy, but not hypophysectomy, abolished the effect. The effect was also abolished in intact rats by maintaining them on saline drinking fluid, a procedure that inhibits mineralocorticoid production. In either adrenalectomized rats or intact, saline-maintained rats, injection of mineralocorticoid permitted the effect of prestimulation to reappear while leaving the nonprestimulated response rate unaffected.


Fornix damage enhances successive, but not simultaneous, object-discrimination learning in cats. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of fornix lesions with the deficits known to follow septum lesions in cats learning visual object discriminations. In Experiment 1 when eight cats with aspiration lesions of the fornix performed successive discrimination problems, acquisition was greatly facilitated, but first- and second-reversal scores were normal by comparison with eight normal cats and two operated corpus callosum-control cats without fornix damage. Four corpus callosum-damaged cats with secondary degeneration in the medial fornix also learned the initial problem faster than normals. In Experiment 2 in a simultaneous paradigm, eight cats with fornix lesions scored like five normal controls, although they perseverated in early stages of reversal problems. The authors hypothesize that medial fornix damage, in contrast with septum lesions, enhances both initiation and maintenance of response inhibition.


Androgenic control of food intake and body weight in male rats. Castration of adult male rats produces a delayed (by approximately 1 mo), permanent hypophagia and reduction in weight gain. This contrasts with the rapid, transient hyperphagia and increased weight gain caused by ovariectomy in female rats. Injections of testosterone propionate (TP) stimulate food intake and weight gain in castrated males. Neither 5alpha-reduction nor aromatization of the testosterone molecule plays an important role in the stimulation of these measures by TP. The 5alpha-reduced metabolite of TP, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP), is less effective in increasing eating and weight gain than is TP. Very high doses of TP may actually reduce weight gain with prolonged treatment (2-6 wk). It is likely that this reduced weight gain is due to aromatization of TP to an estrogen. The nonaromatizable androgen, DHTP, does not reduce weight gain even in very high doses, and concurrent progesterone injections reverse the weight-reducing actions of high TP doses.


Posthatch age and developmental age as a baseline for determination of the sensitive period for imprinting. Two experiments comparing developmental age and posthatch age were performed. In the first experiment 143 Peking ducklings of different posthatch ages were imprinted, and their following responses examined in a simultaneous choice test. A sensitive period was evident on the basis of posthatch age. In the second experiment 99 ducklings were separated in three clusters of different posthatch ages, which did not vary within the clusters relative to their probability to be imprinted. The ducklings of each cluster were imprinted at various developmental ages, and the results show the involvement of developmental age. Thus, both experiments considered together favor the concept of an interaction of developmental and posthatch age. Imprinting and the determination of the sensitive period are dependent on prehatch and posthatch learning, so both developmental age and posthatch age are involved in setting the limit of the sensitive period.


Developing visual function in the red jungle fowl embryo. The onset of visual system function in the wild red jungle fowl embryo was measured by the pupillary reflex technique and compared with its domesticated descendant, the domestic chick. The first neurally mediated pupillary reflex in the jungle fowl embryos was found at Day 15 of incubation after 77% of incubation was completed. This point did not differ significantly from the onset of this reflex in the domestic chick embryo (after approximately 83% of incubation). Thus, it was concluded that the relatively late onset of overt visual system function in the chick, as compared with several other precocial avian species, was not a result of its history of intense domestication but rather was most likely a normal characteristic of this and other closely related species.


Some effects of conditioned aversion on food intake and olfactory bulb electrical responses in the rat. Rats maintained on an unadulterated synthetic food, available from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. everyday, were submitted to an aversive conditioning schedule on which a first ingestion of eucalyptol-flavored food (EF) was followed by an apomorphine injection (20 mg/kg, ip). In the first experiment the daily food intake was measured from Day 1 to 17, during the first and second hours of the meal. The EF was offered on Days 8, 9, and 17 during the first or the second hour of the meal (Series B or A). On Day 8, the meal was followed in a group of rats by the apomorphine injection. As compared with the intake of Day 8, the mean EF intake of Day 9 was significantly decreased in Series A and B, and of Day 17 in Series A only. No significant EF-intake modification could be observed in a saline-injected group or in an untreated control group. In the second experiment, rats bearing bulbar electrodes for the chronic recording of multiunit mitral cell responses received a 2-hr EF meal before the apomorphine injection. They were stimulated by puffs of odors of pure eucalyptol, unadulterated food, and EF and recorded in hungry and satiated states. Before the aversive conditioning, a significantly greater occurrence of positive responses to the odors of unadulterated food and EF was observed in hungry rats compared with satiated rats. The eucalyptol odor yielded equivalent patterns of responses in hungry and satiated rats before and after conditioning. Conditioning did not alter the modulated responses to unadulterated food odor (a greater occurrence of positive responses was still observed in hungry rats) but modified the responses to the odor of EF (the same high rate of positive responses was then observed in satiated and hungry rats). Electrophysiological data are discussed in terms of palatability changes and food-odor meaning.


Electrical activity of the dorsal hippocampus in rats operantly trained to lever press and to lick. One group of four rats was operantly conditioned in a Sidman avoidance procedure to lever press during one discriminative stimulus and to lick during another discriminative stimulus. Another group of four rats was conditioned in a similar manner in order to receive positive reinforcements. More dorsal hippocampal rhythmic slow activity (RSA) occurred during lever pressing than during operant licking. It was also found that dorsal hippocampal RSA accompanied walking and that dorsal hippocampal large irregular activity occurred during periods of immobility, during normal drinking and grooming and during the intense saliva spreading and grooming that were induced by exposure to a 40 degrees C environmental temperature. The data suggested that hippocampal RSA is related to type of response rather than to sensory, motivational, or learning processes. Furthermore, the data suggested that RSA is not related to the operant role of response or to relative vigor of response.


Effects of analgesic midbrain stimulation on reflex withdrawal and thermal escape in the rat. Strong analgesia produced by mesencephalic electrical brain stimulation in rats significantly increased escape latencies in two-way escape from a floor heated by hydraulic circulation. Reflective reactions to pinching and needling were abolished or greatly diminished. Individual differences in the strengths of analgesia, as assessed by instrumental and reflex indicants, were highly correlated. Induction of analgesia was demonstrated in the absence of positive reinforcement effects produced by brain stimulation. The findings are discussed in relation to possible neural pain suppression systems with critical components situated in the midbrain.


Sensory responsiveness and avoidance learning in rats. Analysis of sensory responsiveness and avoidance learning was carried out in three experiments using five rat strains. There were significant differences among the strains in response to electric footshock. Also the strain-specific shock intensity as unconditioned stimulus (US) elicited significantly higher rates of avoidance learning as compared with the rates of avoidance learning under an equal but average level of shock intensity as US. In general, discrete auditory and visual sensory modes as conditioned stimuli (CS) produced almost the same rate of avoidance learning. The proportion of variation in avoidance learning attributable to strains was significant under all six experimental conditions except no-discrete CS and strain-specific US condition.


Trial development of unit response changes during conditioning in cats. Single-cell and evoked potential (EP) activity in the postcruciate cortex of acutely prepared cats was recorded during a classical conditioning procedure. The temporal pattern of response (PSH) of the neuron was separated into three components, and the trial development of learning changes for these components was examined individually. Changes over trials in the similarity of the EP waveform and the unit PSH were also examined. The unit response components showed changes in response at different trial periods; these changes could not be accounted for by changes at lower brain levels that projected to the cortex. This suggests that local learning changes were taking places in the cortex. The EP-PSH similarity decreased for neurons showing the largest changes in response during conditioning. Since the EP reflects the response of the whole population of neurons and a majority did not show learning changes, this could account for the observed decrease.


Dissociation of gustatory and weight regulatory responses to quinine following lateral hypothalamic lesions. In a two-phase experiment, consummatory (Phase 1) and body weight regulation (Phase 2) responses to quinine adulteration of a wet mash diet were measured in rats recovered from bilateral lateral hypothalamic lesions (LH; n = 16) and in unoperated control rats (C; n = 18). In Phase 1, all rats were fed wet mash adulterated with increasing concentrations of quinine sulfate every other day, and fed unadulterated wet mash on the alternate days. Group LH consumed a significantly lower proportion of quinine-adulterated wet mash relative to unadulterated wet mash, displaying a steeper concentration-response function and a lower rejection threshold than did Group C. In Phase 2, Groups LH and C were maintained exclusively on quinine-adulterated mash for 20 days. This procedure caused equivalent weight loss in the two groups. Therefore, an apparent exaggerated aversion to quinine-adulterated food does not appear to contribute abnormally to the weight regulation exhibited by rats with lateral hypothalamic damage.


Marginal and extramarginal cortical lesions and visual discrimination by cats. Seventy-five cats learned a shape discrimination with zero, one, or two irrelevant cues. They were then subjected to sham operations (n = 34), ablation of the marginal and splenial gyri (n = 9), or lesions in the extramarginal (EM) cortex. The 32 EM cats comprised four groups, three with small (EM1, n = 9), intermediate (EM2, n = 10), and large (EM3, n = 9) decortications, and a fourth group with both EM lesions and heavy degeneration in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN, n = 4). The cats with marginal or extensive extramarginal lesions were severely impaired in shape and size discrimination. Two lines of evidence indicate that their behavioral defects resulted from different neural dysfunctions. (a) The errors made by marginal gyrus cases increased sharply as a function of the number of irrelevant cues present in shape discrimination training; no other group, including Group EM3, was affected by this variable. (b) Cats with extramarginal ablations and strong LGN degeneration were no more severely impaired than were subjects with comparable extramarginal damage and little or no LGN degeneration. While the nature of the two kinds of deficits remains unclear, they seem parallel to those following posterior cortical lesions in monkeys.


Performance on the visual cliff by cats with marginal gyrus lesions. Lesions in 12 cats that destroyed almost all of area 17 (Group MS) abolished differential responding on the visual cliff. Performance was not impaired in 9 cats in which regions of the striate cortex were spared in the depths of the splenial sulcus or in 23 cats with damage to extramarginal areas. There were 37 controls. Additional experiments indicated that the deficit in performance by MS cats was not reduced either by the administration of amphetamine or by increases in cues for motion parallax. Monocularly occluded normal cats preferred the shallow surface of the visual cliff, demonstrating that the deficit was not due solely to removal of neurons sensitive to binocular disparity. The findings were discussed in light of electrophysiological evidence that lesions of the visual cortex disrupt functions of the superior colliculus.


Sex differences in sensitivity of food intake, body weight, and running-wheel activity to ovarian steroids in rats. The effects of sex and experimental androgenization on the responsiveness of food intake and running-wheel activity to exogenously administered ovarian hormones were investigated in adult, gonadectomized rats. Food intake was found to be analogous to lordotic behavior in that males and neonatally androgenized females were relatively insensitive to the influences of either estradiol benzoate (EB) or progesterone (P). Running-wheel activity, however, could be differentiated from food intake in that males responded the same as females to the effects of EB and P. Androgenized females (500-mug testosterone propionate on the third day of life) showed a response to EB quantitatively equivalent to that of nonandrogenized females, but they had a longer latency to respond. The estrogen-antagonistic effects of P were confirmed for both of these behaviors, and there was a positive correlation between the magnitude of the responses to EB and P.


Selection for spontaneous or priming-induced audiogenic seizure susceptibility in mice. Four lines of mice were selectively bred from a heterogeneous foundation stock for audiogenic seizure prone (SP), priming prone (PP), moderately priming prone (MPP), and seizure resistant (SR). Significant changes in proportions of animals showing the desired phenotypes were found after two generations of selection, indicating involvement of genetic components in these behavioral characteristics. Although response to selection for spontaneous seizure proneness was rapid, the results do not support a view that initial seizure risk is controlled by a single recessive gene. The effects of tympanic membrane perforation on development of seizure susceptibility in these four selected lines were investigated in Experiment 2. Results indicate that the method is highly effective in inducing seizure susceptibility in the PP mice and the SR mice, but not so effective for the SP and the MPP lines. These results suggest that spontaneous and priming-induced seizure susceptibility could be due to development of hyperreactivity in centripetal auditory structures brought about by reduction of auditory input. They also suggest that the phenotypic difference between the PP and the SR lines could be due to differences in their cochlear susceptibility to stimulation damage but that a qualitatively different mechanism is involved in the MPP line.


Inhibition of acoustic priming in mice.

Inhibition of acoustic priming in mice. Mice of the C57BL/6J strain can be made susceptible to audiogenic seizures by a process known as acoustic priming. Acoustic priming can be blocked when the animals are injected either with puromycin or with puromycin aminonucleoside before the application of the priming stimulus. Cycloheximide, diphenylhydantoin, and d-amphetamine had little effect on priming-induced audiogenic seizures in these animals. All of these drugs, however, when given in combination with puromycin reversed in the protective action of puromycin against audiogenic seizures. Puromycin administered to 19-day-old mice increased susceptibility to electroconvulsive seizures when the animals were tested at 22 days of age. It is suggested that puromycin is able to block priming-induced audiogenic seizures by producing abnormal electrical activity in the brain or through an interference with normal neurohumoral transmission by incomplete peptides.


DRL performance, extinction, and secondary reinforcement: role of appetitive value of food in mice with septal lesions. Normal mice and mice with septal lesions were trained on a differential-reinforcement-for-low-rates-of-responding (DRL 8-sec) schedule for the reinforcement varying in incentive value. Dilution of diet increased the number of reinforcements received by mice with septal lesions. In Experiments 2 and 3 the effects of septal lesions on resistance to extinction and continuous reinforcement training and the strength of secondary reinforcement were investigated. Changes in reinforcement value modified the septal lesion effects in both cases. All three experiments demonstrated the alteration of the septal lesion effect through a change in the appetitive value of the reinforcement. The results suggest that one of the mechanisms by which septal lesions impair DRL performance is an enhancement of reinforcing properties of food.


Grooming in the rat as an aftereffect of lateral hypothalamic stimulation. Grooming occurred as an aftereffect of electrical stimulation at hypothalamic sites that elicited locomotion, drinking, or eating as stimulus-bound behaviors. Removal of food or water, which caused rats to switch from one stimulus-bound behavior to another, produced little or no change in the grooming aftereffect. Stimulation with pulse showed that the absolute refractory period for the neurons responsible for the occurrence of grooming is approximately 1 msec. This value is longer than those reported for drinking, eating, and locomotion. Finally, it was found that with some electrodes, low levels of stimulation elicited grooming directly, during the stimulation; at higher levels grooming occurred only as an aftereffect. It is concluded that grooming is activated through neurons separate from those that produce drinking, eating, or locomotion and that its occurrence as an aftereffect may be due to an interaction between short-lasting inhibitory and longer lasting excitatory effects of the stimulation.


Drug exposure and the acquisition and retention of a conditioned taste aversion. Two experiments examined the effects of preexposure and postexposure to a drug on the acquisition and retention of a conditioned taste aversion induced by that drug. Experiment 1 demonstrated that although drug preexposure attenuated a subsequent conditioned aversion, repeated taste-drug pairings reversed the initial attenuation effect and resulted in nearly complete avoidance of consumption. Experiment 2, however, demonstrated that drug postexposure did not alter a previously established conditioned aversion, although the postexposure experiences were effective in attenuating a conditioned aversion to a second novel solution. It was suggested that conditioned aversions are mediated by ACTH and that preexposure to a drug results in tolerance to that drug, yielding a smaller ACTH response and thereby a weaker aversion.


Ontogeny of persistence: immediate and long-term persistence in rats varying in training age between 17 and 65 days. In Experiment 1, six age groups of rats were trained to run an alley for either partial (PRF) or continuous reinforcement (CRF). Training was during a 2-day period starting at six different ages, and extinction was initiated about 12 hr later. There was a clear partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) at all ages and, particularly after PRF training, an inverse relationship between resistance to extinction and age. In Experiment 2, retention and durability of persistence as well as immediate persistence were tested following acquisition at three different ages. The immediate extinction tests confirmed the results of Experiment 1. In the delayed extinction tests, greater resistance to extinction following PRF than following CRF was found in all age groups after both the retention and durability manipulations. In neither test was there an effect of age in original acquisition on the magnitude of adult persistence. These experiments confirm earlier findings of remarkable persistence in rats trained and tested at weanling age, show that the persistence is even greater in pre-weanlings, and show that it is retained into young adulthood.


Olfactory recognition of conspecifics by domestic Norway rats. In order to learn more about their ability to recognize one another via olfaction, domestic male rats were given a series of preference tests in which pairs of odors from male conspecifics were presented. Both immature and mature males prefer (p less than .05) the odor from immature strangers over that from immature cage mates but are indifferent to the ordors from mature strangers versus cage mates. Both immature and mature males prefer (p less than .05) the odor from mature novel cage mates over that from mature cage mates to which they are temporarily habituated but are indifferent to the odors from immature novel versus familial cage mates. Mature males prefer (p less than .08) the odor from a cage mate over the subject's own odor, and they prefer (p less than .01) their own odor over no odor. Under certain conditions, male rats can discriminate between the odors from (a) strangers versus cage mates, (b) two cage mates, and (c) their own body versus a cage mate.


Olfactory denervation: its biological and behavioral effects in infant rats. Two-week-old infant rats were treated with intranasal ZnSO4 and compared with littlemate controls 24 hr later. When infants were returned to their mother and littermates, those with olfactory deficits lost weight, had reduced cardiac and respiratory rates and lower body temperatures, and showed increased locomotor behavior in an unfamiliar test area. Subsequent experiments showed that in the absence of the mother and also in isolation, differences between ZnSO4-treated and control infants involved fewer systems were less marked, and presented different patterns. Isolated infants given oral ZnSO4 did not differ from controls on any measures. Olfactory denervation appears to produce these effects by disrupting nursing, by altering littermate interaction, and by other central nervous system effects that are independent of social interaction.


Hormonal influences on sexual dimorphism in rate of extinction of a conditioned taste aversion in rats. The hormonal influences on the slow extinction rate of a conditioned taste aversion shown by male rats and the fast extinction rate shown by female rats were investigated. When males were castrated, they extinguished as quickly as females. When castrated males were given testosterone propionate replacement, they had a slow extinction rate. Castration had no effect on the extinction rate of females. But when testosterone propionate was administered to castrated or intact females, they had a slow, malelike extinction rate. Thus, sexual dimorphism in the extinction rate of a conditioned taste aversion seems to be due to the activational effects of testosterone.


Failure to show modification of male golden hamster mating behavior through taste/odor aversion learning. This research investigated whether the dependence of mating behavior in the male hamster on olfactory and gustatory stimuli could be used with the taste/odor conditioning paradigm to alter sexual behavior. Preliminary experiments established the effectiveness of lithium chloride and methyl-atropine nitrate in forming aversions to a saccharin solution. These same agents failed to modify mating behavior when the conditional stimulus was an estrous female hamster. Animals made ill after an exposure to a cotton swab containing phenylacetic acid later showed increased latencies in the initiation of mating with an estrous female swabbed with phenylacetic acid. Animals given three punished exposures to phenylacetic acid also showed increased latency to initiate mating and decreased anogenital sniff-licking with a phenylacetic acid-swabbed estrous female. However, no other measures of mating behavior were altered.


Habituation and tonic immobility in domestic chickens. The habituation of tonic immobility in chickens was examined in six studies. It was shown that repeated elicitation of immobility, and not just handling, was responsible for reduced response durations after multiple exposures to manual restraint. Habituation was a function of the number of stimulus presentations and, in addition, proved surprisingly durable, with diminished reactions using lasting at least 2.5 mo. Strain differences were found in the number of trials required to reach a criteria of habituation, and habituation proceeded faster when immobility termination was self-paced as opposed to experimenter induced. Also, massed trials produced robust sensitization effects rather than diminished responsiveness.


Spontaneous and centrally induced behaviors in normal and thalamic opossums. Electrical stimulation of localized areas of the opossum medulla and cerebellum induced goal-oriented eating and grooming behaviors of stereotyped gagging. Following radical telencephalic lesions, these animals showed considerable behavioral capacity and in many cases continued to demonstrate centrally induced responses. Animals with lesions, however, failed to groom or show active food-seeking behavior, and they showed poor thermoregulation in the heat, presumably because of the loss of thermoregulatory grooming. These deficits following removal of the telencephalon appear to have resulted from disruption of important sources of control over behaviors rather than from loss of basic consummatory response mechanisms, since grooming and eating, while less directed, could still be elicited by central stimulation. These results support the view that the lower brain stem may contain intrinsic neural circuits for the integration of complex behaviors.


Oropharyngeal control of drinking in rats. Drinking was studied in water-deprived rats with chronic intragastric fistulas. Sham drinking, by which the ingested water was immediately lost through the open gastric fistula, was approximately four times greater than normal drinking. This proportion held across different levels of water deprivation, following 5-ml intragastric preloads of water or isotonic saline or ingestion of isotonic saline. The contribution of oropharyngeal controls in the normal drinking of rats is discussed and is compared with that of other species.


Effect of high dietary zinc upon zinc metabolism and intracellular distribution in cows and calves. Changes in the metabolism of zinc were investigated in mature nonlactating Holstein cows and 4-mo old calves fed high but nontoxic amounts of dietary zinc. Increasing dietary zinc of calves from 42 to 642 ppm elevated the zinc content of liver and pancreas 600% and 1400%, respectively. The elevated zinc in liver and pancreas involved a substantial increase in all intracellular fractions, with by far the largest amount associated with a 10,000 molecular-weight protein in the soluble cell fraction. This zinc-binding protein may protect the cell against damage from increased zinc. A comparable increase in dietary zinc of mature cows did not affect zinc content of liver or kidney nor alter the intracellular distribution of zinc in the liver. In mature cows, homeostatic control mechanisms which regulate the zinc content of tissue are much more effective than in calves. Accordingly, mature cows probably are able to tolerate higher concentrations of dietary zinc.


Fertility of frozen bovine spermatozoa packaged in continental straws or ampules. Fertility of semen frozen in .25-ml Continental straws or 1.0-ml ampules was compared in two field trials. Semen from four bulls was used to inseminate 574 cows over 38 days in Trial 1. Rates of pregnancy for cows inseminated with semen in straws or ampules were 54 and 32% for first-service inseminations and 70 and 50% at the end of the breeding period. Semen from one bull was used to inseminate 204 cows over 44 days in Trial 2. Rates of pregnancy from single inseminations averaged 58 and 44%, while corresponding values at the end of the breeding period were 83 and 67% for semen in straws and ampules.


Effect of glucagon infusion on plasma magnesium, glucose, and insulin in bull calves. Two Holstein bull calves each were infused intravenously with 1 mg glucagon in .9% sodium chloride, and two were given saline alone; 1 wk later treatments were reversed. Glucagon increased concentrations of insulin and glucose but decreased potassium in blood plasma and moderately increased urinary magnesium and calcium losses. When only saline was used, there was no effect. A hypothesis relating elevated glucagon to grass tetany is proposed.


Fat cow syndrome.

Fat cow syndrome. The objective of this paper is to characterize the fat cow syndrome. This condition refers to a combination of metabolic, digestive, infectious, and reproductive conditions which affects the obese periparturient cow. The condition develops primarily due to faulty feed management which permits excessive consumption of unbalanced diets. The syndrome is frequently a herd problem characterized by a high morbidity and mortality due to an increase in disease in periparturient cows. Clinical signs include depression, anorexia, ketonuria, marked decrease in production, progressive debilitation, weakness, nervous signs, and an elevation in temperature due to infectious disease. The obesity is generalized throughout the body with extensive fatty metamorphosis in the liver. Histological changes are primarily in the liver and kidney. Treatment of the condition consists of feeding a balanced diet, symptomatic treatment, and good supportive care. The condition can be prevented by feeding a balanced diet according to nutrient requirements of the National Research Council.


Study on cockroach antigen as a probable causative agent in bronchial asthma. Bronchial provocative test (BPT) with cockroach (CR) antigen was performed in 22 asthmatic subjects. Sixteen had positive reaction (CR-positive) and 6 had negative reaction (CR-negative) to CR antigen by skin test. Immediate bronchoconstrictive response was noted following the antigen inhalation in 14 of 16 CR-positive asthmatics, while none of 6 CR-negative asthmatics showed bronchospasm. Late asthmatic responses also were noted in 13 of 16 CR-positive asthmatic individuals following BPT with CR antigen. The dual asthmatic reactions in CR-positive individuals were mostly inhibited by the prior administration of cromolyn sodium. Three-fold increases in peripheral eosinophil counts were noted 24 hr following BPT with CR antigen. Results indicate that CR-induced asthmatic responses are allergen-specific and CR plays a causative role in allergic asthma in the population studied.


Immunologic studies in a case of baker's asthma. A 28-year-old baker with 13 years of occupational experience has developed, over the past several years, sinusitis, rhinitis, contact dermatitis, and asthma. Clinically, all of his symptoms were felt to be related to occupational exposure. Immunologic evaluation consisted of the following tests: intradermal skin testing, leukocyte histamine release, total serum IgE, PK transfer with immunoadsorption, and specific antigen bronchial challenge. Analysis of results would tend to implicate a type I, IgE-mediated immunologic reaction.


Reagin synthesis in inbred rats. II. Genetic control of reaginic antibody synthesis. Specific reaginic (IgE) and hemagglutinating (IgG) antibodies were quantified after immunization with ovalbumin aluminum hydroxide gel in BN and ACI inbred rats, as well as their F1, F1 X BN backcross, F2, and F3, and F3 progeny. The dissimilarity of these immune responses indicated that reaginic (IgE) antibody synthesis was influenced by polygenic factors, but not sex, and was controlled by loci different from that governing hemagglutinating (IgG) antibody synthesis. In addition, tissue typing of the BN, ACI, F1, and F3 hybrids suggested that reaginic antibody synthesis was not linked to the major rat histocompatibility locus.


The clinical gerontologist.

The clinical gerontologist. A major objective now and in the future should be that of maximizing health and well-being during our essentially fixed span of life. It is proposed that this objective be delegated to a new field of medicine, perhaps to be known as clinical gerontology--a combination of preventive medicine and geriatrics.


A complex case of sarcoidosis fever.

A complex case of sarcoidosis fever. Febrile episodes in a male patient with coronary artery disease and arteriovenous malformation of the spinal cord had been attributed to urinary-tract infections and pulmonary atelectasis. The autopsy findings, however, indicated that the fever may have been related to sarcoidosis which had not been detected pre mortem.


Sensory deprivation in geriatric patients. Sensory deprivation speeds up the degenerative changes normally associated with aging and enhances the loss of functional cells in the central nervous system. Since it connotes reduction or absence of stimulation of the five senses, it involves the patient's physical activity, social relationships, intellectual status and overall "value system." Geriatric patients with various illnesses are particularly vulnerable to sensory deprivation, which becomes increasingly pronounced as physical or mental deterioration progresses. All cells require stimulation for continued growth and activity; lack of stimulation leads to atrophy, with secondary physical or psychosocial abnormalities. Depression acts as a negative reinforcement of stimuli, and anxiety acts as a blocking mechanism. The goal of rehabilitation is to maintain and strengthen the patient's social values and to preserve mental and physical motility. The recommended procedure involves assessment of medical, psychologic and social factors, and determination of whether organic disease is present. A specific treatment plan to meet the individualized needs of each patient is then established so as to minimize sensory deprivation and maximize physical and mental functioning. Re-evaluation (physical and psychologic) at regular intervals establishes a pattern not only for individual comparison but for comparison with results in untreated control groups.


Old-age emotions.

Old-age emotions. One hundred old people (age range 60-94 years) were studied with respect to the state of their emotions. The chief factors leading to emotional sterility were loneliness, retirement and decline in sensory and locomotory functions. Among the 100 subjects, 60 were optimists and 40 were pessimists; most of the pessimists were lonely people. Suggestions are made for combating emotional "emptiness" before it leads to catastrophic mental impairment.


Upgrading services in the small extended care facility. The Extended Care Facility (ECF) has become an important part of the community's provision of health care for the aged. Appropriate services must be available for long-term, intermediate, skilled, and short-term medical care. This report describes a small ECF (180 patients) rendering these needed services for the elderly. A limited operating budget, a shortage of physicians, and demand for an increase in the patient-load are some of the typical problems. In order that the important services can be rendered properly to the aged patients, participation by all the medical disciplines is essential. (The role of the Physical Therapy Department is discussed.) To upgrade services effectively, the interdisciplinary approach must involve a dual responsibility, i.e., the individual effort of the single discipline plus the group cooperative effort of all areas concerned.


Geriatric psycho-social history outline. The details of a Geriatric Psycho-Social History Outline for use with the institutional aged are presented. All health care facilities require background information on the patient at the time of admission, but with long-term facilities a more comprehensive psycho-social history is needed. The Outline provides a basis for obtaining information in five categories: 1) identification (detailed, observational and attitudinal); 2) referral source; 3) background; 4) family constellation or environmental factors; and 5) finances. Its comprehensiveness requires more than one pre-admission interview. It is aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality rates following admission to long-term facilities. If the aged person becomes somewhat familiar with the institution before admission, he is less susceptible to accelerated physiologic and psycho-social deterioration and death. Because of constant growth in the field of gerontology, new and improved instruments must be devised to help carry the load. The Geriatric Psycho-Social History Outline is for use as a guide to those who require such information if they are to function at maximum efficiency.


Doxorubicin (adriamycin) therapy of uterine sarcoma without surgery in an elderly patient. A case is presented of primary endolymphatic stromal sarcoma of the uterus in a debilitated elderly patient. Surgical intervention was contraindicated. Radium therapy was unsuccessful. A 4-month course of treatment with doxorubicin (Adriamycin) resulted in disappearance of the tumor. The patient is living 19 months after the beginning of Adriamycin therapy.


Studies on the Malayan forest rat filaria, Breinlia booliati (Filarioidea: Onchocercidae): course of development in rat host. The development of Breinlia booliati is described in its natural host, Rattus sabanus and in an inbred strain of laboratory albino rat. The growth of the parasite is similar in both the rat hosts. The third moult occurs between six-eight days and the final moult between 24-28 days. Larvae were recovered initially from the skin and carcass. After five weeks, developing stages were seen only in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, the site of development of the adult worms. Worms became sexually mature by 11-12 weeks and there was considerable growth in length of the female worms after this stage.


Preliminary observations on the distribution, definitive hosts and possible relation with other schistosomes, of Schistosoma margrebowiei, Le Roux, 1933 and Schistosoma leiperi, Le Roux, 1955. In attempting to define the south western limits of the distribution of Schistosoma margrebowiei and S. leiperi and investigating their apparent limited distribution in relation to their snail hosts it was found that there was little overlap in the distribution of S. margrebowiei and S. leiperi and that of the human parasites S. haematobium and S. mansoni, and no overlap with S. mattheei within the area surveyed. It is suggested that the presence of either or both lechwe schistosomes prevented the development of the human parasites and in addition, prevented the development of S. mattheei in certain areas inhabited or surrounded by certain Kobus spp. The restricted distribution of S. margrebowiei and S. leiperi was thought to be due to the restricted distribution of their main definitive hosts Kobus leche and K. vardoni; the poor host susceptibility of cat and possibly Syncerus caffer; and the likelihood of most other "common" game being unable to maintain the parasites indefinitely outside the confines of lechwe and puku distribution in southern Africa.


Observations on the life-cycle of the strigeoid trematode, Apatemon (Apatemon) gracilis (Rudolphi, 1819) Szidat, 1928. The life-cycle of Apatemon (A.) gracilis was completed in the laboratory. The snail host is Lymnaea peregra (Muller). The cercaria is redescribed from a wide range of material. Metacercariae were found in naturally infected rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri Richardson), three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) and stone loach (Nemacheilus barbatulus (L.)) from Scotland and in three-spined sticklebacks from Iceland. In trout, most metacercariae were found in the pericardial cavity, in sticklebacks, the eye, and in loach, the body cavity. In infection experiments, cercariae from naturally infected Scottish snails developed in three-spined sticklebacks, rainbow trout and brown trout (Salmo trutta L.). Under experimental conditions cercariae did not penetrate stone loach, although this species is naturally infected with A. gracilis. The phenomenon of fish host specificity is briefly discussed. Development of the metacercaria is described. Excystation of metacercarial cysts with pepsin and trypsin solutions is unlike that reported for any other digenean; the contents of the cyst appear to be under pressure. In pepsin, layers of the cyst wall peel back from one end. When transferred to trypsin, one pole of the cyst ruptures and the worm is forcibly expelled.


A demonstration of the presence of anti-snail antibodies in individuals infected with Schistosoma haematobium. An extract of the snail Bulinus (Physopsis) africanus, the intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium, was used as the antigen in haemagglutination tests in a survey of the prevalence of anti-snail antibodies in various population groups. It was found that sera from known bilharzia-infected individuals and randomly selected individuals from bilharzia endemic areas had significantly higher incidences as well as higher titres of antibodies to this snail antigen than non-infected individuals and individuals from non-endemic areas.


The epidemiology of Echinococcus infection in Kuwait. Infection of dogs with E. granulosus is recorded for the first time in the State of Kuwait and observations on 204 dogs from different suburbs showed an infection rate of 23.039%. Cattle, sheep, goats and camels killed for public consumption in the period 6th April to 6th May, 1975, in a slaughter house were inspected and the rate of infection with E. granulosus cysts was recorded. The possible methods of transmission from animals and dogs to man is discussed.


Developing protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus on the outer surface of the brood capsule, detected by scanning electron microscopy. By means of scanning electron microscopy, stalked protrusions were observed arising from the outer surface of intact brood capsules of Echinococcus granulosus. Histological studies showed these protrusions to be developing protoscoleces. However, complete development is not attained and the protoscoleces eventually die. It is suggested that external development is a result of overcrowding within the brood capsule.


The occurrence of Mesocestoides sp. in British wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes crucigera). Infection with the cyclophyllidean tapeworm Mesocestoides sp. is recorded in British wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes cr-cigera) from Scotland and South East England. Previously, the occurence of this parasite in Great Britain has been rarely reported, but the results of the present study indicate that vulpine infection may be common.


Selective histochemical localization of polysaccharides in tissue sections oxidized by acetic anhydride in dimethyl sulfoxide. Oxidation of tissue sections by 25-30% (v/v) acetic anhydride (AA) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) resulted in facile induction of tissue carbonyls readily localized with Schiff's reagent and o-dianisidine but not with the 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid hydrazide-tetraazotized diorthoanisidine method. Carbonyls generated by AA-DMSO oxidation were confined predomintly to substrates containing pyranosides. Oxidized furanosides, as represented by deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid, gave only a residual color reaction. The AA-DMSO method possesses an advantage in that the oxidation of tissue polysaccharides does not proceed beyond the formation of carbonyly and is particularly suited for use after formol fixation.


[Quantitative growth analysis of limbic nuclei areas fresh volume in diencephalon and mesencephalon of an albino mouse ontogenic series. I. Nucleus habenulare]. The fresh volumes of the Nucl. mediales et laterales habenulae of 52 male white mice aged between 17 and 60 days of ontogenesis have been determined. The data of both nuclei have been fitted by a sum of logistic functions. There is an increasing component and a decreasing component. The degree of maturity and its differential quotient have been discussed. The Nucl. medialis habenulae belongs to those structures of the central nervous system developing extremely early, the Nucl. lateralis habenulae belongs to those structures of the central nervous system developing extremely early, the Nucl. lateralis habenulae belongs to those structures developing early. It has been pointed out, that there is a complex heterochrony of regional development in the brain. There have to be more quantitative analyses.


[Quantitative growth analysis of limbic nuclei areas fresh volume in diencephalon and mesencephalon of an albino mouse ontogenic series. III. Nucleus interpe-uncularis]. The fresh volume of the Nucl. interpeduncularis of 52 white mice aged between 17 and 60 days of ontogenesis has been determined. The data have been fitted by the logistic function and the ideal volume (0.32 mm3) the half value time (21.6 days of ontogenesis) and the factor of enlargement (2.65) have been derived. The Nucl. interpeduncularis is one of the early and fast growing brain regions. The growth parameters of this nucleus have been discussed and have been compared with the parameters of other cortical and subcortical limbic brain regions.


[Morphometric-statistical structure analysis of human striatum, pallidum and nucleus su-thalamicus. III. Nucleus subthalamicus]. 1. A morphometric-statistical analysis of the subthalamic nucleus was carried out on 14 hemispheres of 12 normal human brains. 2. The values determined in paraffin embedded sections were corrected for shrinkage which showed considerable interindividual variation. 3. The mean fresh volume of the subthalamic nucleus amounted to 144 mm3 for males and 134 mm3 for females, the difference of 7% not being statistically significant. 4. In the medial part of the subthalamic nucleus the nerve cells were smaller and more closely grouped than in the lateral part which had larger nerve cells. The ratio of the volumes of the two parts was about 1:4 (medial: lateral). 5. The nucleus subthalamicus occupied 0,027% of the volume of the hemisphere. 6. The numerical nerve cell densities -- corrected for shrinkage -- were 1970 +/- 145 nerve cells/mm3 for the lateral part and 2910 +/- 310 nerve cells/mm3 for the medial part, this difference of 48 +/- 4% being highly significant. On the other hand, no difference between sexes could be shown. 7. The mean of the absolute number of nerve cells was 306000 for male and 286000 for females, the difference of 7% not being significant. 8. The volumetric nerve cell densities were found to be 1.58 +/- 0.15 vol% lateral and 1.99 +/- 0.16 vol% medial, the difference of 27% being significant. No differences between sexes were found. 9. The linear dimensions of the nerve cells of the medial part were about 10% smaller than those of the nerve cells of the lateral part. The mean fresh volume of a nerve cell was 8070 mum3 in the lateral portion and 6960 mum3 in the medial portion, the nerve cells of pars lateralis being just as large as the nerve cells of the lateral segment of the pallidum (8100 mum3). 10. The parameters determined showed good correlations with corresponding data of the pallidum. The fresh volume and the absolute numbers of nerve cells of the nucleus subthalamicus were better correlated with the pallidum laterale than with the pallidum mediale.


The nuclei of the vestibular nerve of the red kangaroo, Megaleia rufus. The preceeding account describes vestibular nuclei of the kangaroo which conform to the general mammalian pattern. Certain pecularities such as subdivisions of the medial vestibular nuclei are reported but cannot be assigned functional importance. The four major vestibular nuclei and the cerebellum receive vestibular root fibers in like manner as in other mammalian brains. The nuclear patterns and the secondary connections of the vestibular complex in the kangaroo are likewise consistent with those described in other mammals. This is so evident from the description of these regions in the kangaroo and the reports in the literature that the statement needs no further documentation. However, there are certain differences which are significant. Unusual size and/or differentiation of a center, together with an increase in the projection path arising from it, is often reflected in the behavioral patterns of the animal. Thus the lateral vestibular nucleus and the ventrolateral vestibulospinal tract are conspicuously large in the kangaroo in which the methods of locomotion and the manner in which he fights must require frequent orientation in space. It is obvious that the locomotion capabilities of the kangaroo are in large measure due to his well developed vestibular complex and its descending connection. Studies of the sort represented here, then, emphasize the specializations in certain systems and provide information with regard to the interrelations between the anatomic patterns and functional specilization in these systems. They also supplement our knowledge of the course of differentiation within the mammalian phylum. It is to be noticed that specialization at a given level may occur at any place in the evolutionary scale but cephalization is an indication of a relatively progressive development from lower to higher forms.


[Ventromedial field of human tuber cinereum. Mechanical morphometry]. A quantitative structural analysis of the ventromedial area of the human hypothalamus was performed using an automatic image analysing computer. We divided the ventromedial area into two nuclei, nucleus ventromedialis (N. vm.) and nucleus infundibularis (N. inf.). N. vm. was studied in 6 cases, N. inf. in 7 cases. The following findings were obtained: 1. No significant differences of cell population became apparent between the left and right sides of both nuclei. Aside from a female case above 80 years of age, so far, no correlation with cellular distribution of age and sex, respectively, could be established. 2. In N. vm. the distribution of large and small nerve cells depends on the region within this nucleus. Small nerve cells appear more frequent in the medial region than in the central and in the lateral regions. On the other hand, significant distributional differences of nerve cells in the dorsal, central, and basal regions as well as in oro-caudal direction are absent. Data of individual cases and their mean value are conforming. Cell density (cell number/volume) does not show any regional dependence both in the frontal plane and in the oro-caudal direction; it amounts to approximately 170/mum3 in the entire nucleus. 3. In the frontal plane plane N. inf. does not disclose marked regional differences of cell population. Large neurons are slightly more frequent in the basal-medial region as compared to the dorsal region. An 81-year-old woman displayed a conspicuous increase of large nerve cells in the basal and centrolateral regions, obviously hypertrophy of the potential "subventricular nucleus" as described by SHEEHAN and KOVACS, which is, in our opinion, a part of the N. inf. In young subjects (below the age of 40 years) the frequency of large nerve cells decreases in oro-caudal direction. Identical cell populations suggest that the cuadal end of N. inf. extends to the floor of the mammillary recessus. Cell density in the frontal plane appears higher in the centrolateral region (230/mum3) compared to the dorsal and basal regions (190-200/mum3). Cell density increases in oro-caudal extent; it decreases, however, in the most caudal part.


[Conditioning and synapse density. Morphometry of stratum lacunosum-moleculare of rat hippocampal CA1-region]. Male albino rats aged 13 weeks experienced a single training for bright -- dark discrimination in a Y-chamber. The numerical density of synapses determined in the stratum lacunosum-moleculare of the hippocampal area CA1 24 hours later turned out to be lower by 3.4 per cent with trained animals compared to passive controls. This difference failed, however, to prove significant.


Distribution and organization of spino-reticular afferents in the brain stem of rat. The spino-reticular projection was studied, using the silver impregnation method according to NAUTA in 15 rats with various lesions in the spinal cord. The brains were cut in frontal, sagittal or horizontal sections. Two bundles were found projecting from the spinal cord into the reticular formation: The dorso-medial bundle contains independent spino-reticular fibres which terminate in the nucleus reticularis lateralis and in the medial nuclei of the reticular formation of the rhombencephalon (this bundle is topographically organized). The spino-reticular projection to the mesencephalon runs separately in the ventro-lateral bundle, which is a complex of spino-cerebellar, spino-tectal and spino-thalamic pathways. The spino-reticular projection to the mesencephalon is is diffuse and has no sign of organization as opposed to the dorso-medial spino-reticular tract.


An attempt at determining the origin of the reticulo-spinal tract in the rat. A search was made for retrograde changes in the cells of the reticular formation of the rhombencephalon and mesencephalon in 26 rats aged 7 to 32 days after lesions in different spinal cord segments with survival periods of 3 to 14 days. No retrograde changes were found in any of the animals. Negative results yieled by the method of retrograde degeneration appeared to show that the main mass of the axoplasm of the reticular cells in the rat aimed to other brain stem structures or in the ascending direction.


[Quantitative study of primitive pyramidal cells in rat anterior cingular cortex]. In the present paper the primitive pyramidal cells of the Vthlayer of the anterior cingulate cortex in adult male white rats were analyzed quantitatively and compared statisticaly with large pyramidal cells of the same region. The number of dendrites, the total lengths of dendrites, the number of spines and the density of spines -- according to the order of dendrites -- show similarity between the primitive pyramidal cells and the large pyramidal cells the latter one exhibit the higher values. The curves of distribution of the various density of spines along the apical main dendrite of both cell types are similar in shape, too. The lengths of the dendritic fields and their basal spines-values are without significant distinction for both cell types, however there are more dendritic fields in large pyramidal cells. Refered to a complete pyramidal neuron they can say: there are significantly higher values in large pyramidal cells for the number of dendrites and their total lengths, the total number of spines, the number of branching sites sites and free endings. However the density of spines of the complete neuron has no significant differences between primitive and large pyramidal cells.


[Quantitative study of dendritic tree of large (regular) pyramidal cells of lamina V in rat anterior cingular cortex]. At three month old male rats the dendritic trees of 36 large pyramidal cells in the Vth layer of the anterior cingulate cortex were analyzed quantitatively by means of the Golgi-Kopsch method. 12 pyramidal cells were localized at the medial border of the regio praecentralis (neocortex), 12 cells were localized in the adjacent mesoarchicortex, 12 cells were localized in the mesoarchicortex, which are three subregions of the anterior cingulate cortex. By means of a varianz-analysis the values of the three subregions were compared, in order to verify a supposed gradient of differentiation. 1. In the three subregions basal the number and the branching behaviour of the dendrites are greater than apical. The pyramidal cells of the neocortex and of the mesoneocortex have significantly more basal dendrites of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th order than those of the mesoarchocortex. There are significantly more apical dendrites of the 1st and 2nd order at pyramidal cells of the neocortex compared with the two other subregions. 2. The total lengths of the dendritic branches are in proportion to the dendritic numbers of the corresponding orders. There are following tendencies for the three subregions: the number and length of apical dendrites decrease with the increasing number of order, basally, however, the number and length first increase and than decrease. 3. The total length of all basal dendrites of a pyramidal cell is largest in the mesoneocortex, than follows the neocortex, least values they find in the mesoarchicortex. There are significant differences between every one of the three subregions. The values of the total dendritic tree of a pyramidal cell (total dendritic length, total number of dendrites, volume of the dendritic tree, number of branching sites and free endings, total apical dendritic length) show significant differences between neocortex and mesoarchicortex as well as between mesoneocortex and mesoarchicortex. There are no significant differences between noecortex and mesoneocortex. The values of the total dendritic tree demonstrate that neocortex and mesoneocortex have a similar organization, while the lamina V-pyramidal cells of the mesoarchicortex indicate a significantly smaller and less branched dendritic tree.


Enhanced E- and EAC-rosette formation by neuraminidase. Pre-treatment by neuraminidase of lymphocytes obtained from peripheral blood of normal donors significantly enhanced E- and EAC-rosette formation. Of other lymphoid cells only spleen cells showed significant enhancement of E-rosettes. The EAC-rosettes slightly increased when the peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or chronic lymphocytic leukemia and MOLT-4 lymphoid cells were pre-treated with this enzyme. The EAC-rosettes were not increased by neuraminidase treatment of phytohemagglutinin-induced blasts, thymus cells or spleen cells. Pre-treatment of peripheral blood lymphocytes with neuraminidase also increased the proportion of stable E-rosettes resistant to incubation at 37 degrees C and to vigorous shaking. Various concentrations of neuraminidase (1-100 U/ml) produced enhancement of E- and EAC-rosettes with the highest activity at 25 and 50 U/ml. Neuraminidase treatment of sheep red blood cells failed to increase the proportion of E-rosettes of peripheral blood lymphocytes. The increased rosette forming capacity induced by neuraminidase is probably related to changes in lymphocyte surface properties.


A method for tissue extraction and determination of prostate concentrations of endogenous androgens by radioimmunoassay. A method for simultaneously determining concentrations of major androgens in prostate has been developed. Extraction techniques used to isolate the androgens from minced tissue include homogenization with high-speed blades in Delsal's solvent mixture, adsorption to silica gel, followed by column and one thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Radioimmunoassays (RIA) of small aliquots of TLC eluates are used to quantitate picogram amounts of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 5alpha-androstanediols (Diol) and to estimate testosterone (T) and androstenedione (Ad). Contamination of blanks was reduced to RIA sensitivity limits primarily by treatment of glassware in a self-cleaning oven. The specificity of the method for each androgen was established by TLC separations of known prostate metabolites, antisera specificities, and parallelism of sample aliquots to androgen RIA standards. The overall precision, in terms of coefficients of variation, was 21% for DHT and 24% for Diol. T and Ad could not be measured with acceptable precision because their very low concentrations in prostate (less than or equal 0.5 ng/g tissue) were less than RIA sensitivity limits. Accuracy studies indicated recoveries ranging from 96% for Diol to 121% for DHT. In human benign hypertrophic prostate tissue, DHT averaged 153 ng/g soluble protein (5.8 ng/g tissue) which was 17 times higher than values obtained in human spleen and kidney; Diol in prostate showed no consistent differences from values noted in kidney or spleen.


Use and abuse of sepharose-conjugated antibodies for the isolation of lymphocyte-surface immunoglobulins. Immunoadsorbents of Sepharose-4B-conjugated antibodies were shown to be suitable for the characterization, by subsequent SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, of splenocyte-membrane Immunoglobulin (Ig) solubilized by detergent lysis of surface 125I-labelled cells. However, high non-specific binding of 125I-labelled lymphocyte-membrane components to Sepharose-4B prevented accurate quantition of Ig in such lysates. 125I-labelled lymphocyte-membrane components solubilized by metabolic release also showed high non-specific binding to Sepharose-4B, and this interfered with both quantitative and qualitative analysis of Ig solubilized in this manner. Initial attempts to overcome the nonspecific binding of 125I-labelled lymphocyte-membrane components to Sepharose-4B were unsuccessful, and attention is drawn to the technical problems of using Sepharose-4B as a matrix for solid-phase immunoadsorbent studies of lymphocyte-membrane Ig.


Acridine orange fluorescence cytochemistry for detecting lymphocyte immunoreactivity. Acridine orange staining reveals changes within 3 hours of in vitro stimulation of normal rat lymphocytes with mitogens, and of immune rat lymphocytes with the sensitizing antigen. An increased number of red fluorescent cytoplasmic organelles, presumably lysosomes are seen by fluorescence microscopy. Fluorimetry of the supernatants from stained cell suspensions suggests an overall decreased cell uptake of the dye. The microscopy and fluorimetry detected early events in the reaction of lymphocytes from tumour-bearing rats with the target tumour cells. It would appear that the changes in intracellular behaviour of the dye and in overall cell uptake after immune stimulation are a reflection of dissociated variations in internal and external cell membrane permeability, and may provide simple general means for recognizing cellular immune reactions.


Rapid, safe and simple method for grafting whole thymus in the mouse. A rapid, safe and simple method is presented for obtaining and grafting whole neonatal thymuses in mice. No anesthesia, sutures or incisions are required for implantation. The grafting technique involves no special skills except the ability to inject mice subcutaneously. Thymuses grafted by the method described show normal architecture, survive lethal irradiation and bone marrow reconstitution, repopulate thymic dependent areas of peripheral lymphoid organs and restore normal inflammatory cell responses to thymic deprived mice.


Enzymatic conversion of human group O red cells into Group B active cells by alpha-D-galactosyltransferases of sera and salivas from group B and its variant types. Salivas from group B secretor or non-secretor, acting on O red cells in the presence of UDP-galactose, each converted them into B cells, which were agglutinated against anti-B human serum (1:512) at the titre of thirty-two-fold, while secretor or non-secretor group AB salivas converted O red cells into B active cells, which were agglutinated by anti-B human serum (1:512) at the titre of eight- to sixteen-fold. The results indicate that the alpha-galactosyltransferases which participate in the biosynthesis of group B substance are secreted in group B or AB salivas of both secretor and non-secretor types as well as in their sera. Agglutinabilities of enzymatically converted B-active red cells against anti-B human serum indicate that alpha-galactosyltransferase activities of both serum and saliva from a weak B (Bw) individual, who has weak B antigens in red cells and saliva, were lower than those of normal group B. The alpha-galactosyltransferase activities in group Bm sera were lower than those of normal group B, while the enzyme activities in salivas of group Bm were demonstrated to the same degree in normal group B salivas.


Anti-B activity of a lectin coexistent with blood group H-like substance in seeds of Euonymus sieboldiana. Euonymus Sieboldiana seeds possess a lectin for human erythrocytes with anti-B specificity. Lectin fractions with strong agglutinating activity were separated by ammonium sulphate precipitation from blood group H-like substance, which is coexistent in the same seeds. The lectin has properties resembling a complete agglutinin, being non-dialysable, inactivated by heat treatment at 70 degrees C and specific for D-galactoside.


Linkage relationships of the loci of the major histocompatibility complex in families with a recombination in the HLA region. A number of families with an established recombination in the major histocompatibility complex has been investigated for markers known to be coded by genes of this linkage group. The results provide further data on the relative position of the loci for HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-D, Bf, Chido, Rodgers and PGM3 on chromosome 6. A positive lodscore for linkage between HLA and blood group P was found; lodscores between HLA and nineteen other markers were negative.


Genetic control of the immune response to ferritin in mice. The immune response to the antigen horse spleen ferritin was tested in sixteen inbred strains of mice. Using a fixed antigen percentage  bound isotope technique, it was found that the quantity of antibody produced was related to the genetic status of the responding animal. A continuous distribution of responses was obtained, which were found to be linked to H-2 loci and the 2 non-H-2 loci 'Tla' and 'Theta' and these responses are detectable following primary immunization. It is suggested that the continuous distribution of quantitative antibody responses to ferritin, is compatible either with a large number of IR-genes or with a cross tolerance hypothesis requiring no IR-genes at all.


Short communication structure of 'natural antibodies' in lower vertebrates. 'Natural' antibodies are generally believed to possess solely 2H-2L immunoglobulin structure. They have many disulphide bonds, the structural importance of which is not yet understood. However, some natural heterohaemagglutinins in the sera of some lower vertebrates (eel, shark, perhaps also trout and toad) are subunit proteins; the subunits are held together not by disulphide bonds but solely by non-covalent interactions like animal lectins. The relevance of these findings for immunophylogeny is discussed.


Incidence of a weak HL-A W27 antigen in a Czech family. In two members of a Czech family a weak W 27 antigen was found. The lymphocytes of the two individuals showed an identical positive cytotoxic reaction only with some sera having anti-W 27 specificity; anti-W 27 of both the said sera and those showing negative cytotoxic test was absorbed by the lymphocytes. The thrombocyte absorption capacity was substantially poorer.


Morphology of delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions in man. The new morphologic findings reviewed here substantially alter prevalent conceptions of delayed hypersensitivity as a simple cutaneous infiltration of lymphocytes and macrophages. By assigning an integral role of basophils, mast cells, the microvasculature, and the clotting system, the findings have far-reaching implications for an understanding of these clinically important reactions. Morphologic observations, of course, represent only a first step, a foundation on which subsequent immunologic, physiologic, and biochemical experiments can build. Much further work will be required to interrelate these new findings and to integrate them with older observations into a coherent sequence of events which can explain the pathogenesis of cell-mediated reactions. A preliminary attempt in this direction, based on present, rather incomplete information, is presented in Figure 8 as a basis for further investigation.


Erythropoiesis in chronic renal disease. The diminished erythropoiesis in the anemia of chronic renal disease has been attributed to three possible factors: (1) decreased erythropoietin production, (2) inhibition of erythropoietin activity, and (3) decreased bone marrow response to erythropoietin. In this report we isolated and evaluated these parameters in 19 patients with chronic renal disease, nine patients with iron-deficiency anemia, and seven control subjects. The results in patients with chronic renal failure were as follows: (1) erythropoietin enhanced heme synthesis in bone marrow cell cultures by 88 +/- 12 per cent in renal failure, as compared to 65 +/- 7 per cent in the control group; (2) plasma erythropoietin activity did not increase appropriately for the degree of anemia; and (3) erythropoietin inhibitor activity in renal failure was not greater than in a control group. In conclusion, the relative failure of erythropoiesis in chronic renal disease appears to be due primarily to decreased production of erythropoietin and not to diminished marrow response to erythropoietin.


Coagulation factor XIII concentration in sickle-cell disease. Plasma factor XIII was assayed serially for a 1 1/2 to 2 year period in four patients with sickle-cell disease (SSD), during which several episodes of SSD crisis were observed. During crisis-free periods, plasma factor XIII concentration was lower than in normal subjects. With crisis onset, there was usually a concomitant fall in platelets and in plasma factor XIII soon after followed by a rise in fibrinogen concentration and platelet count. Following crisis resolution there was an increase in plasma factor XIII concentration peaking 3 weeks after crisis onset and occurring at the time of subsidence of thrombocytosis. It is suggested that the observed changes in plasma factor XIII concentration in SSD patients support the hypothesis that in the early stage of SSD crisis, fibrin deposition and/or thrombosis significantly enhance the role of sickled erythrocytes in producing vascular occlusion and/or organ infarction.


The erythropoietin response to the anemia of thermal injury. Erythropoietin excretion was persistently increased following major thermal injury in 4 of 5 patients. A good correlation was found between erythropoietin excretion and red cell mass but not between erythropoietin excretion and hematocrit. In spite of the increased erythropoietin, erythropoiesis in these thermally injured patients was inadequate to compensate for erythrocyte deficits as judged by bone marrow morphology, reticulocyte counts, and transfusion requirements.


Effects of ultrafiltration on solute clearances in hollow fiber artificial kidneys. Although solute clearances in artificial kidney coils increase with ultrafiltration (UF), we have previously shown that increases are usually less than UF rate (most likely because of decreases in diffusive transport with UF coils and, for larger solutes, molecular sieving). The present studies demonstrate the effects of UF on clearances of Na and bromsulphalein (BSP) (mol. wt. 838) in hollow fiber dialyzers. Clearances were measured at increasing transmembrane hydrostatic pressures at perfusion rates of 200 and 500 ml. per minute. Fractions of total clearance attributable to diffusion as compared to solvent drag forces were calculated. Sieving coefficients were determined in studies where diffusion was minimized and clearance was primarily by solvent drag. Clearance increases were less than UF rate only for BSP; molecular sieving most likely accounts for the difference at high perfusion rates. Only at 200 ml. per minute was slight decrease of diffusion with UF suggested. Thus, in contrast to coils, there is minimal or no decrease in diffusion with UF in hollow fiber dialyzers.


Evidence for cell-mediated immunity to collagen in progressive systemic sclerosis. Peripheral blood leukocytes from 12 patients with progressive systemic sclerosis and from 12 normal subjects were cultured in the presence of human skin collagen, lathryritic chick skin collagen, and alpha-chains from chick skin collagen. Leukocytes from 11 of the patients produced a factor chemotactic for human monocytes when cultured with the collagen preparations. The one patient whose cells did not respond to the collagen preparations also failed to respond to other common antigens and was apparently anergic. In addition, lymphocytes from three of the patients were found to transform when cultured with the collagen preparations. These responses were significantly different from the response of leukocytes from normal control subjects. The data suggest that patients with progressive systemic sclerosis may have cellular immunity to collagen.


A simple and precise method of determining true sodium, potassium, and chloride concentrations in hyperlipemia. Sodium, potassium, and chloride levels are artifactually depressed in hyperlipemic sera. Accurate electrolyte levels are needed for management of patients with hyperlipemia, but present methods for correcting the values (serum water and/or osmolality determinations) either are technically cumbersome or fail to provide accurate data to correct the falsely low levels. Alternatively, to determine true sodium, potassium, and chloride concentrations in hyperlipemic sera, only the required electrolyte values and the triglycerides are measured. The percentage by which the measured electrolyte levels in the hyperlipemic sample must be increased to approximate the true values is given by the following equation: per cent increase = 2.1 X triglycerides (Gm./dl.) - 0.6.


Menière's disease in childhood.

Menière's disease in childhood. Two cases of Menière's disease in childhood were found during one year from 850 examinations of children. The clinical and audiological findings are similar to those seen in adults.


Vestibular nerve section for Ménière's disease. In summary: (i) the fact that VNS spares auditory function makes it preferable to labyrinthectomy. A comparison of VNS and the "conservative" operations on the inner ear shown that they have much the same effect on hearing. VNS by controlling vertigo may also provide an additional benefit by eliminating one of the stress factors concerned in the perpetuation of hydrops; (2) in the treatment of vertigo, VNS is now the most effective method of treatment. Because of elimination of vertigo is what chiefly concerns most of our patients, we suggest that when medical treatment fails to control vertigo, VNS is the surgical method of choice.


Destruction of the endolymphatic sac in the cat. The endolymphatic duct and sac were destroyed by drilling in a cat that was sacrificied after 2 3/4 years. Histological examination of the temporal bones showed marked endolymphatic hydrops; degeneration of the stria vascularis in the upper coil; degeneration of the organ of Corti and spiral ganglion in the upper and middle coils; and degeneration of the macula of the saccule. It is probable that, in some cases at least, the primary pathology of Menière's disease is in the endolymphatic sac.


The tympanic membrane/ossicular chain Block implant - early impression. Twenty-six tympanic membrane-ossicular chain implants have been used during a twelve-month period in the reconstruction of middle ears which had been affected by tympanosclerosis, inflammatory processes and cholesteatoma. The results which have been achieved, both from the point of view of anatomy and function, are presented and changes observed in the post-operative period are described. It is suggested that alternative methods of preservation of these grafts and modifications in technique may give more consistent results.


Rhinoentomophthoromycosis.

Rhinoentomophthoromycosis. A rare case of Rhinophycomycosis entomophthora treated with a combination of Bacterium, potassium iodide and steroid is reported. Clinical features, epidemiology, mycology, and management are discussed.


E.N.T. complications in thalassaemia major. Twenty-six cases of thalassaemia major have been investigated for E.N.T. complications. Twelve (46 percent) had significantly problems requiring surgery. Since the prognosis of the disease is improving dramatically, these patients should not be denied treatment. bony hypertrophy of the turbinates was a noticeable feature in the untreated group and does not seem to have been described before.


Failure to thrive.

Failure to thrive. We report a case of a "butterfly" nut removed successfully from the oesophagus of a 1-year-old baby. This foreign body was thought to have been present for three months. Continuous cough, feeding difficulty and weight loss were the predominant clinical features. The value of a chest X-ray is demonstrated.


The absolute rate of fatty acid synthesis by mammary gland slices from lactating rats. Mammary gland utilizes a combination of substrates in vivo. To determine if and how the substrates presented to the gland alter milk fat synthesis, slices of mammary gland of lactating rats were incubated with combinations of glucose, L-lactate, and pyruvate. Uptakes and conversions of uniformly and specifically labeled substrates to CO2 and fatty acid were measured. The absolute rate of fatty acid synthesis was measured by incoporation of tritium from tritiated water into fatty acid. The extent, but not the type, of fatty acids synthesized was affected by the substrates utilized. Glucose stimulated uptake and conversion to fatty acid of l-lactate and, to a smaller extent, of pyruvate. Analysis of CO2 and fatty acid yields revealed that (a) the major stimulatory effect of glucose was on the conversion of acetyl coenyzme A from other substrates to fatty acid; (b) the rate of fatty acid synthesis paralleled the activity of the hexose monophosphate pathway up to a point. A likely source of the NADPH required beyond this point is provided by oxidation of malate to pyruvate. Reduction of NADH of oxaloacetate, produced during citrate cleavage, would yield malate. Hence, maximal synthesis would require production of NADPH and NADH, a condition met when glucose and L-lactate were substrates. Decreased fatty acids synthesis in pyruvate's presence supports this suggested requirement for cytosolic NADH in rat mammary gland.


C26-Analogs of naturally occurring C27 bile alcohols. C26 Bile of the 24-nor-5beta-cholestane series were prepared starting from methyl cholate. A Grignard reaction of methyl magnesium iodide with methyl cholate yielded 24-nor-5beta-cholestane-3alpha, 7alpha, 12alpha, 25-tetrol which was dehydrated TO FORM a mixture of 24-nor-5beta-cholest-23-ene-3alpha, 7alpha, 12 alpha-triol and the corresponding delta25 compound. Oxidation of the former with OsO4 yielded 24-nor-5beta-cholestane-3alpha, 7alpha, 12alpha, 23epsilon, 25pentol, while catalytic hydrogenation of a mixture of the delta23 and delta25 triols resulted in the formation of 24-nor-5beta-cholestane-3-alpha-, 7alpha-12alpha-triol. The structures of these new compounds were confirmed by infrared and nuclear megnetic resonance spectrometry and by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.


Interactions of pancreatic lipase with bile salts and dodecyl sulfate. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) binds to pancreatic lipase in a cooperative manner up to about 200 moles/mole of protein. This binding in a rapid and irreversible inactivation of lipase. Bile salts under certain conditions prevent SDS inactivation of lipase when both detergents are present together. Under these conditions bile salts also prevent the binding of SDS to lipase. This effect is parallel to and probably mediated by a decrease in the SDS monomer concentration as the result of the formation of mixed bile salt-SDS micelles.


Factors affecting fatty acid oxidation in fat cells isolated from rat white adipose tissue. Fat cells isolated from rat epididymal adipose tissue were incubated with albumin-bound [14C]palmitate. Incorporation of 14C into 14CO2 and glycerides was measured. Some evidence is presented to suggest that the exogenous palmitate pool is in isotopic equilibrium with intracellular precursors for these metabolic processes. Precautions were taken to minimize dilution of the exogenous palmitate pool by fatty acids released from the cells. 14CO2 production from [1-14C]palmitate was 3 times that from [16-14C]palmitate. Octanoate increased this differential oxidation of palmitate carbons and also inhibited palmitate oxidation without similarly affecting esterification. Glucose increases palmitate esterification in cells from fed or starved rats. Insulin potentiated this effect of glucose. Glucose influenced palmitate oxidation in a more complex manner, dependent upon the glucose concentration. Both the observation that esterification constitutes 99% of the metabolic flux of fatty acid and the manner in which glucose, insulin, or starvation influence palmitate esterification and oxidation suggested that factors controlling esterification may alter oxidation as a secondary effect, but not vice versa. It is suggested that oxidation and esterification compete for a single intracellular precursor, possibly extramitochondrial long chain fatty acyl CoA.


Equally rapid activation of lipogenesis in nibbling and gorging mice. Minimal average rates of exogenous glucose-C-conversion to whole body, total lipid fatty acids were measured in nibbling and gorging mice. Gorgers trained to eat 1 meal/day (8-10 am) were fasted 22-24 hr and given [14C]glucose with pure glucose, 30% glucose in water, or a 58% glucose, fat-free diet. Conversion of glucose-C to total lipid fatty acids increased from 0.6 (fasted) to approximately 20 mug/min/20 g body weight during 40 min after glucose feeding using each test meal. Dietary amino acids were not required for activation of lipogenesis in gorgers. Exogenous glucose-C was incorporated into fatty acids as fast in nibbling mice as in gorgers. This was true after varying all of the following conditions: training period, number of meals gorged, previous fasting time, and diet composition. The total rate of fatty acid synthesis from body glucose-C during absorption of a glucose load was also estimated in absorption of a glucose load was also estimated in previously fasted nibbling and gorging mice. These estimates were based on composite, serial measurement of both plasma glucose specific activities and 14C-labeled fatty acids. The total rate of fatty acid synthesis from both exogenous and endogenous glucose-C was only 15% higher than the rate from exogenous glucose-C between 10 and 40 min. No significant differences between nibblers and gorgers were found.


Determination of protein in adipose tissue extracts. An accurate and sensitive method for determination of protein in adipose tissue extracts based on a scaled-down version of the method of Lowry et al. (1951, J. Biol. Chem. 193, 265-275) is described. Protein is quantitatively precipitated by trichloroacetic acid with a nonionic detergent as a bulk-increasing substance and the precipitate is extracted with an organic solvent. This interference caused by lipids, sulfhydryl reagents, and several other compounds is eliminated. The accuracy of the determination of dilute reference protein solutions (2-20 mug/ml) is demonstrated.


Silicic acid thin-layer chromatography of conjugated and free bile acids. The separation of free bile acids, taurine conjugates, and glycine conjugates from one another was achieved by thin-layer chromatography, using a solvent system of isopropanol glacial acetic acid 93:7 in a solvent system of hexane-methylethylketone-glacial acetic acid 56:36:8 (v/v), it was possible to separate cholic, chenodeoxycholic, deoxycholic, and lithocholic acids. Application to a biological bile sample was demonstrated.


Prolactin, diuretics and urinary electrolytes in normal subjects. The relationship of plasma prolactin concentration and renal electrolyte excretion has been investigated in six normal male volunteers. In two studies, 80 mg frusemide were administered at 18.00 h on Day 1 and followed by dietary sodium restriction. In study A, after 38 h of sodium depletion, a second dose of frusemide was administered at 08.00 h on Day 3. In study B, after 14 h of sodium depletion, the effect of administration of 100 mg spironolactone or 45 mg prorenoate potassium (another aldosterone antagonist) at 08.00 h on Day 2 was compared with that of a placebo. After the first dose of frusemide in study A, the mean plasma prolactin concentration correlated negatively with the urinary Na and K excretion over 5 h. After 38 h sodium depletion, the plasma prolactin concentration correlated positively with urinary Na excretion following the second dose of frusemide. In study B, after Na depletion for 14 h the plasma prolactin concentration of 08.00 h on Day 2 had a positive correlation with the 24 h urinary log10 Na:K ratio following placebo administration and had negative correlations with the true urinary log10 Na:K ratio following spironolactone and prorenoate potassium administration. Neither acute Na deprivation nor the administration of single doses of frusemide, spironolactone or proprenoate potassium appeared to affect the normal circadian rhythm of plasma prolactin concentrations which remained constant for each subject throughout the 3 months covered by the investigation. The correlations of plasma prolactin concentration to renal excretion of electrolytes, with no evidence for a negative feedback control mechanism, suggest an indirect relationship between prolactin and renal function.


Ageing and ovarian delta 5-3 beta-hydrosteroid dehydrogenase in the pregnant mouse. Aged (12- to 14-month-old) C57BL oestrous mice exhibited significantly lower (P less than 0-001) ovarian delta 5-3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD) concentration, specific activity and total content than young (3-month-old) oestrous mice, suggesting a decrease in the potential of the older animals to produce ovarian delta 4-3-oxosteroids. Mice in both age groups maintaining pregnancy to 10 or 18 days post coitum (p.c.) had similar values for activity of ovarian 3 beta-HSD. In the aged females in which foetal resorption had occurred, the majority of foetuses had been resorbed by 10 days p.c. However, ovarian 3 beta-HSD activity in these animals was not significantly different from that of young or aged mice maintaining pregnancy. By day 18, however, ovarian dehydrogenase activity in aged females failing to maintain pregnancy had decreased significantly. It is suggested that foetal death in aged mice is not the result of a deficiency in ovarian 3 beta-HSD, but rather may initiate luteal regression and consequently a decline in 3 beta-HSD.


Plasma and adrenal cortisol concentrations in foetal, newborn and mother guinea-pigs during the perinatal period. Concentrations of cortisol, corticosterone and cortisone in the plasma and adrenal glands, liver glycogen and plasma glucose of foetal, newborn and mother guinea-pigs were estimated during the last 6 days of pregnancy and throughout the first 24 h post partum. At the same time progesterone was measured in the plasma of the mother. During the prepartum rise in foetal plasma cortisol levels and liver glycogen, no significant change in the foetal adrenal cortisol content was observed. The plasma and adrenal cortisol concentrations of the mother were much higher than those observed in the foetus and increased significantly before parturition. In the mother as in the foetus, cortisone and corticosterone represent only a small percentage of corticosteroids compared with cortisol. These results indicate that the autonomous capacity of foetal adrenals, inhibited by maternal secretions before term, appears suddenly at birth.


Sustained effects on synthetic ovarian steroids of rat myometrial contractility. Ovariectomized rats were given a single dose of synthetic oestrogen or progestogen, or both combined. On selected days after treatment one rat from each treatment group was killed and myometrical contractility in response to spasmogens was measured isometrically in isolated tissue baths. Contractility persisted at a low level after ovariectomy without steroid replacement (controls) for the 60 days of the experiment. The powerful potentiating action of oestrogen reached a maximum in about 10 days and sustained a high level thereafter. Progestogen treatment did not influence contractility to a significant degree when compared with saline, except that the contractions were sometimes of higher frequency and more irregular in size. There was a less powerful potentiating action on contractility with combined oestrogen and progestogen treatment than with oestrogen alone. It reached a maximum in 4 days and declined more rapidly than with oestrogen-treated preparation but was still vigorous for up to 30 days.