Evidence for plasmid-associated crystal toxin production in Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis

Three crystalliferous (Cry+) strains of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (serotype 14) that produce parasporal protein crystals toxic to dipteran larvae and several acrystalliferous (Cry-) mutants, either induced or spontaneously derived from a single Cry+ parent, were examined for the presence of covalently closed circular (CCC) DNA in attempts to correlate toxin production with the presence of a specific plasmid. The plasmid profiles of both Cry+ and Cry- variants were analyzed by both a cleared lysate- and a modified Eckhardt lysate-electrophoresis technique. All of the Cry- mutants derived from the Cry+ parental strain had lost a 4.0- to 4.4-megadalton (Mdal) plasmid. Bioassay data confirmed loss of toxin production by the Cry- variants. All three Cry+ strains, including the parent of the Cry- strains, contained CCC plasmids DNAs of the following approximate molecular weights: 4.0 to 4.4, 5.2 to 6.0, and 11.4 to 13.0 Mdal. One Cry+ strain contained an additional CCC plasmid of 6.7 to 7.2 Mdal. The plasmid patterns for several Cry- derivatives differed in other respects from the pattern for their parent strain. The various Cry+ and Cry- strains could be distinguished either by phenotypical differences in antibiotic sensitivity, crystal production, and toxicity, or by differences in their plasmid profiles.     

Calciphylaxis in man. A syndrome of tissue necrosis and vascular calcification in 11 patients with chronic renal failure

Eleven patients with chronic renal failure and presumed secondary hyperparathyroidism developed a syndrome of medial calcinosis of the arteries and painful ischemic ulcers of the fingers, legs, or thighs, or any combination of the three. Five patients required maintenance hemodialysis; six had functioning renal homografts. Severe hyperphosphatemia had existed in each; seven showed roentgenographic evidence of subperiosteal resorption. Similarities are evident between the lesions and experimentally produced calciphylaxix. The lesions demonstrated a relentless, progressive course, with serious morbidity and mortality. Hyperplastic or adenomatours parathyroid tissue was removed from ten of 11 patients unergoing surgical procedures; healing followed in seven patients. Treatment with phosphate-binding antacids to lower serum phosphorus levels may prevent this syndrome. Total or subtotal parathyroidectomy should be considered when ischemic skin lesions appear in uremic patients or in renal transplant recipients.     

Some determinants of self-monitoring effects

Studied self-monitoring of eyeblink responses in 80 undergraduate volunteers to test hypotheses that (a) the direction of reactive effects is a function of the perceived value of the target behavior; (b) neither the behavior's value nor self-monitoring alone is sufficient to produce significant effects but that both are necessary; (c) self-monitoring is more reactive than monitoring by the E; (d) multiple reports of monitoring are more reactive than a single report of monitoring; and (e) self-monitoring effects are more reactive than a single report of merely attending to a particular behavior. Results provide general support for the 1st 2 hypotheses and suggestive support for the 3rd. Results pertaining to the 4th and 5th hypotheses took an unexpected twist and suggest the need for further study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the question of an electrokinetic requirement for phospholipase C action

The phospholipase C of clostridium welchii (alpha toxin) has an absolute requirement for trace quantities of Ca2+. It attacks pure phosphatidylcholine particles (smectic mesophases) having a close-packed bilayer structure only when their surface zeta potential is made positive by the addition of certain divalent ions (e.g., Ca2+) to the aqueous phase or by the presence of low concentrations of long chain cations to the lipid. Alternatively, if the rotational freedom of individual phospholipid molecules is increased by the insertion of short n-alkanols (e.g., hexanol) into the bilayer or when a monolayer of the substrate at an air/water interface is expended, enzymic hydrolysis can occur without any requirement for a net postive charge on the surface.     

On the relationship between the electronic density of states and the superconducting critical temperature of disordered V3Si

The available data on the effect of neutron and α-particle irradiation on the superconducting properties and the low-temperature specific heat capacity of single- and polycrystalline V₃Si were analyzed in a unified manner. It was found that the electron-phonon renormalization parameter λ does not vary simply proportionally to the bare density of electron states at the Fermi level as had been earlier conjectured by Dynes and Varma, nor does it vary in exactly the same manner as found by Fradin and Williamson to hold for a variety of vanadium-based A15 structure compounds and pseudobinary alloys. When the behavior of V₃Si is compared with that of Nb₃Sn, Nb₃Al, and Nb₃Ge, it is seen that the response to disorder of parameters of importance in the superconductivity of these compounds does not follow any simple, universal behavior.