Evolutionary implications of ascorbic acid production in the Australian lungfish

Summary It is shown that the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) synthesizes ascorbic acid in its kidney, suggesting that ascorbic acid synthesis started before the origin of the tetrapods.Acknowledgments. We would like to thank Dr G.C. Grigg, University of Sydney, Mr R. B. Humphries, Dr P.A. Janssens and Dr C.H. Tyndale-Biscoe, Australian National University, and Dr. M. Griffiths and J.C. MacIlroy C.S.I.R.O., Division of Wildlife Research for supplying the tissue.     

The fasciolicidal activity of a halogenated benzenesulfonanilide

Summary Halogenated benzenesulfonanilides have potent fasciolicidal activity. The efficacy of 1 such compound in mice, sheep, and cattle is reported.Appreciation is expressed to Dr M. Manowitz for chemical support and to J. Bailer, G. Fusiek and C. Indian for their assistance. Dr. R. Bellhorn and C. Impellizzeri gave valuable assistance in the eye examinations.     

Attraction of the male house fly to cuticular hydrocarbons and feces of several other dipteran species

Zusammenfassung Männchen vonMusca domestica werden von Kohlenwasserstoffextrakten aus der Cuticula weiblicherMusca domestica, M. autumnalis undHaematobia irritan angelockt (gleiche oder ähnliche Pheromone), nicht aber von entsprechenden Extrakten ausStomoxys calitrans, Glossina morsitans, G. austeni, Fannia canicularis undCochliomyia hominivorax.

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The authors thankDr. P. A. Langley, University of Bristol, for his geneous aid in providing cuticular washes and feces of tsetse flies;Dr. C. M. Jones, USDA, for face fly samples;Dr. R. L. Harris, USDA, for horn fly samples;Dr. B. G. Hightower and R. R. Grabbe, USDA, for screwworm samples andDr. W. M. Rogoff, USDA, for little house fly samples.     

Nuclear blebs in oocytes of the fishClarias batrachus

Summary Large nuclear blebs have been observed in oocytes of the fish,Clarias batrachus. The bleb, which contains nucleoplasm, is finally extruded from the nucleus. The extruded body is DNase-sensitive, and it implies that some amount of DNA is extruded from the nucleus of these oocytes.Acknowledgments. We are thankful to Dr. R.K. Sharan, Department of Zoology, Patna University, for providing laboratory facilities, and to Dr V.G. Jhingran and Dr P.V. Dehadrai of ICAR for their keen interest in the work.     

Evidence for the metabolism of phospholipids and triacylglycerols in humanAscaris lumbricoides

Summary HumanAscaris lumbricoides has the necessary mechanism for the biosynthesis and degradation of phospholipids and triacylglycerols, as in most other species. Piperazine decreases the level of triacylglycerols of this parasite by stimulating the activity of lipase and partially inhibiting the activity of phosphatidate phosphatase.Acknowledgments. Thanks are due to the University of Kerala for facilities provided, Dr T. Ramasarma of the I.I. Sc., Bangalore for help in the labelling studies, Dr. G. D. Cain of the University of Iowa for valuable comments and Dr P. Vijayagopal of ANU for the gift of CDP-choline.     

A synergistic interation between the teratogenic effect of trypan blue and dietary deficiency in the rat

Summary There was a increased incidence, compared to controls, of exencephaly and micropthalmia in the offspring of rats fed a vitamin D deficient diet and injected with trypan blue on day 9 of gestation. Oral vitamin D did not reverse the effect.Acknowledgments. The author wishes to thank Dr G. Lumb and Dr. B. Mawer for advice on diets, and Mrs de Silva for making the assays.     

Introduction

The Editors wish to thank Dr. G. Daum for coordinating this multi-author review.     

Estimation of the methylating capacity in the pineal gland of the rat with special reference to the methylation of N-acetylserotonin and 5-hydroxytryptophol separately

Summary In the present paper, an extension is presented of an earlier described method, by which the methylating capacity of the pineal gland can be determined. Supplementary to the earlier method, the synthesis of melatonin and 5-methoxytryptophol can now be qualified and quantified separately.The authors wish to express their gratitude to Prof. Dr J.C. van de Kamer and Dr F.C.G. van de Veerdonk for their stimulating interest in these studies.     

Bombesin,calcitonin and leu-enkephalin immunoreactivity in endocrine cells of human lung

Summary By immunohistochemistry, bombesin, calcitonin and leu-enkephalin was localized in endocrine cells of human lungs from various age groups. It is suggested that at least 3 different peptide containing endocrine cells may be present in human lung.Acknowledgments. The authors thank Dr Camille Vaillant, University of Liverpool, for advice with immunohistochemical methods and Dr G. Dockray for his generous gift of bombesin antiserum. This work has been supported by Medical Research Council of Canada (MA-7054) and Ontario Thoracic Society.     

Evidence for selective adsorption and polymerization of thel-optical isomers of amino acids relative to thed-optical isomers on the edge faces of kaolinite

Zusammenfassung Auf Kaolinitkristallen werden diel-optischen Isomeren der Aminosäuren vollständiger adsorbiert und schneller polymerisiert als died-optischen Isomeren.

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The research as supported by a post-doctoral fellowship awarded by the School of Forestry, Yale University, New Haven (Conn., USA). I thank Dr. G. E.Hutchinson (Yale University) for helpful coments, and Dr. G. W.Brindley (Pennsylvania State University) for technical suggestions.     

A new method of estimating micropipette tip diameter

Zusammenfassung Eine neue und einfache Methode zur Bestimmung des Durchmessers von Mikropipetten wird beschrieben.

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The authors wish to thank Dr.G. P. Findlay and Dr.P. J. Crowcroft for useful comments.     

Effects of tranylcypromine on the concentrations of some trace amines in the diencephalon and hippocampus of the rat

Summary Concentrations of 4 trace amines in diencephalon and hippocampus of the rat were measured by integrated-ioncurrent mass spectrometry after administration of the antidepressant drug, tranylcypromine. Much larger increases were observed for 2-phenylethylamine and tryptamine than for m- and p-tyramine.Financial support has been provided by the Medical Research Council of Canada, the Psychiatric Services Branch, Province of Saskatchewan, the Alberta Mental health Research Fund, and the Special Services and Research Committee, University of Alberta Hospital.Acknowledgments. The authors wish to thank Dr B.A. Davis for synthesizing the deuterated internal standards and Dr D.A. Durden for supervising the mass spectral analyses. Expert technical assistance was provided by Mr R.C. Mag-Atas and Ms D.G. Calverley. The advice and encouragement of Professors W. G. Dewhurst and A. A. Boulton are gratefully acknowledged.     

Relationship between the renal kallikrein activity and the urinary excretion of kallikrein in rats

Summary Adrenalectomy reduces, and sodium depletion increases, both the daily urinary excretion of kallikrein and the kallikrein activity in the renal cortex. These 2 variables were found to correlate significantly in normal, sodium depleted and adrenalectomized rats, thus supporting the view that kallikrein excretion reflects the activity of the enzyme in the kidney.Acknowledgments. This word was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. The technical assistance of Mrs G. Breypohl and Ms J. Kopatsch is gratefully acknowledged. Dr M. Marin-Grez was a fellow of the Alexander von Humbodt Foundation and Dr G. Bönner of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Immunological blocking of exogenous and endogenous secretin in the dog

Summary In mongrel dogs with chronic gastric and duodenal fistula the biological activity of secretin on exocrine pancreatic secretion could be blocked by preincubating the secretin injected with rabbit antisecretin antibody. In addition, the activity of endogenous secretin released by acid was markedly reduced by application of antibody. Since no such effect was observed after testmeal stimulation, secretin is most probably not released in a significant amount by the liquid meal used in this experiment.This work was supported by grant No. 3.816-0.76 of the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research.We express our thanks to Miss G. van Hees, Mrs L. Jecker and Dr F. Meyer for their excellent technical assistance, Dr W. W. Rittmann for the surgical support, Dr G.A. Stalder for general advice, Dres R. Studer and D. Gillessen for providing secretin Roche, and Mrs C. Frei for secretarial work.     

The pH-dependence of glucose transport inhibition by local anesthetics in human erythrocytes

Summary Local anesthetics vary in inhibition of glucose transport in human erythrocytes at different pH-values in the incubation media.The authors thank Dr G. Zimmer for valuable discussions. The work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Mutagenicity and toxicity of chloroethylene oxide and chloroacetaldehyde

Summary Exposure of severaltrp-auxotrophicEscherichia coli strains, carrying base0pair substitutions, to chloroethylene oxide or chloroacetaldehyde (two metabolites of vinyl chloride) increased the mutation frequency to tryptophan prototrophy. Strong cytotoxic and mutagenic effects were observed with 2.5 mM chloroethylene oxide, while a higher concentration of chloroacetaldehyde (100 mM) exhibited a mutagenic effect which was 400 times lower.I am grateful to Prof. G. Michel, Laboratoire de Biochimie Microbienne, and to Dr H. Bartsch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, for the support of this work. I wish to thank Dr F. Besson-Simien and Dr A. Barbin for their collaboration.     

Porcine skeletal muscle for physiological studies

Summary The common digital extensor (lateral head) is one of the few porcine muscles of convenient dimensions for in vitro studies of intact cells. Its removal and use in physiological studies are described.Acknowledgments. The pigs used in this investigation were provided by Drs D. G. Topel, L. L. Christian and G. A. Gronert whose cooperation is appreciated. Gratitude is also expressed to Dr N. G. Ghoshal for assistance with anatomical identifications.     

Inhibition of oxidizing enzymes by metronidazole

Zusammenfassung Eine unerwartete Möglichkeit, wie Metronidazol zu einer nur scheinbaren Hemmung der Alkoholdehydrogenase führen könnte, wird aufgedeckt.

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This research was supported in part by a grant from Ayerst Laboratories (New York), Scientific Advisory Board of the Licensed Beverage Industries (New York), and the Milheim Foundation for Cancer Research (Denver, Colorado). We thank Dr.T. Robitscher of Ayerst Laboratories and Dr.V. Drill of G. D. Searle & Co. for reagents used, and Dr.Drill for unpublished information from his laboratories.     

Eco-physiological studies onZornia diphylla pers. with reference to adaptive seed dormancy

Summary Seeds ofZornia diphylla possess a complex type of dormancy which is of great survival value for the species. Seeds show polymorphism. The optimum temperature for germination explains the cause of its distribution in the tropics. The grazing and scraping promotes the vegetative growth.The author is grateful to Dr.R. Sahai and Dr.R. S. Tripathi, Gorakhpur University, for guidance and to Dr.Y. B. Singh, Principal, and Dr.G. C. Srivastava, Head Dept. Botany, for encouragement and facilities. Thanks are due to my colleagues late SriP. N. Gupta, SriJ. Abraham, SriF. Abbasi, and Dr.A. B. Sinha for their cooperation.     

Vitellogenin synthesis induced in locust fat body by juvenile hormone analog in vitro

Summary Fat bodies from adult females ofLocusta migratoria continue to synthesize vitellogenin and other proteins when cultured in vitro. A strong secondary induction of vitellogenin synthesis was obtained in fat bodies cultured in the presence of methoprene, and a weaker but significant primary induction was also obtained using higher doses (>100 g) of methoprene.This work was carried out in Dr G.R. Wyatts Laboratory and I thank him for helpful discussions. I also thank Dr G. Staal (Zoecon Corp.) for supplying the methoprene and Pfizer Inc. for rimocidin sulfate. This research was supported by grants from the US NIH (HD 02176) and Canada NSERC.