Hydration properties of lens crystallins

The water binding properties of bovine lens crystallins, alpha, beta H, beta L and low molecular weight (LMW), were investigated with different techniques. The water sorptive capacity was obtained in high vacuum sorption experiments volumetrically, and also gravimetrically in controlled atmosphere experiments. The two methods gave reproducible isotherms. The strongly sorbed water (bound water) was evaluated from the B.E.T. monolayer and from the values of isosteric heats. The bound water content of the crystallins were also measured by combined differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. The non-freezable water contents calculated as % of the total water content and also as g g-1 crystallin, were used as an indicator for bound water. In all three different techniques, the following order was obtained: beta H greater than alpha greater than beta L = LMW.     

Gamma-interferon in myelodysplastic syndromes: a pilot study

Eight patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; RA = 1, RAEB = 2, RAEB-t = 4, CMML = 1) received three cycles of recombinant gamma-IFN administered in 2-week intervals, each consisting of a 14-day period of subcutaneous injections at a daily dose of 0.1 mg/m2. Neither a complete nor a partial remission could be obtained. There was only one definite improvement consisting in a rise of hemoglobin level from 7 to more than 12 g/dl. Two minor improvements were due to a slight rise of platelet counts. Three patients developed acute leukemia under treatment with gamma-IFN. Our data suggest that gamma-IFN administered according to the treatment schedule as used in our trial has only a minimal beneficial effect in patients with MDS.     

Applications of a new method for devising bacteriological serotyping schemes.

Greatly simplified serotyping schemes were devised for two organisms, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter jejuni. The mathematical approach developed to improve the E. coli serotyping routine at the National Health Institute in New Zealand was used on three previously published data sets. It had been considered possible that the mathematical method used in the first study was specific to that data set and therefore not applicable elsewhere. This paper verifies that the mathematical method works on two other E. coli collections and on another bacterium, C. jejuni, and therefore greatly strengthens the assertion made in the earlier paper (C.J. Thompson, J. Clin. Microbiol. 25:774-780, 1987) that this mathematical approach has general applications and can be used to produce efficient and effective serotyping schemes in any laboratory choosing to apply the method to its set of sera.     

Prenatal diagnosis of tetrasomy 9p with Dandy-Walker malformation

OBJECTIVES: To add to the knowledge of chromosomal abnormalities associated with Dandy-Walker malformation. METHODS: Molecular cytogenetic analyses of a chorionic villus sampling and of an amniocentesis of a fetus with Dandy-Walker malformation and abnormal somatic development. RESULTS: All cells examined showed a 47, XY, +idic(9p)(pter-->q12::q12-->pter) de novo karyotype. This report describes the fourth case of a tetrasomy 9p associated with Dandy-Walker malformation. CONCLUSIONS: This case, together with the three previously reported cases of an association with a tetrasomy 9p, indicate that this chromosomal aberration should be looked for when Dandy-Walker malformation is detected via prenatal ultrasonography.     

Antibodies to bacterial L-asparaginases.

Complement fixation has been shown to occur when asparaginase reacts with specific antibody. This is as a result of an antigenic determinant common to the four bacterial asparaginases. Patients on asparaginase therapy may produce antibodies and these could be demonstrated by complement fixation.     

Der Einfluß des Tonus der Lidmuskulatur auf die ophthalmodynamographischen Kriterien

Zusammenfassung Durch die Akinesie des Musculus orbicularis oculi werden die ophthalmodynamographisch ermittelten Druckwerte nicht verändert. Die orbitalen Pulsations volumina nehmen dagegen ab.Somit dürfte der Einfluß des orbitalen Muskeltonus auf den dynamographischen Ankopplungsdruck zu vernachlässigen sein und nicht für die Interpretation des umstrittenen Begriffes der cephalen Hypertonie herangezogen werden.

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The influence of the lid muscle tone on the ophthalmodynamographic criteria

Summary Akinesia of the orbioularis muscle does not influence the ophthalmodynamographically recorded pressure values. On the other hand the volume of pulsation of the orbit is decreased after temporary paralysis of the orbicularis muscle.Thus the influence of the orbicularis muscle tone on the dynamographic pressure values is probably to be neglected. It does not seem to be responsible for the often discussed and rather enigmatic phenomenon of cephalic hypertension.

     

Lathyritic cornea. An optico-mechanical study

The cornea of normal and lathyritic rats was studied by optico-mechanical techniques. The stress-strain curves at different rates of elongation showed that the lathyritic cornea provides a greater strain per unit stress than the normal cornea over the whole range of elongation. The birefringence distribution was similar in both lathyritic and normal cornea but the normal cornea had higher birefringence values. The light-scattering-patterns shows somewhat less intense scattering but at a wider angle in the lathyritic cornea than in normal. The results are interpreted in terms of collagen fiber superstructures which are smaller and more disorganized in the lathyritic cornea.