Primary and secondary cerebral lesions produced by kainic acid injections in the rat]

Systematic (i. p.) or intra-amygdaloid injections of kainic acid elicit typical generalised convulsive seizures with typical electrographic correlates. Depending on the survival time and the amount of neurotoxin administered, secondary pathological damage is invariably found in various brain structures removed from the injection site such as various hippocompal fields, midline thalamic nuclei and neocortical layers III and VI. Various lines of evidence are reported which suggest that the secondary pathological damage is not due to the spread of the neurotoxin but to the epileptic status it induces.     

Chromosome fragility and susceptibility of Bloom's syndrome fibroblasts to SV40 transformation

Summary A comparison of the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and the rates of SV40 transformation was made using fibroblasts obtained from 2 patients with Bloom's syndrome (BS) and from a normal individual. BS cells were found to be more susceptible to chromosome damage, in confirmation of earlier reports, but surprisingly, BS cells were distinctly less prone to transformation.Supported in part by the Michael J. Connell Foundation Medical Genetics Fund, and Health, Education and Welfare, MCH project 422.     

Pollen flight forecasting in Germany and in Europe

Every tenth person in Central Europe is a pollinosis patient. The time of ripening and release of pollen, as well as pollen flight, all depend on the weather. Because each year is different from every other, mean values from pollen calendars do not provide any practical help for allergy-sufferers. For this reason, in many European countries, measuring networks have been established during the last 10 years as a basis for forecasting the prevalence of airborne pollen for the following 2–3 days, in connection with the weather forecast. Cooperation and communication also exist on a European level, and a European Pollen Database has been established.     

Inhibition of human chlorionic gonadotrophin-induced ovarian and uterine growth in the mouse by synthetic arginine vasotocin-1.

21-day-old Swiss-Webster female mice were injected with 1 IU HCG at 09.00 h. Injection of freshly prepared arginine vasotocin (2 mug/0.1 ml/injection) every 12 h inhibited the HCG-induced hypertrophy of the ovaries at 36, 48, 60 and 72 hr after HCG-treatment while the uterine weight was depressed at 60 and 72 h.     

The plasma volume of the Wistar rat in relation to the body weight

Summary The plasma volume of 43 male Wistar rats, weighing between 140 and 350 g, was determined. A close linear relationship between plasma volume and body weight was found: plasma volume (ml)=0.0291×body weight (g)+2.54.Acknowledgment. The excellent assistance of Mr J.S. Bouwer in animal experiments is gratefully acknowledged.     

Structure specificity of some immunoadjuvant synthetic glycopeptides.

The immunoadjuvant activity of muramyl dipeptide seems to be critically dependent on the type of substitution of the gamma-carboxyl group of the D-isoglutamine residue. Moreover the nonapeptide L-Ala-D-isoGlu-L-lys-D-Ala-(Gly)5-OME also shows a definite effect.