Pulpotomy as an alternative to canine tooth extraction in monkeys [Macaca mulatta]

An effective method for sealing pulp canals after partial removal of canine tooth crowns from adult rhesus monkeys is described.     

A 280-day tolerance-efficacy study with mibolerone for suppression of estrus in the cat

Mibolerone, a synthetic anabolic steroid, prevented estrus in domesticated cats when orally given a daily dose of 50 microng over a 180-day period. Doses of 20 microng daily and 50 microng given once a week failed to prevent estrus. Treatment with the 50-microng dose each day for 6 months had no apparent effects on subsequent estrus, mating, queening, or litter size. Kittens born to queens which had been treated did not have obvious developmental defects. Systemic metabolic changes produced by treatment were detected only in thyroid function, as revealed in dose- and time-related changes in serum cholesterol concentrations, thyroid gland weights, and thyroid histology. Clinical evidence of thyroid dysfunction was not apparent during the 6 months of treatment. Clinical and microscopic evidence of slight masculinization was apparent in cats after 3 months of treatment with 20 or 50 microng per day. Masculinizing changes consisted of thickening of the cervical dermis and clitoral hypertrophy. Behavioral changes were not observed. The apparent mechanism of action of mibolerone in the cat is the suppression of the release of pituitary luteinizing hormone.     

Adjuvant effect of Bordetella pertussis vaccine to sheep erythrocytes in mice: enhancement of cell-mediated immunity by subcutaneous administration of adjuvant and antigen

The subcutaneous route (s.c.) was used to study the adjuvant effect of Bordetella pertussis vaccine (PV) on cell-mediated immunity to sheep erythorcytes (SRBC). The immune response was measured by a sensitive assay procedure in which the antigen is injected intracutaneously into the mouse ear and the inflammatory swelling is measured with calipers. PV significantly enhanced cell-mediated immunity to SRBC, and the enhancement persisted for at least 3 weeks. PV administered up to 6 days before SRBC also significantly enhanced the response; PV injected 1 or more days after SRBC was not effective. In addition, it was found that PV per se released into the suspension medium a cell-free component(s) (pertussis supernatant) that contributed significantly to adjuvanticity. The adjuvanticity of both PV and PS was completely eliminated by heat.     

Effect of cross-linking on the secondary structure of DNA I. Cross-linking by photodimerization

An investigation has been made into the effect produced by photo-induced pyrimidine cross-links upon the secondary structure of DNA. We have studied the effect of uv irradiation upon the B in equilibrium A transition in DNA brought about by a change of solvent from 70 to 80% ethanol. Circular dichroism (CD) was used to monitor the conformational changes. However, we first showed by means of laser Raman spectroscopy that CD is a reliable monitor of the conformational change, even though the DNA is aggregated in 80% alcohol solutions. It is suggested that this aggregation stabilizes the A form through lateral interaction between the helices. The uv irradiation experiments show that pyrimidine-dimer cross-links induced into the B-form DNA will lock it irreversibly into that conformation and prevent it from going to the A form in 80% EtOH solution. The A-form DNA can tolerate a few cross-links but converts cooperatively to the B form if a larger number of cross-links is introduced. Irradiation-induced pyrimidine cross-links create locally denatured regions in B-form DNA. Upon continued irradiation, the entire DNA moelcule becomes denatured.     

Circulating dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DbetaH) and catecholamines in a paediatric phaeochromocytoma

Nasal airways resistance was measured in ten patients with allergic rhinitis during intranasal application of an extract of grass pollen. Pretreatment with placebo did not inhibit the increase in nasal airways resistance, whereas ICI 74,917 administered from a pressurized aerosol gave almost complete protection. ICI 74,917 was well tolerated and no evidence was obtained of local hyposensitization during the period of the study.     

Ouabain-insensitive salt and water movements in duck red cells. III. The role of chloride in the volume response

Duck red cells in hypertonic media experience rapid osmotic shrinkage followed by gradual reswelling back toward their original volume. This uptake of salt and water is self limiting and demands a specific ionic composition of the external solution. Although ouabain (10(-4)M) alters the pattern of cation accumulation from predominantly potassium to sodium, it does not affect the rate of the reaction, or the total amount of salt or water taken up. To study the response without the complications of active Na-K transport, ouabain was added to most incubations. All water accumulated by the cells can be accounted for by net salt uptake. Specific external cation requirements for reswelling include: sufficient sodium (more than 23 mM), and elevated potassium (more than 7 mM). In the absence of external potassium cells lose potassium without gaining sodium and continue to shrink instead of reswelling. Adding rubidium to the potassium- free solution promotes an even greater loss of cell potassium, yet causes swelling due to a net uptake of sodium and rubidium followed by chloride. The diuretic furosemide (10(-3)M) inhibits net sodium uptake which depends on potassium (or rubidium), as well as inhibits net sodium uptake which depends on sodium. As a result, cell volume is stabilized in the presence of this drug by inhibition of shrinkage, at low, and of swelling at high external potassium. The response has a high apparent energy of activation (15-20 kcal/mol). We propose that net salt and water movements in hypertonic solutions containing ouabain are mediated by direct coupling or cis-interaction, between sodium and potassium so that the uphill movement of one is driven by the downhill movement of the other in the same direction.     

A new technique for measuring velopharyngeal orifice area during sustained vowel production: an application of aerodynamic forced oscillation principles

A new technique for measuring velopharyngeal orifice area during sustained vowel production is described. The technique is based on a simple oscillatory flow balancing procedure between two aerodynamic branches, a mechanical model of the human upper airway and the subject's upper airway. The area of the velopharyngeal orifice in the model is adjusted until identical oscillatory flows traverse it and the subject's velopharyngeal orifice in response to a common forced oscillatory pressure. When identical oscillatory flows are observed, the area of the adjusted orifice is taken as a measure of the area of the subject's velopharyngeal orifice.     

Responsibility and dependency.

In 2 experiments the Ss were "workers" operating under the supposed guidance of their peer (a stranger) who was playing the part of their "supervisor." The men in the High Dependency condition were informed that E's evaluation of the supervisor would depend largely upon their productivity, while the Low Dependency Ss were told that this evaluation would not be affected by their performance. There was a significantly greater performance in the High Dependency condition. In general, the Low Dependency Ss worked harder when told that the supervisor would soon learn of their performance than when they had been informed that he would not find out about their productivity until much later. The immediacy with which the supervisor would learn of S's productivity did not affect performance under high dependency, however. The Ss in this condition worked relatively hard presumably because of a feeling of responsibility to the dependent peer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)