J Bacteriol, 1986 Nov, 168(2), 851 - 9 Multigeneric aggregations among oral bacteria: a network of independent cell-to-cell interactions; Kolenbrander PE et al.; A radioactivity-based assay was developed to define the participation of radioactively labeled cell types within the milieu of unlabeled partners in multigeneric aggregates . The cell types in these multigeneric aggregations consisted of various combinations of 21 strains representing five genera of human oral bacteria . The coaggregation properties of each cell type, when paired individually with various strains, were delineated and were unchanged when the microbes took part in the more complex multigeneric aggregations . Competition between homologous labeled and unlabeled cells for binding to a partner cell type was achieved only when the homologous cells were mixed together before the addition of their partner cells . Attempts to displace a labeled cell type from an aggregate by subsequent addition of a large excess of the same unlabeled cell type were unsuccessful, which suggested that the forces that bound different cell types together were very strong and the cell-to-cell interactions were stable . However, a cell type that exhibited only lactose-reversible coaggregations with partners was easily and selectively released by the addition of lactose to multigeneric aggregates otherwise consisting solely of lactose-nonreversible cell-to-cell interactions . This not only indicates the independent nature of individual coaggregations but also suggests the involvement of lectinlike adhesins in these sugar-inhibitable coaggregations . Although the molecular mechanisms responsible for multigeneric aggregations are unknown, the principle of a common partner cell type serving as a bridge between two otherwise noncoaggregating cell types was firmly established by the observation of sequential addition of one cell type to another . Thus, competition, bridging, coaggregate stability, independent nature of interactions, and partner specificity are the key principles of adherence that form the framework for continued studies of multigeneric aggregates . While the human oral cavity is a prime example of a complex microbial community, collectively the community appears to consist of simple and testable individual interactions. Exp Cell Res, 1986 Nov, 167(1), 95 - 105 Possible translocation of actin and alpha-actinin along stress fibers; McKenna NM et al.; We have employed fluorescent analogue cytochemistry and fluorescence photobleaching to study the mobility of actin and alpha-actin along stress fibers . Rhodamine-labeled actin or alpha-actinin microinjected into embryonic chick cardiac fibroblasts soon became incorporated into stress fibers . A pulse of a laser microbeam was used to photobleach small spots on the fluorescent stress fibers . Images of the bleached fiber were recorded with an intensified image processing system at 2-3 min intervals . The distance between the bleached spot and the terminus of the stress fiber, which remained stationary throughout the experiment, was then measured in the successive images . Movement of bleached spots was detected along stress fibers located in the apparently trailing processes of polygonal fibroblasts, and only occurred in one direction: away from the distal tip of the stress fiber . The rate of movement calculated for alpha-actinin-injected cells was 0.24 +/- 0.12 micron/min, for actin-injected cells, 0.29 +/- 0.11 micron/min . The rate did not seem to be affected by the location of the spot relative to the distal end of the stress fiber unless the spot was located within the most distal 5 microns of the stress fiber . Anti-myosin antibody staining indicated that stress fibers which demonstrated translocation were relatively depleted of myosin . The apparent translocation of proteins along stress fibers, possibly generated by stretching, may be related to the retraction of cell processes during locomotion. Tsitologiia, 1986 Nov, 28(11), 1234 - 9 {Interdependence of the cell cycles of mammalian sister cells in monolayer cultures detected through their desynchronization by UV microirradiation}; Sakharov VN et al.; The duration and variability of cell cycles in epithelial and fibroblast-like mammalian sister cells with different types of intercellular contacts were estimated using time-lapse cinemicrographic technique . To study a possible interrelation between cell cycles of the sister cells, one cell in each pair of sister cells was inactivated by selective UV microbeam irradiation at the beginning of its cell cycle . It is shown that this action may delay the cycle of the intact cell as well . Such an interrelation of sister cells was found only at the G1 phase of the cell cycle and only in epithelial cells. Microbiol Sci, 1986 Nov, 3(11), 330 - 3 Microbes and heavy metals: an ecological overview; Duxbury T; Heavy metals are ubiquitous in nature in a wide range of concentrations . They have the potential to influence the ecology of microorganisms in many different ways; as trace elements some are essential for many natural processes but, as pollutants, most can severely disrupt ecosystem functioning. Antibiot Med Biotekhnol, 1986 Nov, 31(11), 855 - 60 {Use of immunospecific components labelled with beta-lactamase and horseradish peroxidase for immunoenzyme analysis}; Vorob'ev SM et al.; A system for enzyme immunoassay with the use of beta-lactamase as an enzyme marker is described . Similar sensitivity of the enzyme immunoassays with the use of beta-lactamase and horse-raddish peroxidase as enzyme markers was shown . The data on decrease of the antigen binding capacity of the antibodies in the conjugates with beta-lactamase are presented . It is suggested that such a decrease may be associated with glutaric dialdehyde conjugation . The use of the schemes for enzyme immunoassay with simultaneous application of two independently recorded enzymes i . e . horse-raddish peroxidase and beta-lactamase provided confirmation of univalency of the conjugate of the melted capsular antigen of the plague causative agent with beta-lactamase . Identity of the antigenic determinants of the melted antigen and capsular antigen of the plague microbe was demonstrated. Mutat Res, 1986 Oct, 163(1), 33 - 40 Induction of chromosome shattering by ultraviolet light and caffeine: the influence of different distributions of photolesions; Cremer C et al.; Cells of synchronized and of asynchronously growing cultures of a V79 Chinese hamster line were microirradiated with a low power laser-UV-microbeam of wavelength 257 nm . Ultraviolet light was either focused onto a small part of the nucleus (mode I) or distributed over the whole nucleus (mode II) . Following microirradiation, the cells were incubated for 7-20 h with caffeine (1-2 mM) until chromosome preparation was performed . After both modes of microirradiation, shattering of the entire chromosome complement (generalized chromosome shattering, GCS) was observed . It is suggested that the probability by which GCS is induced depends on the total number of DNA lesions rather than on their distribution in the chromatin . The results are consistent with the prediction of a "factor depletion model" which assumes that in a given cell, GCS takes place both in irradiated and non-irradiated chromosomes if the total number of daughter strand-repair sites surpasses a threshold value. Scand J Immunol, 1986 Oct, 24(4), 381 - 6 Interactions of Thermoactinomyces vulgaris and mouse alveolar macrophages . Loss of mitogenic activity and release of suppressive prostaglandins and interleukin 1; Jagerroos HJ et al.; Interactions of mouse alveolar macrophages from three different inbred strains of mice and Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, a microbe associated with Farmer's lung disease, were studied . Alveolar macrophages were found to abolish the mitogenic activity of T . vulgaris . A prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor indomethacin, could not restore the activity . Alveolar macrophage supernatants generated by T . vulgaris treatment exerted strong suppression in secondary concanavalin A-induced lymphocyte transformation . Indomethacin partly relieved the suppression but a histamine 2 receptor blocker, cimetidine, had no effect . Interleukin 1 activity was practically undetectable by the thymocyte co-stimulation assay unless indomethacin was used . When indomethacin was used, interleukin 1 activity could be detected in all strains of mice tested . Major differences in the abolition of the mitogenic effect, in the suppressive effect, or in the release of interleukin 1 were not detected between inbred strains of mice tested . The results indicate that alveolar macrophages exert suppressive actions in vitro after T . vulgaris treatment but in vivo activities remain to be elucidated. Nature, 1986 Sep 4-10, 323(6083), 79 - 82 Recombinant human TNF induces production of granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor; Munker R et al.; Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is synthesized by macrophages exposed to endotoxin . It produces haemorrhagic necrosis of a variety of tumours in mice and is cytostatic or cytocidal against various transformed cell lines in vitro, but viability of normal human or rodent cells is unaffected . The role of TNF is unlikely to be restricted to the rejection of tumours . Colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) are required for survival, proliferation and differentiation of haematopoietic progenitor cells . The haematopoietic growth factor known as granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has the ability to stimulate proliferation and differentiation of normal granulocyte-monocyte and eosinophil stem cells and enhance the proliferation of pluripotent, megakaryocyte and erythroid stem cells . In addition, GM-CSF stimulates a variety of functional activities in mature granulocytes and macrophages, for example inhibition of migration, phagocytosis of microbes, oxidative metabolism, and antibody-dependent cytotoxic killing of tumour cells . We show here that TNF markedly stimulates production of GM-CSF messenger RNA and protein in normal human lung fibroblasts and vascular endothelial cells, and in cells of several malignant tissues. Vestn Khir Im I I Grek, 1986 Sep, 137(9), 18 - 21 {Vacuum treatment in the surgical management of suppurative wounds}; Kostiuchenok BM et al.; Vacuum treatment was used in 116 patients with purulent wounds . It was established that the vacuum treatment of purulent wounds was effective but after surgical treatment . It considerably decreased the amount of microbes in wound tissues, had no harmful effects and improved clinical results of healing the wounds after putting early sutures. J Pharm Sci, 1986 Sep, 75(9), 912 - 6 2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride as a novel tool in germicide dynamics; Hurwitz SJ et al.; A novel, colorimetric method using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) in tandem with membrane filtration is described for the determination of death rates of Escherichia coli (E . coli) due to microbiocides . This method enables results to be obtained on the same day in contrast to the 18 h required by the accepted aerobic plate count method . The microbiocides investigated were the preservatives 2-bromo-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol (Bronopol), N-(hydroxymethyl)-N-(1,3-dihydroxymethyl-2,5- dioxo-4-imidazolidinyl)-N'-(hydroxymethyl)-urea (Germall II), phenethyl alcohol, and benzyl alcohol . D values (time required per log reduction of E coli) were determined by this method, and equations relating the D values to preservative concentrations were derived {i.e., eta values (the logarithmic values relating changes in rates of kill for specified changes in concentration) and A values (extrapolated D values at 1% concentration) were determined} . these equations are compared with those previously published using the accepted aerobic plate count method . The potential advantages of this method are that it has a broad range of application as TTC is reduced by a wide variety of microbes; the test is easily done; results can be achieved in one day; dead cells do not cause interference; test sensitivity can be increased by increasing the length of incubation time or by using membrane filtration in tandem with TTC reduction; and preservative inactivation may be achieved by filtration and flushing with an inactivator, or by adding neutralizers to the TTC broth. J Acoust Soc Am, 1986 Sep, 80(3), 951 - 4 A computer model for simulating reflected ultrasound signals; Kuc R et al.; This letter describes a model for simulating an ultrasound signal reflected from a medium composed of randomly distributed scatterers, as typified by soft biological tissue, such as liver . The model is specified in terms of the effective transducer beam radius B and the mean scatterer spacing S . The novel feature of the model is that the transducer field is partitioned by packing cylinders, called microbeams, into concentric annular regions that lie parallel to the transducer axis . The radii of the microbeams and the annuli are related to S . An independent reflector sequence is generated for each microbeam, the microbeam sequences in each annulus are summed and convolved with the impulse response of a point reflector . The reflected waveform sequence is then generated by summing the annular contributions and convolving with a band-limited pulse waveform . Simulated signals were generated for different values of B and S and compared with actual signals reflected from two in vivo livers and a tissue-equivalent phantom . Estimates of the kurtosis for the simulated signals indicate the range of signals that can be generated by varying the values for S and B. Vopr Med Khim, 1986 Jul-Aug, 32(4), 59 - 62 {Creatine kinase activity in guinea pig tissues in experimental pseudotuberculosis}; Krutetskaia NI et al.; Dynamics of creatine kinase activity was studied in heart muscle, liver tissue, lymphatic glands, intestine and spleen of guinea pigs infected with pseudotuberculosis microbes . The maximal increase in creatine kinase activity was observed in lymphatic glands and in heart muscle within the first day after the pseudotuberculosis infection . The enzymatic activity increase in liver tissue occurred within the fifth day, while in spleen--within twelfth day after pseudotuberculosis infection . The data obtained were considered in correlation with the clinical manifestations of experimental pseudotuberculosis. Antibiot Med Biotekhnol, 1986 Jul, 31(7), 533 - 7 {Various ways of standardizing and unifying biological methods of determining the activity of antibiotics}; Bershtein EM et al.; It was shown possible to use nutrient media containing only salt components and agar-agar for determination of biological activity of tetracyclines (tetracycline, morphocycline, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline), erythromycin and oleandomycin . A uniform nutrient medium containing ammonium chloride, trisubstituted sodium citrate, disubstituted sodium phosphate and agar-agar was developed . Glucose is added to this medium simultaneously with the test microbe, B . subtilis ATCC 6633 . The medium of the above composition provided readily reproducible results. Jikken Dobutsu, 1986 Jul, 35(3), 279 - 92 {Serodiagnosis of microbiosis in mice with a quantitative assay of immunoglobulins by a microcomputer-introduced ELISA system . 1 . Anti-Sendai virus antibodies in naturally infected mouse sera}; Yanabe M et al.; An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system combined with microcomputer data analysis was established as a quantitative assay method of immunoglobulins . The assay system was applied to measure IgG and IgM levels of anti-microbe antibodies in animals, especially mouse and rat . And now the measurement of IgG and IgM levels (ng/ml) of anti-Sendai virus (HVJ) antibodies in naturally infected mice is available . The assay system could improve serodiagnosis in the specificity and sensitivity and in the rapid treatment of many serum samples . The operation of this system was performed by a microcomputer, FM 8 connected Titertek Multiskan MC . The limited sensitivity of this assay for IgG and IgM was 10 ng/ml and 30 ng/ml, respectively . Ninety-one of serum samples were positive for IgG and/or IgM (45 samples for IgG and IgM, 44 samples for IgG, 2 samples for IgM) to Sendai virus in the tested 279 mouse sera, and serum titers were ranged from 1: 10 to 1: 12,800 in the IgG, and from 1: 20 to 1: 160 in the IgM . In these titers, serum IgG and IgM amounts were estimated to be 0.1 to 154 micrograms/ml and 0.5 to 4.8 micrograms/ml, respectively . Relationships of serum titers and antibody amounts were almost consisted, being judged like that approximately 10 micrograms/ml is 1: 400, 30 micrograms/ml is 1: 1,600 in IgG, and 2.4 micrograms/ml is 1: 80, 4 micrograms/ml is 1: 160 in IgM. Am J Med, 1986 Jun 30, 80(6B), 15 - 21 Aminoglycoside resistance: a worldwide perspective; Young LS et al.; Two concerns, neither of which is particularly new, underlie the current reluctance to use aminoglycosides more broadly . First, an undeniable fact is that these compounds can be toxic, particularly in patients with impaired renal function or those receiving other nephrotoxic medications . Second, a more emotional concern is that widespread use of aminoglycosides, particularly the newer compounds that are more resistant to enzymatic inactivation, may engender widespread resistance . In fact, several sources lead one to doubt whether widespread use of potent and highly effective agents like amikacin will by itself increase a clinical reservoir of more resistant microbes . First, the surveillance studies undertaken in many hospitals show some modest reduction in overall aminoglycoside resistance even when a drug like amikacin is used to supplant antecedent compounds of the same class . Second, in institutions where no official surveillance programs have been undertaken but where ongoing surveillance has been maintained, susceptibility to amikacin has remained constant when recent blood isolates are compared with blood isolates from more than 10 years ago . Third, in controlled clinical trials, particularly in immunocompromised patients, the overall emergence of resistance has been remarkably low and contrasts rather strikingly with what has been observed in some monotherapeutic studies of beta-lactam agents . The presence of aminoglycoside-resistant strains cannot be denied, but the circumstances leading to the emergence of such resistance must be carefully assessed, particularly outside of the setting in which these drugs are used as first-line therapy for critically ill patients . For instance, there is substantial evidence to suggest that the topical use of aminoglycosides or the use of these agents when there may be environmental contamination could lead to the emergence of resistance . Before one incriminates the use of any one drug as predisposing to the emergence of resistance, one needs to have more information about the total exposure of a given bacterial population to aminoglycoside therapy . The emergence of resistance to aminoglycosides has been associated with exposure to the more commonly used agents such as gentamicin or tobramycin . With some of the newer beta-lactam agents, the rate of emergence of resistance, unlike that of the aminoglycosides, has appeared to be remarkably high . If the concern about emergence of resistance is genuine, and to maintain consistency of approaches, the infectious disease community should focus more attention on limiting or restricting the use of the more widely used beta-lactam compounds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) J Anim Sci, 1986 Jun, 62(6), 1732 - 6 Protein degradation by rumen microbes of heat-treated whole cottonseed; Tagari H et al.; In vitro and in situ rumen digestion trials were conducted to measure the effect of heat treatment on protein degradation by rumen microbes of cottonseed autoclaved and dry-heated (120, 140, 160 and 180 C) for different lengths of time (20, 40, 60, 90 and 120 min) . Autoclaving (120 C, 1 kg/cm2 of pressure for 60 min) was effective in reducing ammonia nitrogen concentration in vitro, but dry heat at this temperature was without effect . Dry heating caused a linear decrease of in vitro ammonia concentration as temperature increased from 140 to 180 C and as exposure time increased from 20 to 120 min . The in situ results corroborated the in vitro findings . Crude protein disappearance from dacron bags decreased from 87 to 48% as temperature increased from 140 to 180 C after 20 min of heating. EMBO J, 1986 Jun, 5(6), 1403 - 10 Replication occurs at a nucleoskeleton; Jackson DA et al.; The site of S-phase DNA synthesis has been the subject of recurring controversy . All recent evidence supporting a site fixed to some nuclear sub-structure is derived from studies in which cells or nuclei have been extracted in hypertonic salt concentrations . The controversy centres on whether the resulting nuclear matrices or cages have counterparts in vivo or are simply artefacts . Using isotonic conditions throughout the isolation and analytic procedures we have now reinvestigated the site of replication . Cells are encapsulated in agarose microbeads and lysed to leave encapsulated nuclei which are nevertheless completely accessible to enzymes . After incubation with endonucleases, most chromatin can be electroeluted from beads: however, nascent DNA and active DNA polymerase remain entrapped . Since chromatin particles containing DNA the size of 125 kbp can electroelute, we conclude that the polymerizing complex is attached to a nucleoskeleton which is too large to escape . We have also studied various artefacts induced by departure from isotonic conditions . Perhaps surprisingly, the hypotonic conditions used during isolation of nuclei by conventional procedures are a significant source of artefact. Cell Struct Funct, 1986 Jun, 11(2), 205 - 7 Novel method for substance injection into the cell by laser beam--a study of the injection volume; Kurata S et al.; A DNA transfection method by laser microbeam pricking has been recently reported (Kurata, S . et al . Exp . Cell Res . 162, 372 (1986} . The volume of external fluid transferred into the cell by the method was determined through the injection of diphtheria toxin fragment A (Yamaizumi, M . et al . Cell 15, 245 (1978} . Using these results and the results on laser DNA transfection efficiency (Kurata, S . et al . Exp . Cell Res . 162, 372 (1986}, the approximate number of DNA molecules necessary to transform the recipient cell was estimated. Burns Incl Therm Inj, 1986 Jun, 12(5), 325 - 9 Endogenous microbial dissemination following severe burns in rats; Ma L et al.; This study suggests that damage to the intestinal lining, an important mechanical barrier against bacterial invasion, is the main factor leading to the dissemination of endogenous microbes . Reduced phagocytic activity of Kupffer cells and compromised opsonic function also appear to contribute to the process. Hum Nutr Clin Nutr, 1986 May, 40(3), 197 - 204 Pathogenesis of corneal lesions in measles; Bhaskaram P et al.; The mechanism of pathogenesis underlying the development of corneal lesions in measles was investigated in 125 children suffering from measles and 66 age- and sex-matched healthy controls . Forty age-matched children with bronchopneumonia were investigated on similar lines to delineate the role played by vitamin A and measles individually in the development of corneal lesions . The results indicate that the pathogenesis of corneal lesions in measles is indeed multifactorial . Vitamin A deficiency alone or measles keratitis per se may not explain the mechanism completely . The immunosuppression induced by the local proliferation of the measles virus in the eye might trigger the invasion of pathogenic microbes which damage the cornea . The structural integrity of the cornea is already compromised by vitamin A deficiency and lesions of measles keratitis. Br J Haematol, 1986 May, 63(1), 85 - 91 G6PD-deficiency infectious haemolysis: a complement dependent innocent bystander phenomenon; Kasper ML et al.; Dramatic haemolysis may accompany viral hepatitis and pneumococcal pneumonia in G6PD-deficient patients . Since red blood cells (RBCs) are richly endowed with receptors for activated complement, particularly C3b, we hypothesized that bulky, complement-activating immune complexes (IC) consisting of microbes and antibody might attract granulocytes (PMNs), facilitating oxidative 'innocent bystander' RBC damage . Indeed, opsonization with only two type-2 pneumococcus (PN3)/anti-PN3/C3b complexes per RBC caused agglutination of RBC, a phenomenon termed immune adherence . Addition of as few as one PMN per 20 opsonized RBCs caused the glutathione (GSH) levels of co-incubated G6PD-deficient RBCs to fall by 30% (from 3.5 to 1.8 +/- 0.8 mumoles GSH/g Hb) compared to identically incubated, but nonopsonized, G6PD-deficient RBCs . GSH levels remained normal (5.2 +/- 0.4 mumoles/g Hb) in PMN-exposed opsonized normal RBCs . GSH depletion in G6PD-deficient RBC was directly related to disease severity--falling a mean 33% in RBCs from two Black G6PD A- subjects but 59% in two Caucasian G6PD deficient RBCs . Prevention of C3b generation (with 10 mM EDTA) during opsonization abrogated both immune adherence and PMN-mediated GSH decline in oxidant-sensitive cells . Similarly, removal of C3b receptors by brief trypsin incubation of RBCs eliminated immune adherence and GSH decline . Thus, both phenomena are dependent on IC complement activation and subsequent binding of the bacterial IC to the RBC complement receptors . Although clearance of IC by RBCs may be beneficial in protecting other tissues from inflammatory damage, G6PD-deficient RBCs are vulnerable to oxidants generated by juxtaposed phagocytes--cells attracted to, and stimulated by, the immune complex/C3b combination . It is suggested that this 'Good Samaritan' activity of RBCs may lead to haemolysis during periods of exuberant antibody response to microbes. J Pediatr, 1986 May, 108(5 Pt 2), 813 - 6 Lung defense against infection; Quie PG; The human lung has an exquisitely effective and complex defense against infections . Mucus prevents attachment of bacteria to the epithelium, and those bacteria that cannot cross the mucus are cleared by exhalation or by the mucus-ciliary escalator . Alveolar macrophages dispatch microbes that reach the peripheral barriers of the lung . The pulmonary phagocytic system immobilizes, kills, and walls off invading bacteria . The phagocytic system, developed in bone marrow, includes alveolar macrophages, granulocytes, and monocytes . The phagocytic system is amplified by humoral factors, including inflammatory mediators, acute-phase reactants, and opsonins that allow rapid engulfment and killing of microbes . Highly mobile polymorphonuclear granulocytes reinforce the macrophages when invading organisms reach tissue . Sterility of the lower respiratory tract in the normal host is evidence that the defense systems of the lung are highly effective and potently bactericidal . The oxidative and nonoxidative microbicidal mechanisms of alveolar macrophages and granulocytes are lethal for most ordinary microbes . However, certain pathogens have means of preventing phagocytosis, and obligate intracellular species have evolved mechanisms of intracellular survival . Successful biologic detente between microbe and host is the usual situation in the normal human lung, but the relationship is unfortunately short-lived in patients with cystic fibrosis . Mucus is not an adequate barrier in these patients . Bacterial pathogens colonize respiratory tissue and, as a consequence, compromise lung function . Better understanding of local defenses in normal human lungs and of the defects in lung defenses in patients with cystic fibrosis should lead to methods that will provide these patients with successful defense against invading microbes. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg {B}, 1986 May, 182(3), 267 - 78 {Kinetics of germ killing and damage to selected bacterial enzymes by thermal and chemical influences . I . Theoretical background of killing and enzyme inhibition kinetics}; Senkpiel K et al.; Thermal and chemical influences on microorganisms and the kinetics of microbicidal processes are described in terms suitable to define the resistance of microbes to heat and disinfectants resp . sterilisants . Interactions between active substances (e.g . disinfectants) and enzymes are formulated in equations, and the parameters of kinetics of inactivating enzymes (e.g . Ki-values) are derived . They permit a gradual evaluation of efficacy of microbicidal agents irrespective of their concentration. Z Hautkr, 1986 Apr 15, 61(8), 515 - 21 {Etiology of acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans and erythema chronicum migrans}; Herrmann WP; In Lyme's disease (LD) as well as in the European form of erythema chronicum migrans (ECM), the etiologic agents are spirochetes . As fas as we know by now, these microbes are closely related but not identical . Consequently, LD and ECM should be regarded as closely related but not as identical diseases . The sera of our 21 patients suffering from acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) contained elevated antibody titers directed against the etiological agent found in ECM . These findings strongly suggest that ACA is also induced by spirochetes-possibly by the same microbes found in ECM. J Microsc, 1986 Apr, 142 ( Pt 1), 95 - 9 Consistent and efficient delineation of reference spaces for light microscopical stereology using a laser microbeam system; Hunziker EB et al.; A serious problem in stereology is to ensure a consistent definition of reference spaces at different levels of magnification whenever the boundaries of such reference spaces are either fuzzy or non-existent, and hence they have to be defined artificially . (It is well known that inconsistent definitions of the reference space leads to unknown amounts of bias in stereological results.) In this paper a new application is found for the laser microbeam system used in microdissection, whereby the required boundaries can be easily and neatly traced (in fact, cut) directly onto uncovered sections for light microscopy . The dangers of bias inherent from inconsistencies of definition are thereby eliminated completely, and alternative, very expensive procedures requiring direct marking of paper prints with a pen are no longer necessary. J Cell Biol, 1986 Mar, 102(3), 1032 - 8 Analysis of the treadmilling model during metaphase of mitosis using fluorescence redistribution after photobleaching; Wadsworth P et al.; One recent hypothesis for the mechanism of chromosome movement during mitosis predicts that a continual, uniform, poleward flow or "treadmilling" of microtubules occurs within the half-spindle between the chromosomes and the poles during mitosis (Margolis, R . L., and L . Wilson, 1981, Nature (Lond.), 293:705-711) . We have tested this treadmilling hypothesis using fluorescent analog cytochemistry and measurements of fluorescence redistribution after photobleaching to examine microtubule behavior during metaphase of mitosis . Mitotic BSC 1 mammalian tissue culture cells or newt lung epithelial cells were microinjected with brain tubulin labeled with 5-(4,6-dichlorotriazin-2-yl) amino fluorescein (DTAF) to provide a fluorescent tracer of the endogenous tubulin pool . Using a laser microbeam, fluorescence in the half-spindle was photobleached in either a narrow 1.6 micron wide bar pattern across the half-spingle or in a circular area of 2.8 or 4.5 micron diameter . Fluorescence recovery in the spindle fibers, measured using video microscopy or photometric techniques, occurs as bleached DTAF-tubulin subunits within the microtubules are exchanged for unbleached DTAF-tubulin in the cytosol by steady-state microtubule assembly-disassembly pathways . Recovery of 75% of the bleached fluorescence follows first-order kinetics and has an average half-time of 37 sec, at 31-33 degrees C . No translocation of the bleached bar region could be detected during fluorescence recovery, and the rate of recovery was independent of the size of the bleached spot . These results reveal that, for 75% of the half-spindle microtubules, FRAP does not occur by a synchronous treadmilling mechanism. Arkh Anat Gistol Embriol, 1986 Mar, 90(3), 45 - 9 {The microcirculatory bed of the human heart}; Makovetskii VD et al.; Using a complex approach in studying microcirculatory bed of the human heart, possibilities of scanning electron microscopy of corrosive preparations, those of silver nitrate impregnation after V . V . Kuprianov are demonstrated . The silver nitrate impregnation makes it possible to study the wall structure of the microcirculatory pathways, to analyse arrangement of nuclei in the endothelial and muscle cells of the microcirculatory links, to reveal together with the vessels the surrounding tissues . Scanograms of the corrosive preparations of the arterioles demonstrate "circulatory strips", that are absent in the venular part . The relief of the luminal casts of the microcirculatory bed vessels in the human heart is presented as impresses of nuclei of the endothelial and smooth muscle cells . Peculiarities in form and distribution of these nuclei in various links of the microbed are demonstrated. Infect Control, 1986 Mar, 7(3), 181 - 4 Microbial adherence and infection--clinical relevance; Fishman M; Adherence mechanisms have been described for some microbes, often in direct association with onset of infection . In other cases, the evidence is vague . This article will summarize modes of attachment, and will focus on each anatomical tract in an effort to outline the relationship between microbial adherence, host cells, foreign bodies, and infection. Arch Inst Pasteur Tunis, 1986 Mar, 63(1), 3 - 14 {Charles Nicolle and the accomplishments of his scientific thought}; Chadli A; The author presents in this study the achievements of the scientific thought of Charles Nicolle, chiefly on the basis of two notions: the asymptomatic diseases and the destiny of infectious diseases . Recalling the factors which prevailing about the career of Charles Nicolle, he shows that the asymptomatic diseases became a fundamental notion in infectious pathology as human, animal, viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases . The notion allowed him to open the study of pathogen agents on the fields of the environment, so enriching the epidemiology, the prophylaxis and the medical ecology . After the notion of specificity of microbes pointed out by Pasteur, Charles Nicolle enlarged their implications and conceived the infinite complexity of microbes . The first he introduced in microbiology the notion of mutation and foresaw the birth, the evolution and the death of the infectious diseases . Not so long time after and now these anticipations has been proved. Can J Microbiol, 1986 Mar, 32(3), 193 - 200 Microbes, warfare, religion, and human institutions; Doyle RJ et al.; A significant number of practicing microbiologists are not aware of the historical impact of infectious agents on the development of human institutions . Microbes have played a profound role in warfare, religion, migration of populations, art, and in diplomacy . Boundaries of nations have changed as a result of microbial diseases . Infectious agents have terminated some kingdoms and elevated others . There is a need for microbiologists to have a historical perspective of some of the major ways in which a pathogen may influence civilized populations . Conditions may exist in contemporary society for a repeat of some of the kinds of plagues suffered by previous societies . The purpose of this paper is to review examples of situations where pathogenic microbes have forced societal modifications on centers of human population. Microbiol Sci, 1986 Mar, 3(3), 76 - 8, 83 Inducible DNA repair in microbes; Sedgwick SG; DNA damage can be removed, or tolerated by altered recombination and DNA replication . Often synthesis of extra DNA repair proteins is induced by DNA damage. Katilolehti, 1986 Feb, 91(1), 18 - 23 {Right to life?}; Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme and lysosomal enzymes in tobacco workers; The activities of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in people with extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA) have been both increased and decreased . These observations suggest that pulmonary macrophages or endothelial cells participate in the disease process . Exposure to molds in the tobacco industry has recently been suspected to be associated with chronic extrinsic allergic alveolitis . In the present study, we analyzed the serum activities of ACE and two lysosomal enzymes, beta-N-acetylglycosaminidase (NAG) and beta-glucuronidase (GLU), among 57 tobacco workers . The tobacco workers not exposed had serum ACE levels similar to those of the reference population workers not occupationally exposed to dust (N = 127) . The tobacco workers' serum levels of NAG (16.0 +/- 2.0 units/L and GLU (2.4 +/- 0.7 units/L) were higher than among the referents (NAG, 9.1 +/- 2.0 units/L; GLU, 1.0 +/- 0.6 units/L; p less than 0.01) . Fifteen tobacco workers with respiratory symptoms compatible with pulmonary diseases caused by organic dust had a trend toward increased ACE, NAG, and GLU levels . The mean level of ACE in serum was higher among the workers with (25.8 +/- 4.5 units/L) than among those without pulmonary fibrosis (20.7 +/- 7.5 units/L; p less than 0.025) . The mean ACE level was also higher among workers with the highest exposure to molds (24.6 +/- 7.1 units/L) compared to those with the mildest exposure (18.3 +/- 5.7 units/L; p less than 0.05) . Tobacco workers with or without antibodies against one or more microbes had similar mean levels of ACE, NAG, and GLU . All of these findings indicate that raw tobacco dust and its contaminants may cause allergic or toxic reactions or both, reflected by the serum levels of ACE, NAG, and GLU. J Appl Physiol, 1986 Jan, 60(1), 133 - 40 Effects of arterial pressure on lung capillary pressure and edema after microembolism; Ehrhart IC et al.; The effect of increased arterial pressure (Pa) on microvessel pressure (Pc) and edema following microvascular obstruction (100-micron glass spheres) was examined in the isolated ventilated dog lung lobe pump perfused with blood . Lobar vascular resistance (PVR) increased 2- to 10-fold following emboli when either Pa or flow was held constant . Microbead obstruction increased the ratio of precapillary to total PVR from 0.60 +/- 0.05 to 0.84 +/- 0.02 (SE) or to 0.75 +/- 0.06 (n = 6), as determined by the venous occlusion and the isogravimetric capillary pressure techniques, respectively . Isogravimetric Pc (5.0 +/- 0.7) did not differ from Pc obtained by venous occlusion (3.8 +/- 0.2 Torr, n = 6) . After embolism, Pc in constant Pa decreased from 6.2 +/- 0.3 to 4.4 +/- 0.3 Torr (n = 16) . In the constant-flow group, embolism doubled Pa while Pc increased only 40% (6.7 +/- 0.6 to 9.2 +/- 1.4 Torr, n = 6) with no greater edema formation than in the constant Pa groups . These data indicate poor transmission of Pa to filtering capillaries . Microembolism, even when accompanied by elevated Pa and increased flow velocity of anticoagulated blood of low leukocyte and platelet counts, caused little edema . Our results suggest that mechanical effects alone of lung microvascular obstruction cause minimal pulmonary edema. Am J Ind Med, 1986, 10(3), 229 - 43 Prevention of dust exposure; Watson RD; Dust exposure on farms can be prevented by changes in work practices and by informing and educating farmers . Ventilation control during handling and prevention of growth of microbes are feasible measures and could be included in regulation schemes . Apart from information on existing work practices, an increased awareness of new technology is necessary. Parazitologiia, 1986 Jan-Feb, 20(1), 19 - 22 {Pathogenic action of the plague microbe on the flea Xenopsylla cheopis and the ultrastructure of the causative agent at various times of its stay in the vector}; Konnov NP et al.; Pathology of gastro-intestinal tract of Xenopsylla cheopis fleas infected with plague microbe was determined by means of electron microscopy . Ultrastructure of plague microbe during different periods of its stay in the vector was studied. J Cell Sci Suppl, 1986, 5, 243 - 55 Tubulin isotypes: generation of diversity in cells and microtubular organelles; Gull K et al.; Diversity of tubulin isotypes is illustrated by consideration of the beta-tubulin isotypes of higher plants and the eukaryotic microbe, Physarum polycephalum, and by the alpha-tubulin isotypes of the protozoan, Trypanosoma brucei . The carrot plant expresses six, well-defined beta-tubulin isotypes that possess characteristic two-dimensional gel coordinates . These six beta-tubulin isotypes are differentially expressed during development of the flowering plant . In a similar manner, Physarum expresses three separate beta-tubuli isotypes during its life cycle; of the two beta 1 isotypes, one is expressed solely in the myxamoeba whilst the other is expressed both in the myxamoeba and in the plasmodium . A further beta-tubulin isotype, beta 2, is expressed only in the plasmodium . In carrot and in Physarum the generation of beta-tubulin diversity appears, in the main, to be generated by the differential expression of a beta-tubulin multi-gene family . However, tubulin isotypes can also be generated by post-translational modifications and T . brucei utilizes two different modifications within one cell . First, the primary translation product, the alpha 1-tubulin isotype, can be acetylated to produce the alpha 3 isotype . Second, both the alpha 1 and alpha 3 isotypes appear to exist in both tyrosinated and detyrosinated forms . The generation of these alpha-tubulin isotypes within the same cell and their presence in particular cellular domains, modulated throughout the cell cycle, reveals a complex relationship between alpha-tubulin isotypes produced by post-translational modifications and the dynamics of microtubule construction. Appl Environ Microbiol, 1986 Jan, 51(1), 143 - 9 Evidence for NH4+ switch-off regulation of nitrogenase activity by bacteria in salt marsh sediments and roots of the grass Spartina alterniflora; Yoch DC et al.; The regulatory effect of NH4+ on nitrogen fixation in a Spartina alterniflora salt marsh was examined . Acetylene reduction activity (ARA) measured in situ was only partially inhibited by NH4+ in both the light and dark after 2 h . In vitro analysis of bulk sediment divided into sediment particles, live and dead roots, and rhizomes showed that microbes associated with sediment and dead roots have a great potential for anaerobic C2H2 reduction, but only if amended with a carbon source such as mannose . Only live roots had significant rates of ARA without an added carbon source . In sediment, N2-fixing mannose enrichment cultures could be distinguished from those enriched by lactate in that only the latter were rapidly inhibited by NH4+ . Ammonia also inhibited ARA in dead and live roots and in surface-sterilized roots . The rate of this inhibition appeared to be too rapid to be attributed to the repression and subsequent dilution of nitrogenase . The kinetic characteristics of this inhibition and its prevention in root-associated microbes by methionine sulfoximine are consistent with the NH4+ switch-off-switch-on mechanism of nitrogenase regulation. Biosensors, 1986, 2(6), 343 - 62 Novel immunosensors; Karube I et al.; The development of practical immunosensors is an important topic for biosensor research . Recently the authors have demonstrated novel immunosensors called, respectively, the reactor-type enzyme immunosensor, the potentiometric sensing system for pathogenic microbes, the piezo-immunosensor, the pulse immunoassay, the bio-image sensor and the photofluctuation immunosensor . These six types of immunosensors based on novel principles are described. Dev Biol (N Y 1985), 1986, 3, 301 - 37 Guidance of neural crest migration . Latex beads as probes of surface-substratum interactions; Bronner-Fraser M; The experiments reviewed in this chapter examine the translocation of various cell types and latex beads on a neural crest pathway . The cells and beads are implanted into the embryo via an injection technique that can be used to characterize the embryonic pathways or the injected cells themselves . The results demonstrate that postmigratory neural crest cells, undifferentiated neural crest cells, and retinal pigment epithelial cells will translocate to ventral sites after implantation . By contrast, somitic and fibroblastic cells fail to translocate . No correlation was found between the inherent motile ability of a cell and the ability to move along the ventral route . Therefore, the role of cell surface molecules in movement along the neural crest pathway was examined . Latex beads, which lack inherent motility, were used as probes of the neural crest pathway . Uncoated beads as well as latex beads coated with a variety of ECM molecules and polyamino acids were injected into embryos in order to explore interactions between the cell surface and the embryonic substrata that might be involved in neural crest localization . The distribution pattern of the latex beads was altered by the nature of the surface properties of the beads . Two distinct patterns of localization were observed . Those beads coated with FN, cell-binding fragment of FN, laminin, or PL remained primarily associated with the dermamyotomal cells of the implantation site . By contrast, uncoated beads or beads coated with BSA, collagen, or PT translocated to ventral sites, usually around the sympathetic ganglia or dorsal aorta . In order to analyze mechanisms that may be involved in translocation of latex beads along neural crest pathways, we examined the possible effects of (1) bead surface charge; and (2) the removal of endogenous neural crest cells . To examine the effects of electrostatic interactions in bead translocation or restriction, the initial surface charge of beads coated with various macromolecules was measured and compared with their subsequent ability to translocate along the ventral pathway . No correlation was observed between the sign of the surface charge and subsequent distribution of beads, suggesting that initial surface charge properties alone cannot account for the restriction or translocation . To dissect the role of endogenous neural crest cells in bead movement, the host neural crest was ablated using a laser microbeam . After injection of latex beads into ablated embryos, the latex beads translocated ventrally even in the absence of the neural crest . Thus, latex beads are not merely carried ventrally by adhering to migrating neural crest cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi, 1986 Jan, 8(1), 29 - 31 {Cytotoxic effect of hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD) plus light irradiation in vitro}; Liang H; Cytotoxic effect of HPD plus light irradiation on PTK2 and HeLa cells in vitro were studied by laser microbeam irradiation . The dynamic changes, in three different steps as observed in the cells ranged from visible damage to cell lysis, were recorded at the monocellular level . It was found that the speed of the cytotoxic process varied chiefly with the dose of light used . The cytotoxic progress of PTK2 and HeLa cells was compared and analyzed . In addition, the cytotoxic effects of three different laser wavelengths (6328A, 5145A and 4880A) plus HPD were compared . The most significant killing effect occurred at 6328A wavelength of red light. J Clin Invest, 1986 Jan, 77(1), 157 - 64 A myeloma paraprotein with specificity for platelet glycoprotein IIIa in a patient with a fatal bleeding disorder; DiMinno G et al.; Impaired platelet aggregation, normal shape change, and agglutination and normal ATP secretion and thromboxane synthesis in response to high concentrations of thrombin or arachidonic acid were found in a patient with multiple myeloma and hemorrhagic tendency . The purified IgG1 kappa or its F(ab1)2 fragments induced similar changes when added in vitro to platelet-rich plasma from normal subjects . In addition, the paraprotein inhibited adhesion to glass microbeads, fibrin clot retraction, and binding of radiolabeled fibrinogen or von Willebrand factor to platelets exposed to thrombin or arachidonic acid without affecting intraplatelet levels of cAMP . The radiolabeled para-protein bound to an average of 35,000 sites on normal platelets but it bound to less than 2,000 sites on the platelets from a patient with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia . Immunoprecipitation studies showed that the platelet antigen identified by the paraprotein was the glycoprotein IIIa . Furthermore, binding of radiolabeled prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) to resting platelets as well as binding of von Willebrand factor to platelets stimulated with ristocetin were entirely normal in the presence of patient's inhibitor . These studies indicate that bleeding occurring in dysproteinemia may be the result of a specific interaction of monoclonal paraproteins with platelets . In addition, our data support the concept that the interaction of fibrinogen and/or von Willebrand factor with the platelet glycoprotein IIb-IIIa complex is essential for effective hemostasis. J Clin Psychiatry, 1986 Jan, 47(1), 22 - 5 The serotonin irritation syndrome--a new clinical entity? Giannini AJ, Malone DA, Piotrowski TA. The literature on the possible existence of a "serotonin irritation syndrome" is examined . This syndrome is an anxiety state occurring in the presence of elevated levels of atmospheric or ambient cations and is associated with elevated central and peripheral serotonin levels . Investigation of these cations' effects on microbes, insects, and mammals, including humans, shows a disruption of normal activity . It is suggested that clinicians become acquainted with the potential relationship between cation exposure and serotonin in their treatment of anxious patients . Further research exploring the etiology and diagnostic definition of this entity is urged. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 1985 Dec 17, 312(1153), 67 - 81 From epithelium to neuroblasts to neurons: the role of cell interactions and cell lineage during insect neurogenesis; Doe CQ et al.; The grasshopper central nervous system is composed of a brain and a chain of segmental ganglia . Each hemiganglion contains about 1000 neurons, most of which can be individually identified by their unique morphology and synaptic connectivity . Shortly after gastrulation the ventral ectoderm becomes a neurogenic region . In each hemisegment, ca . 150 neurogenic ectodermal cells (nECs) give rise to a stereotyped pattern of 30 identified neuroblasts (NBs, neuronal stem cells); the remaining nECs become various non-neuronal cells or die . The 30 NBs then give rise to about 1000 neurons as each NB initiates an invariant lineage, generating a stereotyped chain of ganglion mother cells (GMCs), each of which in turn divides once to generate two identified neurons . We have used a laser microbeam or microelectrode to ablate individual cells in ovo and in vitro at various stages of embryogenesis to study how neuronal diversity and specificity are generated during development . Our results suggest that cell interactions between ca . 150 equivalent nECs allow 30 cells to enlarge into NBs, the dominant fate in a hierarchy; the NBs inhibit adjacent nECs and thus cause them to differentiate into various non-neuronal cells; each NB is assigned its unique identity according to its position of enlargement within the neurogenic epithelium; each NB then generates its characteristic chain of GMCs by an invariant cell lineage; and each GMC generates a pair of equivalent progeny, the fate of each individual neuron being determined by both its GMC of origin and interactions with its sibling. Calcif Tissue Int, 1985 Dec, 37(6), 651 - 8 Microbeam electron diffraction and lattice fringe studies of defect structures in enamel apatites; Lee DD et al.; A microbeam diffraction method in transmission electron microscopy has been applied to lattice structural studies of human and shark enamel apatite crystals . The technique allows diffraction patterns to be obtained from very small regions of the specimen (40 nm in diameter) and transfers minimal energy to the sample during analysis . The presence of crystal defects, nonisolated dislocations with the dislocation line positioned perpendicular to the 100-type planes, was observed in the central part of the crystals . Further experiments with acid-etching of crystals containing such defects showed an initial preferential dissolution at the site of these atomic imperfections . The relative abundance of the crystal defects was approximately the same in both human enamel and shark enameloid. Scand J Work Environ Health, 1985 Dec, 11(6), 397 - 407 Cancer among farmers . A review; Blair A et al.; During the performance of routine tasks farmers may come in contact with a variety of substances, including pesticides, solvents, oils and fuels, dusts, paints, welding fumes, zoonotic viruses, microbes, and fungi . Because some of these substances are known or suspected carcinogens, the epidemiologic literature regarding cancer risks concerning farmers has been reviewed . Farmers had consistent deficits for cancers of the colon, rectum, liver, and nose . The deficits for cancer of the lung and bladder were particularly striking, presumably due to less frequent use of tobacco among farmers than among people in many other occupational groups . Malignancies frequently showing excesses among farmers included Hodgkin's disease, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and cancers of the lip, stomach, prostate, skin (nonmelanotic), brain, and connective tissues . The etiologic factors that may contribute to these excesses in the agricultural environment have not been identified . Detailed, analytic epidemiologic studies that incorporate environmental and biochemical monitoring are needed to clarify these associations. Int J Epidemiol, 1985 Dec, 14(4), 589 - 93 Familial aggregation of IgG antibody response to antigens associated with farmer's lung; Terho EO et al.; The levels of circulating IgG antibodies to Aspergillus umbrosus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, and Micropolyspora faeni were determined by enzyme immunoassay in 197 subjects selected for a study of farmer's lung (FL) . The material consisted of five study groups: 37 patients with clinically confirmed FL, 31 spouses of the patients, 44 immediate relatives of the patients, 35 immediate relatives of the patients' spouses, and 50 unrelated people who were spouses of the 79 people in both relative groups . The mean titres of IgG antibodies to all four microbes were highest in patients with clinically established FL . In the other groups the mean titre of Aspergillus umbrosus, a mould found much more frequently in Finnish farm environments than other moulds under study, was significantly higher (p less than 0.01) in the relatives of FL patients than in other people . This finding remained irrespective of whether the subjects had suffered from FL symptoms or not or whether they worked or lived on the same farm as the patient or on a different one . The difference in the mean titre was not due to the differences between the study groups in age, sex, smoking habits, atopic background, frequency of handling of plant materials, or time interval from the most recent handling of visibly mouldy hay . The results imply that genetic factors may be important in the IgG antibody response to microbial antigens associated with FL. Postgrad Med, 1985 Dec, 78(8), 102 - 4, 107-8, 110-1 External eye diseases; Stock EL; Diseases of the external eye can have several causes and many have similar symptoms, but a precise diagnosis of the specific disorder is crucial for proper treatment . Evaluation should begin with a complete medical history to ascertain any systemic disease that may affect the eyes . Physical examination should include determination of visual acuity, inspection of the tarsal and bulbar conjunctiva, and microscopic evaluation of the cornea . When external inflammatory disease is present, laboratory testing is required . Smears and cultures are the only reliable methods to determine the specific organism causing the infection . Treatment is then aimed at eradicating the underlying microbes. Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol, 1985 Dec, (12), 35 - 8 {Limitation of phage multiplication by microbes of the genus Bordetella}; Lapaeva IA et al.; Possible causes limiting the multiplication of Bordetella phages or inducing their restriction, such as the influence of lysogenic immunity and the restriction-modification (R-M) system or the incompatibility of the receptor apparatus, have been studied . The limitation of the multiplication of phages by some B . bronchiseptica and B . pertussis strains has been shown to be due to the presence of the R-M system and lysogenic immunity . In five B . bronchiseptica strains and two B . pertussis strains site-specific endonucleases (restrictases) with Hind III specificity have been detected . One B . bronchiseptica strain without the R-M system has been detected . B . bronchiseptica strains producing site-specific endonucleases are practically nonpathogenic for humans, grow in common culture media and selectively produce only one restrictase, type Hind III, which guarantees from the admixture of other specific endonucleases . The B . parapertussis strains under study (altogether 100 strains) have not been found to limit the multiplication of Bordetella test phages . The absence of site-specific endonucleases has also been confirmed biochemically . These strains are recommended as indicator strains for the multiplication of Bordetella phages. J Immunol Methods, 1985 Nov 7, 83(2), 385 - 92 Chemiluminescence monitoring of phagocyte oxidative metabolism in mice bearing polyacrylamide induced granulomas; Lethias C et al.; A technical protocol was recently described by Fauve et al . (J . Immunol . Methods 1983, 64, 345) for inducing subcutaneous granuloma with polyacrylamide microbeads . The present study using this technique demonstrates that the capacity of host phagocytes to generate reactive oxygen species can be easily monitored by chemiluminescence, both locally in granuloma infiltrating cells and at sites remote from the inflammatory reaction, i.e., within microamounts of whole blood and in spleen cells . We observed that both resting and stimulated (zymosan or phorbol-myristate acetate) production by C57BL/6 mouse phagocytes are significantly higher in granulomas induced with high porosity polyacrylamide beads (P300) than in those induced with beads of low polyacrylamide porosity (P4) . Since this selective modulation of phagocyte oxidative metabolism is also detectable within microamounts of whole blood and in spleen cells, it could serve as a model for investigating the role of reactive oxygen species in the inflammatory reaction. Vopr Med Khim, 1985 Nov-Dec, 31(6), 70 - 4 {Vitamin A: effect on phagocytosis and neutrophil bactericidal systems under normal conditions and in various pathological states}; Davydova TV et al.; Effect of vitamin A on phagocytic activity and the state of bactericide system involving myeloperoxidase and cationic proteins was studied in neutrophils from peripheric blood of volunteers and of the patients with chronic pneumonia and lung cancer . Vitamin A was administered per os within 1 week at a daily dose of 500,000 IU . In healthy persons vitamin A, not affecting the ability of neutrophils to capture and lyse microbes, activated myeloperoxidase and increased the cationic proteins content . Under conditions of lung cancer the vitamin did not alter any patterns of phagocytosis studied . Vitamin A did not affect the capture and lysis of microbes in chronic pneumonia but increased distinctly the myeloperoxidase activity in neutrophils, impaired during the disease, and normalized partially the content of cationic proteins. J Cell Sci, 1985 Nov, 79, 1 - 37 The kinetic polarities of spindle microtubules in vivo, in crane-fly spermatocytes . I . Kinetochore microtubules that re-form after treatment with colcemid; Czaban BB et al.; In newly formed chromosomal spindle fibres we determined the kinetic polarities of the microtubules, that is, the ends to which tubulin monomers add . Spindles disappeared after cells were continuously immersed in colcemid; then portions of the cells were continuously irradiated with a microbeam of near-ultraviolet light to reverse locally the effect of the colcemid . From the following lines of evidence we conclude: that microtubules are organized by the chromosomes; and that tubulin monomers add to the chromosomal spindle fibres at the kinetochore . When chromosomes were irradiated chromosomal spindle fibres grew in different directions, not necessarily focussed to a common pole; this would not occur if the chromosomal spindle fibres were organized by poles . Chromosomal spindle fibres were sometimes associated with only some of the chromosomes; this would not occur if the fibres were organized by the poles . Thus, chromosomal spindle fibres are organized solely by chromosomes; these spindle fibres are functional since the associated chromosomes moved in anaphase . When chromosomes were irradiated the re-formed spindle fibres grew up to 10 microns past the edges of the irradiating spot . Experimentally, free tubulin did not diffuse more than 4-5 microns from the irradiated spot . Thus we conclude that the tubulin monomers add at the kinetochores and not at the distal ends of the fibres. Environ Health Perspect, 1985 Nov, 63, 25 - 38 Effects of inhaled acids on respiratory tract defense mechanisms; Schlesinger RB; The respiratory tract is endowed with an interlocking array of nonspecific and specific defense mechanisms which protect it from the effects of inhaled microbes and toxicants, and reduce the risk of absorption of materials into the bloodstream, with subsequent systemic translocation . Ambient acids may compromise these defenses, perhaps providing a link between exposure and development of chronic and acute pulmonary disease . This paper reviews the effects of inhaled acids upon the nonspecific clearance system of the lungs. J Bacteriol, 1985 Nov, 164(2), 811 - 5 Enzymatic activities in cell fractions of mycoplasmalike organisms purified from aster yellows-infected plants; Arora YK et al.; Mycoplasmalike organisms (MLOs), purified from aster yellows-infected plants were osmotically lysed, and the membranes were separated from the cytoplasmic fraction through differential centrifugation . Electron microscopic examinations of sections of the purified MLOs and the isolated membranes showed pleomorphic bodies and unit membranous empty vesicles, respectively . Cell fractions were tested for NADH oxidase, NADPH oxidase, ATPase, RNase, DNase, and p-nitrophenyl phosphatase activity . NADH oxidase and ATPase were confined to the membrane fraction and NADPH oxidase to the cytoplasmic fraction of the MLOs . para-Nitrophenyl phosphatase, RNase, and DNase activities were detected in both membrane and cytoplasmic fractions, but p-nitrophenyl phosphatase and RNase appeared to be associated with membranes and DNase with the cytoplasmic fraction . Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was found in the cytoplasmic fraction of the MLO cells . Our findings on the distribution of enzymes in MLO cells and cell fractions are the first basic documentation on nonhelical, nonculturable microbes parasitic to plants. J Theor Biol, 1985 Oct 21, 116(4), 569 - 85 Analyzing the joint effects of two antibodies and the design of molecularly engineered vaccines; Koopman JS; A new analytical approach to determine how antibodies relate to each other in producing immunity is presented . One purpose of this analysis is to decide on the antigenic composition of vaccines . Regression analyses and single discrete analyses are shown to be inappropriate to this task . The proposed analyses makes multiple cut points on two pre-exposure antibody levels . At each resulting discrete classification, additive and multiplicative interaction parameters are calculated . Various models of joint antibody action are shown to produce two general patterns of interaction terms with this type of analysis . One pattern characterizes situations where each antibody, or something substituting for the action of each antibody, is always needed to eliminate all infections . This may be because the antigens to which the antibodies are directed are on separate microbes or because microbes can only be neutralized by the joint action of both antibodies . A second pattern characterizes situations where both antibodies act cooperatively but given high enough levels only one may be needed . This may be because the antibodies have the same molecular effect or because they act by separate means against the same organisms in an innoculum. Z Urol Nephrol, 1985 Oct, 78(10), 567 - 80 {Renal and nephronal function diagnosis in the aged experimental rat}; Wustenberg PW et al.; An investigation method concerning the renal and nephronal functional diagnostics on the experimental animal rat without analysis of microbes, without micropuncture technique and without use of inulin or paraamino-hippuric acid-analogous radiopharmaca is demonstrated . It is based on the steady state investigation principle using inulin and paraamino-hippuric acid as test substances . The exactness of the method is established by critical considerations of the methods concerning the stabilisation of the humoral balance . by estimation of the behaviour of the functional parameters after heminephrectomy as well as by comparative valuation of the own results by findings reported in literature . The established renal and nephronal functional parameters comprise glomerulofiltrative and tubulosecretory as well as tubuloreabsorptive processes in the water, sodium and paraamino-hippuric acid treatment. Dev Biol, 1985 Sep, 111(1), 206 - 19 Early events in insect neurogenesis . II . The role of cell interactions and cell lineage in the determination of neuronal precursor cells; Doe CQ et al.; The insect central nervous system (CNS) is composed of a brain and a chain of segmental ganglia; each hemiganglion contains about 1000 individually identifiable neurons . How is the enormous neuronal diversity and specificity generated? Neurons of a hemiganglion largely arise during embryogenesis from a stereotyped pattern of individually identified neuronal precursor cells, called neuroblasts (NBs) . The transition from ectoderm to individual neurons thus involves two major steps: first, an undifferentiated ectodermal cell sheet produces the stereotyped pattern of 30 NBs per hemisegment; second, each of these NBs contributes a specific family of neuronal progeny to the developing CNS . We have used a laser microbeam to ablate individual cells in the grasshopper embryo in order to study the initial events of neuronal determination . In particular, how does a layer of apparently equivalent ectodermal cells produce a highly stereotyped pattern of unique NBs? Our results suggest the following mechanism for NB determination . (1) Cell interactions between the approximately 150 equivalent ectodermal cells of a hemisegment allow 30 cells to enlarge into NBs . (2) As these young NBs enlarge they inhibit adjacent ectodermal cells from becoming NBs; the adjacent cells then either differentiate into nonneuronal support cells or die . (3) Each NB is assigned a unique identity due to its position of enlargement within the neuroepithelium . (4) The NB then generates its characteristic family of neurons by an invariant cell lineage . Development of the insect CNS depends on cell interactions and positional cues to create a pattern of NBs, and then on cell lineage to restrict the fate of the NB progeny. Dev Biol, 1985 Sep, 111(1), 108 - 18 Use of a psoralen-induced phenocopy to study genes controlling spermatogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans; Edgar LG et al.; In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, spermatogenesis represents one of two alternative developmental pathways open to premeiotic germ cells . At least two genes, fem-1 and fem-2, control the initiation of spermatogenesis in XX (hermaphrodite) worms, and the entire spectrum of male differentiation in XO animals . Low-dose irradiation of worms treated with the light-activated DNA crosslinking drug trimethylpsoralen, at levels that do not affect cell division or growth rates, blocks spermatogenesis in C . elegans hermaphrodites and produces an identical phenotype to that of temperature-sensitive mutations in the fem genes . Psoralen treatment does not, however, produce corresponding phenotypes of these mutants in XO animals . The developmental age for phenocopy production is the same as the hermaphrodite temperature-sensitive period of the two mutants . The effects of pulses of restrictive temperature and psoralen treatment on fem-2 mutant hermaphrodites are additive, suggesting that psoralen crosslinking may reduce the level of the fem-2 gene product . Microbeam experiments localize the target for the psoralen effect to the primary germ cells in the first stage larvae, indicating that a critical step occurs in a small number of precursor cells prior to their commitment to spermatogenesis. Basic Res Cardiol, 1985 Sep-Oct, 80(5), 459 - 74 The vascular endothelium: a survey of some newly evolving biochemical and physiological features; Gerlach E et al.; The morphological, biochemical and functional characterization of the vascular endothelium has become possible through the broad use of electron microscopic methods, the successful elaboration and application of techniques for the isolation and cultivation of endothelial cells in vitro and through sophisticated studies on vessel and organ preparations, both in vitro and in vivo . In this survey emphasis is placed on certain methodological aspects of endothelial cell culture as well as on biochemical, physiological and pathophysiological features of the vascular endothelium . Endothelial cells can be propagated in culture dishes, the most commonly applied method, on suspended microbeads (dextrane, polyacrylamide), a technique giving large yields, or on thin porous membranes, a procedure suited for the study of transport processes across the endothelial layer . Different structural, biochemical and functional properties of the luminal (apical) and abluminal (basal) cell membrane determine important polarity features of the endothelium . Endothelial cells exhibit a variety of biochemical pathways and are characterized by high metabolic activities . Of particular interest is the large content of ATP in endothelial cells of different vascular origin . The rapid intracellular degradation of adenine nucleotides to nucleosides and bases, which are constantly released, is balanced by synthesis, mainly via salvage pathways . In endothelial cells of microvascular origin uric acid predominates by far as the final purine degradative because of the presence of xanthine dehydrogenase in these cells; in the macrovascular endothelium purine breakdown proceeds only to hypoxanthine, since xanthine dehydrogenase is lacking . In this connection interrelations between nucleotide catabolism in myocardial tissue and in coronary endothelial cells are discussed, also with respect to the participation of endothelial xanthine oxidase in the formation of oxygen radicals during post-ischemic reperfusion of the heart . Vascular endothelial cells of different origin are also capable of a rapid extracellular degradation of ATP, ADP and AMP to adenosine by means of specific ecto-nucleotidases . The subsequent fate of extracellularly formed adenosine appears to be different for endothelial cells of microvascular (preferential adenosine uptake) and macrovascular origin (preferential extracellular adenosine accumulation), thus implying functional consequences for platelet aggregation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) Clin Lab Med, 1985 Sep, 5(3), 475 - 90 Microbial diagnosis by nucleic acid sandwich hybridization; Palva A et al.; Sandwich hybridization is a three-component nucleic acid hybridization method suitable for the identification of microbes . In this method, one specific DNA fragment on solid support acts as catching reagent, and the second reagent is a labeled probe . The labeling of the support is mediated by a specimen nucleic acid homologous to both reagents . Because the specimen is kept in solution, relatively crude specimens not requiring elaborate pretreatments can be tested without background problems . The utility of the method in microbial diagnosis (adenovirus, cytomegalovirus, and Chlamydia trachomatis) has been demonstrated . Increased sensitivity and nonradioactive detection methods will no doubt further extend the applicability of the sandwich hybridization method. Nature, 1985 Aug 8-14, 316(6028), 547 - 9 Stimulated neutrophils from patients with autosomal recessive chronic granulomatous disease fail to phosphorylate a Mr-44,000 protein; Segal AW et al.; Phagocytosing neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages and eosinophils produce a burst of non-mitochondrial respiration that is important for the killing and digestion of microbes . Much of the information about the oxidase system involved comes from studies on patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a syndrome in which an undue predisposition to infection results from complete absence of this burst of stimulated respiratory activity . The basis of the oxidase activity is an electron transport chain, the only established component of which is a very unusual b-type cytochrome (b-245) (ref . 2) . The molecular defect in the X-linked subgroup of CGD is the absence of this cytochrome b-245, which, however, appears to be normal in those subjects with the autosomal recessive mode of inheritance . In an attempt to identify an abnormality of activation, or an absence or malfunction of a proximal component of the electron transport chain in this latter group, we examined protein phosphorylation in neutrophils after activation of the oxidase with phorbol myristate acetate . All four of the patients studied demonstrated a selective lack of the enhanced phosphorylation of a protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) 44,000 (44K) that was observed in normal subjects and in two CGD patients with an X-linked inheritance . This molecule, therefore, could be an important functional component of the oxidase. J Cell Biol, 1985 Aug, 101(2), 597 - 602 Exchange of actin subunits at the leading edge of living fibroblasts: possible role of treadmilling; Wang YL; Previous observations indicated that the lamellipodium ("leading edge") of fibroblasts contains a dense meshwork, as well as numerous bundles (microspikes) of actin filaments . Most, if not all, of the filaments have a uniform polarity, with the "barbed" end associated with the membrane . I investigated whether and how actin subunits exchange in this region by microinjecting living gerbil fibroma cells (IMR-33) with actin that had been labeled with iodoacetamidotetramethylrhodamine . After incorporation of the labeled actin into the lamellipodium, I used a laser microbeam to photobleach a 3-4-micron region at and surrounding a microspike, without disrupting the integrity of the structure . I then recorded the pattern of fluorescence recovery and analyzed it using a combination of TV image intensification and digital image processing techniques . Fluorescence recovery was first detected near the edge of the cell and then moved toward the cell's center at a constant rate of 0.79 +/- 0.31 micron/min . When only part of the lamellipodium near the edge of the cell was photobleached, the bleached spot also moved toward the cell's center and through an area unbleached by the laser beam . These results indicated that steady state incorporation of actin subunits occurred predominantly at the membrane-associated end of actin filaments, and that actin subunits in the lamellipodium underwent a constant movement toward the center of the cell . I suggest that treadmilling, possibly in combination with other molecular interactions, may provide an effective mechanism for the movement of actin subunits and the protrusion of cytoplasm in the lamellipodium of fibroblasts. Environ Res, 1985 Aug, 37(2), 253 - 86 The mediation of mutagenicity and clastogenicity of heavy metals by physicochemical factors; Babich H et al.; Heavy metals are an important class of environmental hazards, and as the use of heavy metals metals in industry continues to increase, larger segments of the biota, including human beings, will be exposed to increasing levels of these toxicants . As many heavy metals are mutagenic and clastogenic, they cause teratogenic and/or carcinogenic effects . Studies with microbes and representatives of the aquatic biota have shown that the toxicity of heavy metals is mediated by the physicochemical characteristics of natural environments . A few studies have also indicated that such abiotic factors (e.g . pH, chelating agents, inorganic anionic and cationic composition) mediate the mutagenicity and clastogenicity of heavy metals . These studies indicate that the physicochemical characteristics of natural environments may also potentiate or attenuate the mutagenicity and clastogenicity of heavy metals to the indigenous biota . Furthermore, studies with laboratory animals have shown that the acute and chronic toxicity, including the teratogenicity and carcinogenicity, of heavy metals is mediated by physicochemical factors . A similar dependence of the mutagenicity and clastogenicity of heavy metals by the physicochemical characteristics unique to specific body fluids and tissues may explain the association of specific heavy metal-induced tumors with specific tissues . There is an apparent need to develop genotoxicity tests that incorporate into their procedures the mediating influence of physicochemical factors (pH, for example), as the use of only standardized procedures may hinder the detection of heavy metal, as well as of organic, genotoxins whose mutagenicity or clastogenicity is altered by conditions other than those used in the standardized assay, thereby producing false negative results. J Immunol, 1985 Aug, 135(2 Suppl), 816s - 819s Evolutionary origins of neuropeptides, hormones, and receptors: possible applications to immunology; Roth J et al.; Immune function requires intercellular communication . The vocabulary includes messenger molecules closely linked to the immune system as well as more widely acting messengers such as hormones and neuroactive substances . To try to bring these together, we have used an evolutionary approach . Materials that resemble hormonal peptides and neuropeptides, previously thought to be restricted to multicellular animals, are present in protozoa, bacteria, and higher plants . There is also evidence for substances in microbes that bind hormones and other messengers, which resemble receptors of vertebrates . Therefore, we suggest that the molecules of intercellular communication probably arose much earlier in evolution than the endocrine, nervous, and immune systems . This insight provides new understanding of messenger systems in vertebrates, as applied to the immune system, as well as new insights into possible disease mechanisms, including those that involve autoimmunity. Parazitologiia, 1985 Jul-Aug, 19(4), 273 - 6 {Characteristics of the multiplication of a virulent strain of the plague microbe in Xenopsylla cheopis fleas infected parenterally}; Vashchenok VS et al.; Xenopsylla cheopis fleas infected parenterally with the virulent strain of plague microbe of gerbil variant preserved the agent to the end of their lives . In the body cavity the microbes retained their ability for reproduction which was, however, limited . During the first seven days after the infection the number of microbes slightly increased and later became stabilized . Its mean indices (mean g) varied within the limits of 500 to 2000 microbe cells per 1 individual, maximum index rarely exceeded 30 000 microbe cells . Parenteral infection with plague agent did not affect essentially the longevity of fleas. Immun Infekt, 1985 Jul, 13(4), 156 - 9 {Antibody diversity and network theory--a hypothesis}; Hobler H; The diversity of antibody specificities arises during the development of the immune system by recombination of genes and by spontaneous mutations and is not yet determined in the germ-cell, as earlier supposed . The network theory describes how antibody and lymphocyte populations are regulated recognizing each other by idiotopes . It is proposed that protection against autoaggression by an immune system with a genetically mostly uncontrolled high variability of specificities is based on anti-idiotypic antibodies which express autoantigen structures . There are suggestions that essential functions of the immune system consist not only in protection against microbes and immunological surveillance but also in regulatory effects on nonimmunological body-cell systems. Antibiot Med Biotekhnol, 1985 Jul, 30(7), 543 - 6 {Standardized nutrient medium for determining the biological activity of antibiotics of the aminoglycoside group}; Bershtein EM et al.; The possibility of the use of nutrient media containing only salt components in addition to agar-agar in determination of the biological activity of aminoglycoside antibiotics was confirmed . The optimal results were obtained on the medium including ammonium acetate, disubstituted sodium phosphate and agar-agar . Glucose was added to the medium simultaneously with the test microbe . The medium is simple by its composition . It provides satisfactory growth of B . subtilis ATCC 6633 as the test microbe and clear inhibition growth zones of sufficient size . The results of the assay of the biological activity of neomycin, monomycin, streptomycin and kanamycin on the medium of this composition were reproducible. Int J Radiat Biol Relat Stud Phys Chem Med, 1985 Jul, 48(1), 95 - 106 Lung tumour induction in mice after uniform and non-uniform external thoracic X-irradiation; Coggle JE et al.; The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of the ICRP procedure of using average tissue/organ dose in estimating carcinogenic risk . It has been suggested that highly non-uniform exposure ('hot spots') is much more carcinogenic than an equivalent dose delivered uniformly . In a series of experiments, mice were irradiated with X-rays either uniformly to the thorax or non-uniformly with 72 1-mm microbeams which irradiated approximately 20 per cent of the total lung volume . Two experiments involving uniform irradiation showed a peaked tumour incidence curve with a maximum at 5 Gy . The first 'microbeam' study also produced a pronounced peak in the dose response with a maximum tumour incidence at 1 Gy average lung dose or 5 Gy to the irradiated lung tissue . This implied the use of average tissue dose might underestimate the carcinogenic hazard of non-uniform exposure . Later, more extensive, microbeam experiments failed to replicate this finding . The results were nearly similar to those for uniform irradiation, with a slight increase in tumour incidence from 2.5-5.0 Gy average lung dose . These results imply that for these irradiation conditions the ICRP dose averaging procedure remains valid. J Invest Dermatol, 1985 Jul, 85(1), 50 - 3 High-yield purification of plasma membranes from transformed human keratinocytes in culture; Schmidt R et al.; The density pertubation technique with cationic silica microbeads was applied to prepare highly purified plasma membranes from cultured human keratinocytes . Trypsinized cells were coated successively with the beads (diameter approximately 50 nm, gravity greater than 2 g/cm3) and polyacrylic acid before they were lysed by osmotic shock and mechanical shear . The plasma membranes remained in the form of large open sheets which could easily be separated from other cell organelles and the cytosol by low-speed centrifugation . The membrane preparation was characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, marker enzyme activities, one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide electrophoresis, and the specific beta-adrenergic receptor count . A yield of 79 +/- 9% was calculated by comparing the amount of beta-adrenoceptors in the purified membrane preparation with that of a crude cellular particulate fraction . The specific beta-adrenoceptor count of these two preparations was 1.2 +/- 0.02 and 0.2 +/- 0.05 pmol/mg protein, respectively, indicating a 6-fold improved purification with this microbead technique . The purified membranes were essentially free from contamination of other cell organelles. Burns Incl Therm Inj, 1985 Jun, 11(5), 309 - 19 Neutrophil granulocyte functions in severely burned patients; Arturson G; Burns wound sepsis is not only the most common but also the most severe complication following extensive thermal injury . One conceivable explanation of this problem is a reduced capacity of the polymorphonuclear neutrophil leucocytes of these patients to combat the invading microbes . Fifty patients (42 male and 8 female) with deep dermal burns, covering 20-90 per cent of the total body surface area, were investigated from immediately after the injury until death or until healing of the wounds . The following functions of the neutrophil granulocytes were studied: chemotaxis and random migration utilizing a modified Boyden chamber technique, phagocytosis of Staph . aureus and IgG-coated latex particles, bactericidal capacity, e.g . killing of Staph . aureus and the neutrophil granulocyte content of: myeloperoxidase, lactoferrin, and chymotrypsin-like cationic protein . The presence of stimulators and inhibitors of the granulocyte functions was studied using gel filtration of the patient's serum on Sephacryl gel columns . Sera from all patients obtained within the first 1-3 days post-burn contained significantly increased amounts of heat-labile chemokinetic stimulating activity . Sera obtained between days 4 and 10 after injury contained significantly decreased amounts of heat-stable chemokinetic stimulating activity . Reduced chemokinetic activity was found during the third and fourth weeks following major burns (greater than or equal to 40 per cent) due to the presence of one or both heat-stable chemokinetic inhibitory activities . During the second week post-burn patients with burns larger than 40 per cent of the body surface area who showed an inhibition of chemotaxis, also had defects in phagocytosis, and often impaired bactericidal capacity concomitant with lower contents than normal of the granular enzymes . A hyaluronic acid preparation in low concentrations was found to counteract the migration inhibitory effect demonstrated in vitro in sera from patients with severe burns . Based upon these results a series of patients with severe burns and impaired functions of the neutrophil granulocytes have been treated with small amounts of this hyaluronic acid preparation subcutaneously . Very promising results have been noticed, similar to those found in vitro. Can J Biochem Cell Biol, 1985 Jun, 63(6), 585 - 98 Does actin produce the force that moves a chromosome to the pole during anaphase? Forer A. Chromosomes move towards spindle poles because of force produced by chromosomal spindle fibres . I argue that actin is involved in producing this force . Actin is present in chromosomal spindle fibres, with consistent polarity . Physiological experiments using ultraviolet microbeam irradiations suggest that the force is due to an actin and myosin (or myosin-equivalent) system . Other physiological experiments (using inhibitors in "leaky" cells or antibodies injected into cells) that on the face of it would seem to rule out actin and myosin on closer scrutiny do not really do so at all . I argue that in vivo the "on" ends of chromosomal spindle fibre microtubules are at the kinetochores; I discuss the apparent contradiction between this conclusion and those from experiments on microtubules in vitro . From what we know of treadmilling in microtubules in vitro, the poleward movements of irradiation-induced areas of reduced birefringence (arb) can not be explained as treadmilling of microtubules: additional assumptions need to be made for arb movements toward the pole to be due to treadmilling . If arb movement does indeed represent treadmilling along chromosomal spindle fibre microtubules, treadmilling continues throughout anaphase . Thus I suggest that chromosomal spindle fibres shorten in anaphase not because polymerization is stopped at the kinetochore (the on end), as previously assumed, but rather because there is increased depolymerization at the pole (the "off" end). J Biol Chem, 1985 May 25, 260(10), 5899 - 905 Solid-state NMR determination of glyphosate metabolism in a Pseudomonas sp; Jacob GS et al.; The metabolism of the broad-spectrum herbicide, glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine) in a soil Pseudomonas sp . PG2982 has been determined by cross-polarization magic-angle spinning 15N and 13C NMR of intact lyophilized cells . Using samples grown on 13C- and 15N-labeled glyphosate, we find that PG2982 does not metabolize glyphosate to aminomethylphosphonate as has been reported for mixed cultures of soil microbes . Rather, the phosphonomethyl carbon-nitrogen bond in glyphosate is cleaved, releasing glycine . Solid-state NMR analysis reveals that 20% of this glycine is used in the synthesis of purines, 35% is incorporated into protein as glycyl residues, with an additional 35% incorporated as seryl residues . The phosphonomethyl carbon of glyphosate is ultimately incorporated into a number of sites, including the C-2 and C-8 positions of the purine rings of nucleic acids, methyl groups of methionine and thymidine, and the methylene group of serine . The pattern of phosphonomethyl carbon incorporation indicates the involvement of tetrahydrofolate, a coenzyme which facilitates single-carbon transfers . This is the first complete determination of the metabolism of glyphosate in a pure culture, and the first bacterial metabolic study using both single and double cross-polarization solid-state NMR. J Acoust Soc Am, 1985 May, 77(5), 1889 - 95 Variability in production of the vowels /i/ and /a/; Perkell JS et al.; A hypothesis on the nature of articulatory targets for the vowels /i/ and /a/ is proposed, based on acoustic considerations and vowel articulations . The conjecture is that positioning of points on the tongue surface in a repetition experiment should be most accurate in the direction perpendicular to the vocal-tract midline, at the acoustically critical point of maximal constriction for each vowel . The hypothesis was tested by: examining x-ray microbeam data for three speakers, conducting a partial acoustical analysis, and performing a modeling study . Distributions were plotted of the midsagittal locations of three tongue points at the time of maximal excursion toward the vowel target for numbers of examples of the vowels, embedded in a variety of phonetic contexts . More variation was found along a direction parallel to the vocal tract midline than perpendicular to the midline, supporting the hypothesis . Statistics on formant values for one subject have been calculated, and pairwise regressions of displacement and formant data have been run . An articulatory synthesizer {Rubin et al., J . Acoust . Soc . Am . 70, 321-328 (1981)} has been manipulated through displacements similar to the subject's articulatory variation . Although articulatory synthesis showed systematic relationships between articulatory relationships and formant frequencies, there were no significant correlations between the subject's measured articulatory displacements and his formant data . These additional results raise questions about the methodology and point to the need for additional work for an adequate test of the hypothesis. J Neuroimmunol, 1985 May, 8(2-3), 167 - 75 Chronic mumps virus encephalitis . Mumps antibody levels in cerebrospinal fluid; Julkunen I et al.; To study the outcome of mumps virus encephalitis 47 patients were contacted 1-15 years after the acute encephalitis associated with mumps virus infection . Twenty-three patients experienced clinical sequelae such as difficulties in memory and learning, focal motor or sensory signs, and loss of hearing and visual acuity . Lumbar puncture was performed on 8 patients . Antibodies to mumps virus were detected in 6 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens using enzyme immunoassay and in 3 patients an abnormal serum/CSF antibody ratio was observed 11, 26 and 58 (controls greater than 85); 14.3, 1.4 and 6.1 years after the acute encephalitis, respectively . Antibodies to other microbes were either undetectable in the CSF or the serum/CSF ratios were normal . The clinical sequelae in about half of the patients and the signs of intrathecal mumps antibody production are suggestive of a chronic process in the central nervous system after encephalitis associated with mumps virus infection. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol, 1985 May, 21(5), 254 - 9 Monolayer culture of parenchymal rat hepatocytes on collagen-coated microcarriers . A hepatocyte system for short- and long-term metabolic studies; Agius L et al.; A method is described for the attachment to and monolayer culture of adult rat hepatocytes on collagen-coated or fibronectin-coated microbeads or both in a chemically defined serum-free medium . Protein synthesis measured by the incorporation of {3H}leucine into protein was four-fold higher in the hepatocyte microcarrier cultures than in isolated hepatocyte suspensions . The hepatocyte microcarrier cultures showed acute responsiveness to insulin of fatty acid synthesis, glucose incorporation into glycogen, and decarboxylation of {1-14 C}pyruvate . Microcarrier-cultured hepatocytes have the combined advantages of monolayer culture and suspension systems . They are a potential tool for the study of long-term as well as acute effects of hormones. Infect Control, 1985 May, 6(5), 194 - 9 Multiple-dose vials: persistence of bacterial contaminants and infection control implications; Longfield RN et al.; Due to sporadic infections attributed to contaminated multiple-dose medication vials (MDV), some authorities have suggested discarding all MDV within 24 hours . We inoculated 11 commonly used medications with suspensions of 10 bacterial species previously associated with contaminated parenteral solutions and determined microbial persistence at both room and refrigerator temperature . At 22 degrees C, atropine, curare, folic acid, NPH insulin and triamcinolone did not allow microbial persistence beyond 4 hours . Lidocaine and heparin were sterile by 24 hours . Regular insulin, immune serum globulin, and myochrysine allowed persistence for up to 7 days . At 4 degrees C, bacterial persistence was significantly prolonged for all medications including those MDV requiring refrigeration . No organisms proliferated; however, F . meningosepticum and P . maltophilia were particularly persistent at both temperatures . The risk of persistent MDV contamination appears to be dependent upon specific pharmaceutical, microbe and storage temperature interactions . Recommendations for the refrigeration of MDV medications may require reevaluation on a product-by-product basis. Appl Environ Microbiol, 1985 Apr, 49(4), 828 - 35 Effects of four aromatic organic pollutants on microbial glucose metabolism and thymidine incorporation in marine sediments; Bauer JE et al.; The metabolism of D-{U-14C}glucose and the incorporation of {methyl-3H}thymidine by aerobic and anaerobic marine sediment microbes exposed to 1 to 1,000 ppm anthracene, naphthalene, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and pentachlorophenol were examined . Cell-specific rates of {14C}glucose metabolism averaged 1.7 X 10(-21) and 0.5 X 10(-21) mol/min per cell for aerobic and anaerobic sediment slurries, respectively; {3H}thymidine incorporation rates averaged 43 X 10(-24) and 9 X 10(-24) mol/min per cell for aerobic and anaerobic slurries, respectively . Aerobic sediments exposed to three of the organic pollutants for 2 to 7 days showed recovery of both activities . Anaerobic sediments showed little recovery after 2 days of pre-exposure to the pollutants . We conclude that (i) anaerobic sediments are more sensitive than aerobic sediments to pollutant additions; (ii) {3H}thymidine incorporation is more sensitive to pollutant additions than is {14C}glucose metabolism; and (iii) the toxicity of the pollutants increased in the following order: anthracene, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, naphthalene, and pentachlorophenol. EMBO J, 1985 Apr, 4(4), 913 - 8 A general method for preparing chromatin containing intact DNA; Jackson DA et al.; A simple and general method is described for preparing chromatin from eukaryotic cells using isotonic conditions . First, cells are encapsulated in agarose microbeads and then lysed using Triton X-100 in the presence of a chelating agent and a physiological concentration of salt . Most cytoplasmic proteins and RNA diffuse rapidly out through pores in the beads to leave encapsulated chromatin which is nevertheless completely accessible to enzymes and other probes . This chromatin can be manipulated freely without aggregation in a variety of different salt and detergent concentrations . It also contains intact DNA since removal of the histones releases superhelical DNA . Conditions are described for incubating this chromatin at 37 degrees C in the presence of Mg2+ ions without any nicking of the DNA . We illustrate the usefulness of this chromatin in investigations on the attachment of nascent RNA to the nucleoskeleton, the accessibility of the ribosomal locus to EcoRI and the properties of the endogenous RNA polymerase II . This type of chromatin preparation should prove useful for both structural and functional studies. Int J Radiat Biol Relat Stud Phys Chem Med, 1985 Apr, 47(4), 383 - 6 Cytotoxic effects following micro-irradiation of cultured cells sensitized with haematoporphyrin derivative; Moreno G et al.; Haematoporphyrin derivative photosensitization has been studied in single heart cells in tissue culture by laser micro-irradiation (lambda = 632.8 nm) . Changes of beating rate as well as cell death depend on the localization of the microbeam on the various parts of the cell . The results show that the targets for photodamage are the plasma membrane followed by the mitochondria. Infect Immun, 1985 Apr, 48(1), 159 - 64 Microbe-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis enhancement after preculture; Lopatin DE et al.; The in vitro blastogenic response of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells to Fusobacterium nucleatum and other oral microorganisms was enhanced if the peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured for 24 h at 37 degrees C prior to the addition of stimulant . The enhancement which occurred at optimal and supraoptimal concentrations of F . nucleatum (10 to 100 micrograms/ml) was detected after a preculture period of as little as 2 h . The blastogenic response was a result of T-cell proliferation, and enhancement occurred independently of monocytes . Suppressor activity was induced by culturing fresh lymphocytes for 24 h in the presence of supraoptimal concentrations of F . nucleatum . The enhancement phenomenon occurred independently of the prostaglandin effects on lymphocyte blastogenesis and was not abrogated by treatment with indomethacin. Sci Total Environ, 1985 Mar 15, 42(1-2), 157 - 69 Incorporation routes of elements into human hair; implications for hair analysis used for monitoring; Bos AJ et al.; A study has been made on the incorporation of some trace elements and minerals into human hair by measuring their distributions across hair diameters . For this study the Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) technique using the proton microbeam of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam has been applied . Results of measurements on single hair strands at different positions in the root and outside the skin provide evidence that the elements not only can enter the cortex via the matrix but also via the hair root sheaths . Moreover, there are indications that the distribution of an endogenous element is not always homogeneously spread over a cross section of the hair . Endogenous Fe and Pb seem to be peaked on the periphery of the hair by natural means, while the elements S,Zn and Cu of the samples measured are found to be distributed homogeneously across the hair diameter . The consequences for hair analysis in use for monitoring the trace elements status of an individual are discussed. Acta Eur Fertil, 1985 Mar-Apr, 16(2), 125 - 8 Hysterosalpingography: value in estimating tubal function, and risk of infectious complications; Tuveng JM et al.; A prospective study of 80 patients referred for hysterosalpingography (HSG) . In 74 patients HSG was performed as part of an infertility investigation . Samples taken from the cervix were cultured for N . gonorrhoeae, Chl . trachomatis and M . hominis . Serum specimens were examined for antibodies against Chl . trachomatis and M . hominis . Two of our patients (2,5%) developed clinical signs of pelvic inflammatory disease following the procedure . Both had negative cultures for pathogenic microbes . The value of pre-HSG microbial culturing seemed negligible . Most patients had antibodies against Chl . trachomatis and M . hominis . Occlusion in one or both tubes was seen in 22 patients while possible pelvic adhesions were found in 15 . It is concluded that HSG seems to have a relatively high risk of infectious complications, and we propose to do laparoscopy with chromopertubation as the primary step for evaluation of tubal function in infertile women. Nurs Clin North Am, 1985 Mar, 20(1), 207 - 17 Symposium on infections in the compromised host . Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas; Terry BA; Two areas of study have made the understanding of infections in Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma both clearer and more complicated . First, the overly simple concepts that certain underlying diseases predispose patients to specific infections can no longer be uniformly applied . Second, while Hodgkin's patients were once thought to have cell-mediated immune defects, we now know that mixed T- and B-cell abnormalities as well as alterations in complement and phagocytic processes are seen . Therefore, we can expect to find infecting organisms against which several immune functions appear to be important . The more common organisms found in these patients include the encapsulated bacteria and fungi, intracellular microbes such as the mycobacteria and certain viruses, and, finally, some protozoa . Many are prevalent in the environment and some are considered to be normal human microbial flora . These opportunistic pathogens will continue to cause serious, often fatal infections in this group of compromised patients until more is known about the causes of lymphoproliferative disease and significant advances in immunotherapy are made. J Steroid Biochem, 1985 Mar, 22(3), 427 - 9 A solid-phase radioimmunoassay of serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate using a monoclonal antibody; Knyba RE et al.; A monoclonal antibody directed against dehydroepiandrosterone, but with high affinity for dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHA-S), has been used to develop a solid phase radioimmunoassay for measuring serum DHA-S . The antibody was covalently linked to polyacrylamide microbeads with no change in binding characteristics . The procedure requires only the chromatography of serum on anion-exchange cellulose before assaying the equivalent of 0.25 microliter serum . The method is precise, accurate and specific and can detect 19.5 pg of DHA-S . Serum DHA-S levels measured by this method were in good agreement with those found in a validated radioimmunoassay method involving hydrolysis . The method is quick and one operator could assay 50 blood specimens per day . DHA-S levels in serum from 50 men and 86 women were in agreement with those in the literature . With the availability of theoretically limitless quantities of consistently high quality monoclonal antibodies the advantages of developing solid phase radioimmunoassays for steroids is discussed. Vestn Khir Im I I Grek, 1985 Feb, 134(2), 3 - 6 {Mechanism of development of septic metastases}; Ivashkevich GA; On the basis of personal investigations and literature data the author considers metastatic abscesses in sepsis to be formed in necrosis foci resulting from the action of proteolytic enzymes, prostaglandins, cationic proteins and leukocytes with pathogenic microbes included. Dev Biol, 1985 Feb, 107(2), 337 - 54 Control of cell-cycle timing in early embryos of Caenorhabditis elegans; Schierenberg E et al.; A technique has been developed for extruding either substantial amounts of cytoplasm without nuclei or individual nuclei with small amounts of cytoplasm from early embryos of C . elegans after perforating the eggshell with a laser microbeam . This technique, in conjunction with laser-induced cell fusion, has allowed the altering of nuclear/cytoplasmic ratios and the exposing of the nucleus of one cell to cytoplasm from another . Using these approaches the roles of nuclei and cytoplasm in determining the different cell-cycle periods of the several blastomere lineages in early embryos have been examined . It was found that nuclei in a common cytoplasm divide synchronously; enucleated blastomeres retain a cycling period characteristic of their lineage; cycling period is not substantially affected by changes in the ratio of nuclear to cytoplasmic volumes or the DNA content per cell; the period of a cell from one lineage can be substantially altered by introduction of cytoplasm from a cell of another lineage with a different period; and short-term effects of foreign cytoplasm on the timing of the subsequent mitosis differ depending on position of the donor cell in the cell cycle . These results are discussed in connection with models for the action of cytoplasmic factors in controlling cell-cycle timing. Horm Metab Res, 1985 Feb, 17(2), 82 - 5 Salmon calcitonin-like immunoactivity in extracts of Tetrahymena pyriformis; Deftos LJ et al.; Acid extracts of Tetrahymena pyriformis, a ciliated protozoan grown in defined medium revealed the presence of materials with salmon-type calcitonin immunoactivity . These findings add support to earlier reports of the presence of materials closely resembling vertebrate peptide hormones in unicellular microbes. Environ Res, 1985 Feb, 36(1), 111 - 37 Heavy metal toxicity to microbe-mediated ecologic processes: a review and potential application to regulatory policies; Babich H et al.; Microorganisms are sensitive to heavy metal pollution as are other components of the biota . However, most studies on the interactions between microbes and heavy metals have been conducted in synthetic media or in altered (e.g., sterilized) environmental samples and usually have used only single species . Few studies have evaluated the effects of heavy metals on the activities of natural heterogeneous microbial populations, both autotrophic and heterotrophic, in terrestrial and aquatic environments . These latter studies have shown that heavy metals inhibit primary productivity, nitrogen fixation, the mineralization of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, litter decomposition, and enzyme synthesis and activity in soils, sediments, and surface waters . The potential adverse effects of heavy metals on such microbe-mediated ecologic processes need to be incorporated into the methodologies used by regulatory agencies, such as the U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, to prepare environmental risk assessments which, in turn, are used to formulate environmental criteria, such as the Water Quality Criteria, and to evaluate the safety to the environment of exposure to "new chemical substances," as mandated by the U.S . Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 . To provide appropriate data that can be assimilated into regulatory policy, it is essential that microbial ecotoxicity tests be standardized, are neither costly nor difficult to train personnel to conduct, and produce data that can be quantitated. Blood, 1985 Feb, 65(2), 484 - 91 Myeloperoxidase: its structure and expression during myeloid differentiation; Koeffler HP et al.; Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a major protein present in myeloid cells and is used by these cells to help kill microbes . The human promyelocytic HL-60 line can be induced to differentiate to granulocytes or macrophagelike cells . Poly (A) containing RNA was isolated from HL-60 granulocytes, HL-60 macrophages, HL-60 blasts, and normal human granulocytes . The mRNA was translated in a reticulocyte lysate system in the presence of 35S-methionine . The MPO was precipitated from the lysate with rabbit IgG antiserum to human MPO . The resulting precipitate from HL-60 blasts gave a major band of radioactivity of approximately 77,000 daltons and another band at approximately 46,000 daltons on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) . The MPO identity of the labeled bands was confirmed by cold competition . The relative mRNA activity expressed as a percentage of radioactivity incorporated into MPO (77,000-dalton band) as compared with total trichloracetic acid (TCA) precipitable radioactivity was 0.2% . Negligible mRNA activity for MPO was present in HL-60 granulocytes, HL-60 macrophages, and normal human granulocytes . Pulse-chase experiments showed that MPO was an approximate 75,000-dalton major band and 77,000-dalton minor band of radioactivity after HL-60 blasts were labeled for 1/2 hour with 35S-methionine and the cell lysate immunoprecipitated and subjected to SDS-PAGE . The chase experiments (one to 24 hours) showed that the 77,000- and 75,000-dalton bands of radioactivity were replaced with two major bands (55,000 and 15,000 daltons) and one minor band (approximately 39,000 daltons) of radioactivity . Six-hour 35S-methionine labeling experiments showed that the relative rate of MPO synthesis compared with total TCA precipitable radioactivity was 0.5% in HL-60 blasts and almost negligible in HL-60 macrophages and granulocytes, normal human granulocytes, and B-lymphocytes . The KG-1 myeloblasts and KG-1a early myeloblasts synthesized a small amount of the 75,000-dalton MPO protein . Although HL-60 cells no longer synthesized MPO after differentiation, HL-60 granulocytes and HL-60 macrophages continued to contain MPO as measured by enzyme activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) J Hyg Epidemiol Microbiol Immunol, 1985, 29(4), 369 - 76 Results of using the serological method of epidemiological investigation of plague foci in the Muyunkum and Eastern Kyzylkum deserts in 1978-1982; Bykov LT et al.; Results of serological examination of 81,853 mammals from the Muyunkum and 26,303 from the Eastern Kyzylkum deserts were compared with results of a corresponding bacteriological examination for plague . In both foci and in all phases throughout the epizootic of plague, the serological method made it possible to detect infected animals 6-10 times more frequently in comparison with the bacteriological method . The big meriones mice, i.e., the basic carriers of plague in natural foci, were found to be infected considerably more (in percentage) frequently than the meridian meriones . Differences in the reactivity of meriones to the invasion of plague microbe were observed in both foci (the indices of titres in the antigen neutralization reaction were considerably higher in the Eastern Kyzylkums) . The serological method of investigation is highly informative in evaluating both the present state of epizootic activity of a plague focus and its activity in the past. Arch Toxicol Suppl, 1985, 8, 83 - 6 Mucosal biotransformation of toxins in the gut; Hanninen O; A major fraction of foreign compounds entering the body is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract in ingested food and beverages as well as in the swallowed respiratory mucus carrying part of the chemical loading of inspired air . The large surface area provides conditions for efficient absorption . The mucosa, however, forms an active barrier . There are several enzymes capable of oxidizing, reducing and hydrolysing xenobiotics as well as many enzymes conjugating either the compounds themselves or their reaction products . In the rat, the monooxygenase and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase activities appear to be highest in the oral end of the gut and decrease aborally . Compared with the hepatic activities the mucosal monooxygenase levels are lower, but the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activities may even be higher than in the liver . The mucosal biotransformation activity is inducible . Within the gut mucosa the highest activities are close to the villus tips . Thus functional maturation of the cells in biotransformation appears to occur when cells are moving up from the crypts . The microvilli of the cells appear to be inactive in mono-oxygenation and glucuronidation . The metabolic products generated within the mucosal cells are released either into the blood or to the gut lumen . The xenobiotics and their metabolites meet in the lumen a rich bacterial flora . Microbes have high metabolic capacity in hydrolysis and reduction . These transformation products are absorbed again loading the host. J Hyg Epidemiol Microbiol Immunol, 1985, 29(2), 169 - 76 Sources of intrapopulation variability in causative agents of nosocomial infection; Krasilnikov AP et al.; The mechanisms of heterogeneity of S . aureus and P . aeruginosa populations of pathological foci in patients with wound, traumatic, and burns infections were studied . It has been established that populations of the mentioned species in the sources of infection (patients and carriers) are pronouncedly heterogeneous and objects in the external environment serving as factors of transmission are contaminated with a whole complex of diverse variants . The conclusion can therefore be drawn that the first source of intrapopulation variability of wound populations of microbes is the presence of varying strains and variants in the infecting dose of the causative agent . The second source consists in repeated superinfection (immigration) of pathological processes by new, usually nosocomial, strains and variants of the same species with their subsequent selection during the patients' stay in the health-service establishment . Other sources of population variability, such as mutation and recombination, are of minor importance . With respect to the obtained results it is necessary to increase the volume of the representative sample of cultures in bacteriological diagnosis of open processes, to protect them reliably from superinfection, to follow up dynamically changes in the composition of causative agents and to pr