Spontaneous infestation of Phlebotomus dubosqui by promastigotes of Leishmania in Senegal]

An epidemiological survey of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Senegal revealed the presence of numerous Phlebotomus duboscqi in the entrances of rodent burrows. Two P. duboscqi out of 45 females dissected showed infection of the gut by promastigotes which could be cultured on NNN medium.     

Surgical grafting of malignant human melanomas into athymic nu/nu mice : macroscopic and microscopic study

Tissue from 5 human malignant melanomas was surgically grafted into 39 athymic mice, 20 on lombar muscles covered by their aponevrosis, 13 on the intraperitoneal surface of the abdominal wall, 6 between the dorsal muscles and rib cage. These encapsulated, non-infiltrating, non-destructive tumours were clinically, macroscopically and histologically benign, but cytologically they have a malignant aspect. These were no perceptible visceral, cutaneous or muscular metastases. It would seem that a phenomenon of loosing of invasivness and destruction appeared. However further studies with other tumours and different experimental conditions will be needed to confirm the existence of this phenomenon.     

Infra-red study of the carbonate in bone,teeth and francolite

Résumé La diffraction des rayons X et la spectrographie infrarouge ont été employées pour rechercher la présence de calcite et de magnésite dans la fraction minérale de l'os et des dents ainsi que dans le minéral qui lui est le plus proche au point de vue chimique, la francolite. Le résultat positif obtenu dans l'infra-rouge indique la présence de liaisons CaCO₃ et MgCO₃ associées à la matrice fondamentale du type apatite de ces substances.

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This work was partially sponsored by theAir Research and Development Command, United States Air Force, through its European Office under contract n° AF 61 (514) 647 C.     

The Instrument That Never Was: Inventing,Manufacturing, and Branding Réaumur's Thermometer During the Enlightenment

At the beginning of the 1730s René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur published two long memoirs on a new type of thermometer equipped with a specially calibrated scale — known ever since as the Réaumur scale. It became one of the most common ‘standardized’ thermometers in Europe until the late nineteenth century. What made this thermometer so successful? What was it specifically? I will first argue that the real Réaumur thermometer as an instrument was a fiction, a ghost — an idealized instrument. On paper, it was theoretically flawless. In reality, the standardized Réaumur thermometer was most likely never achieved. This article shows that its success was essentially due to a recontextualisation from theoretical natural philosophy — Réaumur's principle of uniformity — to: 1) the context of artisanal knowledge and practices and 2) the context of making and reporting in the Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences actual measurements done in the field (in Paris at the Observatory, in Provincial France, in the Colonies, and in the rest of Europe). Réaumur's thermometer was essentially a theoretical method to which was associated a particular scale. It was the instrument's reification for market consumption and fieldwork that gave this specific type of thermometer materiality and authority. Although most Réaumur thermometers ever made were strikingly different from one another, over time the thermomètre de Réaumur designation became a brand, a seal of approval born from customary artisanal practices and cultural habitudes.     

Correlation between acidic phospholipids and serotonin and between lysolecithin and dopamine in ganglia of the marine mussel,Mytilus edulis

Summary These studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between the acidic phospholipids and the serotonin content and between the lysolecithin and the dopamine content in the cerebral, pedal and visceral ganglia ofMytilus edulis. These relationships were further supported by experiments utilizing 6-hydroxydopamine and 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine.This study was partially supported by USPHS grant NS 10845 to Dr E. Aiello of Fordham University.Presently at Medgar Evers College of C.U.N.Y., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11225.     

Cholinesterase in the cat cerebellar cortex,deep nuclei and peduncles

Résumé La distribution de l'acétylcholinestérase dans l'écorce, les noyaux centraux et les pédoncules du cervelet du chat a été étudiée à l'aide d'une technique histochimique. Les pédoncules de quatre chats ont été coupés et on a isolé l'écorce cérébelleuse d'un autre groupe de quatre chats. Ces expériences durèrent quelques jours. Les fibres moussues des pédoncules cérébelleux moyen et inférieur contiennent de l'acétylcholinestérase. Les cellules des noyaux cérébelleux centraux et leurs fibres dans les pédoncules cérébelleux supérieur et inférieur sont aussi colorées par l'acétylcholinestérase.      

Excitability changes during paradoxical sleep in the rat

Résumé Le passage de la phase de sommeil avec ondes lentes à la phase ?paradoxale? et souvent aussi du sommeil paradoxal à l'éveil, sont accompagnés chez le rat d'un commencement ou d'une accentuation de l'activité dite ?spindling? dans l'écorce. Des changements phasiques de la fréquence des ondes ϑ dans l'hippocampe se produisirent pendant les périodes paradoxales. Nous n'avons pas remarqué de corrélations entre ces phénomènes.

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This work was supported in part by the US Public Health Service (grant NB-01883) and in part by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (grant AF-AFOSR 246-63).     

Purification of adenoviruses by the fluorocarbon procedure

Résumé La purification préalable, par le fluorocarbone, d'adénovirus (types 3, 4, 5 et 7) servant à l'immunisation de lapins, prévient la formation dans le sérum de ces derniers d'anticorps fixateurs de complément, réagissant de manière non spécifique avec les constituants des cultures de cellules dans lesquelles les virus ont été propagés. Cette méthode ne permet cependant pas d'obtenir des anticorps qui réagissent de manière spécifique de type avec les adénovirus, dans la réaction de déviation du complément.      

DOPA decarboxylase activity in a transplantable hamster melanoma

Résumé Une activité considérable de la 3,4-dihydroxyphénylealanine (DOPA) décarboxylase a été démontrée chez un transplantable mélanome malin du hamster. Après l'injection intrapéritonéale du précurseur de la dopamine, l'amine nouveau-formée était trouvée dans toutes les tumeurs. L'inhibition de la DOPA décarboxylase par traitement des hamsters avec α-méthyle-DOPA n'a pas influé sur le progrès des tumeurs.

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This study was supported by grants from Riksf?reningen mot cancer, Stockholm, and from the Léonie Deshayes' Foundation, Lund. Melanoma-bearing Syrian hamsters were generously supplied by Prof.H. Storck, Zürich (Switzerland). The supply of α-methyl DOPA from Merck, Sharp and Dohme (USA) is gratefully acknowledged.     

Leishmania donovani in hamsters: Stimulation of non-specific resistance by novel lipopeptides and their effect in antileishmanial therapy

Several novel type of lipopeptides were synthesized and evaluated for their ability to stimulate non-specific resistance againstLeishmania donovani infection. Peritoneal macrophages isolated from young male hamsters treated with muramyl dipeptide (MDP) and various synthetic lipopeptides (6 mg/kg i.p.) 7 days earlier, were cultured in vitro and challenged 24 h later withL. donovani promastigotes. One lipopeptide, Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) compound 86/450, exhibited significantly higher immunostimulatory activity than MDP. Its prophylactic activity was further confirmed in hamsters by giving 2 split doses of 3 mg/kg of the compound spaced at 2 weeks, i.e. on day –7 and +7 of challenge withL. donovani amastigotes. The prophylactic effect lasted for 7 days following the last treatment with compound 86/450. The antileishmanial action of sodium stibogluconate (SAG) was also found to be enhanced by 16% in hamsters primed with compound 86/450.CDRI Communication No. 5034.     

Influence of iproniazid pretreatment on formation of gastric ulcers by reserpine in the rat

Résumé Chez le rat à pylore lié, la réserpine (5 mg/kg) provoque l'apparition précoce d'ulcérations gastriques. Ce phénomène fait défaut si les rats ont été traités préalablement par l'iproniazide, un inhibiteur de la monoamino-oxydase.      

Absence of effects of dibutyryl cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate on release of α-amylase,45Ca efflux,and protein synthesis in rat pancreas in vitro

Summary Dibutyryl cyclic GMP did not affect basal, or carbachol stimulated secretion of α-amylase from rat pancreas. The nucleotide did not have a significant effect on⁴⁵Ca release from the pancreas nor did it alter the response to carbachol. The dibutyryl analogue of cyclic GMP did not duplicate or alter the inhibitory effect of carbachol on³H-leucine incorporation into pancreatic trichloroacetic acid-precipitable protein.

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Résumé L'effet du dibutyryl GMPc sur la sécrétion d'α-amylase, l'efflux du⁴⁵Ca et la synthèse de nouvelles protéines dans le pancréas du rat, ont été étudiés. Le dibutyryl GMPc n'affecte ni la sécrétion d'enzyme basale ni celle stimulée par le carbachol. Le nucléotide n'a pas un effet significatif sur le relàchement du⁴⁵Ca du pancréas et n'altère pas la réponse du carbachol. L'analogue ne mime pas et ne change pas l'effet du carbachol sur l'incorporation du³H-leucine dans les protéines précipitées par l'acide trichloroacétique.

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Supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council of Canada. The authors acknowledge the secretarial aide of MissC. Picard.     

Existence of several non-specific recognition systems in macrophages]

Rat peritoneal cells were made to bind five particle species: immunoglobulin-coated Sheep red cells, glutaraldehyde-treated Sheep red cells, latex beads, leishmania and tumor cells. The dependence of binding on various physico-chemical parameters was studied. The binding of latex beads or Leishmania was not inhibited by cold (4 degrees C), sodium azide, cytochalasin B and ethyleneglycol or dimethylsulphoxide. The binding of immunoglobulin-coated Sheep red cells was unaffected by cold and azide, but it was inhibited by cytochalasin B, ethyleneglycol and dimethylsulphoxide. The binding of glutaraldehyde-treated Sheep red cells was inhibited by cold, azide and ethyleneglycol, but it resisted cytochalasin B and dimethylsulphoxide. The binding of tumor cells was inhibited by azide, cytochalasin B, ethyleneglycol and dimethylsulphoxide. It is concluded that: (a) macrophages are endowed several sets of non-specific binding structures that are differently affected by physico-chemical parameters, which provides a simple way of characterizing them; (b) the expression of a given binding structure on the macrophage membrane is modulated by metabolic inhibitors; (c) some lymphocytes were able to bind tumor cells or Leishmania. Thus, lymphocytes and macrophages might share some non-specific adhesive structures.     

Organization of the multifunctional neural network regulating visceral organs inHelix pomatia L (Mollusca,Gastropoda)

Summary InHelix pomatia L. the overlapping neuronal network was found to regulate the visceral functions (e.g. cardiorenal, respiratory and genital functions). The neural network is organized around the multifunctional interneurons, which take part in forming both afferent and efferent pathways. The interneurons are sensitive to a wide range of neurotransmitters or transmitter candidates including low molecular weight substances (ACh, 5HT, DA, octopamine, glutamate) and several oligopeptides. In this system both selection of information and modification of membrane properties (for example habituation) are carried out by a combination of simultaneously liberated active agents.     

Formation of cutaneous nerve trunks in the chick. Ultrastructural and quantitative analysis]

In chick skin structuration of nervous trunks takes place at 14-15 days of incubation, at the time of formation of the adult pattern of cutaneous innervation. At this same stage, myelogenesis begins, but develops mainly after hatching: only 4% of axons are myelinated at hatching, 40% in 6-week old Chickens and 60% in adults. This "critical" stage (14-15 days of incubation) apparently corresponds to the stabilization of cutaneous nerve supply.     

Herman Boerhaave and the element-instrument concept of Fire

La théorie générale du contrôle et de la communication, mieux connue sous le nom de ‘cybernétique’, est habituellement considérée comme le fruit des recherches liées à la deuxième guerre mondiale aux Etats-Unis, menées principalement par le mathématicien américain Norbert Wiener (1894–1964). Dans le cadre de son travail pour l'armée, Wiener a développé une théorie générale des régulations. Nous nous intéressons aux origines de la théorie générale des régulations en Allemagne (Allgemeine Regelungskunde), montrant qu'elle prend naissance dans un contexte bien différent.

Hermann Schmidt (1894–1968), le principal acteur dans ce domaine en Allemagne, bien que physicien de formation, formula sa version de la théorie du contrôle à la fin des années 30, grâce aux différents systèmes de régulation qu'il était amené à étudier au bureau des brevets du Reich (Reichspatentamt). A partir de l'analyse d'une combinaison de facteurs contextuels, nationaux, politiques et contingents, nous proposons une explication de la moindre influence de la théorie de Schmidt.     

Carboxypeptidase E and thrombospondin-1 are differently expressed in subcutaneous and visceral fat of obese subjects

The aim of this study was to identify candidate genes for visceral obesity by screening for genes strongly differentially expressed between human subcutaneous and visceral adipose depots. A cDNA microarray with human adipose-derived cDNAs was used as an initial screening to identify genes that are potentially differentially expressed between human subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat tissues. For the two best candidates, carboxypeptidase E (CPE) and thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) (EST N72406), real-time RT-PCR was performed to confirm their depot specific expression in extremely obese individuals. Both genes appeared to be strongly differentially expressed, having a higher expression in the visceral depot than in the subcutaneous one. For THBS1, the difference in expression between the depots was greater in women than in men. The involvement of CPE and THBS1 in obesity allows us to suggest that the physiological processes controlled by these genes contribute to depot and gender-related differences in the metabolic complications of obesity. Received 7 August 2002; received after revision 19 Septemer 2002; accepted 24 September 2002     

Conventionalism,structuralism and neo-Kantianism in Poincaré׳s philosophy of science

Poincaré is well known for his conventionalism and structuralism. However, the relationship between these two theses and their place in Poincaré׳s epistemology of science remain puzzling. In this paper I show the scope of Poincaré׳s conventionalism and its position in Poincaré׳s hierarchical approach to scientific theories. I argue that for Poincaré scientific knowledge is relational and made possible by synthetic a priori, empirical and conventional elements, which, however, are not chosen arbitrarily. By examining his geometric conventionalism, his hierarchical account of science and defence of continuity in theory change, I argue that Poincaré defends a complex structuralist position based on synthetic a priori and conventional elements, the mind-dependence of which precludes epistemic access to mind-independent structures.     

Role of the Raphe Magnus nucleus in morphine analgesia : studies with intracerebral microinjections in the rat]

Microinjections of low concentration of morphine (5 micrograms) into the nucleus Raphé Magnus of the Rat produce a strong analgesia that can be reversed by systemic naloxone, an opiate antagonist. The administration of naloxone (5 micrograms) into the Raphé Magnus considerably reduces the effects of intravenous morphine. The effects of microinjections of morphine are strongly reduced by Cinanserin, suggesting a role for serotoninergic mechanisms in morphine analgesia.     

Instances of sex inversion in the domesticated swordtail,Xiphophorus helleri heckel (pisces,osteichthyes)

Summary 3 protogynous hermaphrodites were found in a domesticated strain ofXiphophorus helleri, confirming much doubted observations by older authors. It therefore seems that sex determination may vary between strains, certain strains being strictly gonochoristic but others being capable of true hermaphroditism.