Alternative behavioral approaches to the treatment of homosexuality

Two proven procedures are suggested for the substitution of T-drainage. 1. Modified coledochoduodenostomy, i.e. an internal shunt. By this precedure the operative mortality of aged jaundiced patients at risk could considerably be reduced. The key to success in this case is a broad anastomosis. 2. Patients of normal strength are subjected to sphincterectomy through transduodenal exposure and spincter replacement is performed after cleaning of the biliary ducts. The operated area is bridged by trans-cystically placed thin polyethylene tubing. Both procedures have rendered unnecessary the use of T-drainage.     

Selfaligned InGaAs/InP heterostructure bipolar transistors

InGaAs/InP heterostructure bipolar transistors have been realised using a new selfaligned process. Transistor wafers were grown by chemical beam epitaxy. Ideality factors close to unity were measured for emitter-base and collector-base diodes. The resulting devices exhibit nearly constant gain over four orders of magnitude of collector current densities, from j=1.5*10/sup -4/ A/cm/sup 2/ to 1.5 A/cm/sup 2/.<>     

Inactivation of tumor suppressor p53 by mot-2, a hsp70 family member

The mortalin genes, mot-1 and mot-2, are hsp70 family members that were originally cloned from normal and immortal murine cells, respectively. Their proteins differ by only two amino acid residues but exhibit different subcellular localizations, arise from two distinct genes, and have contrasting biological activities. We report here that the two proteins also differ in their interactions with the tumor suppressor protein p53. The pancytosolic mot-1 protein in normal cells did not show colocalization with p53; in contrast, nonpancytosolic mot-2 and p53 overlapped significantly in immortal cells. Transfection of mot-2 but not mot-1 resulted in the repression of p53-mediated transactivation in p53-responsive reporter assays. Inactivation of p53 by mot-2 was supported by the down-regulation of p53-responsive genes p21(WAF-1) and mdm-2 in mot-2-transfected cells only. Furthermore, NIH 3T3 cells transfected with expression plasmid encoding green fluorescent protein-tagged mot-2 but not mot-1 showed an abrogation of nuclear translocation of wild-type p53. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism of p53 inactivation by mot-2 protein.     

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for low-grade lymphoma

Advanced low-grade lymphomas are usually incurable with conventional-dose chemotherapy. It is uncertain whether cures are possible with high-dose therapy and bone marrow transplant from a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling. We sought to determine the outcome of HLA-identical sibling bone marrow transplants in advanced low-grade lymphoma in an observational study of 113 patients conducted at 50 centers participating in the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry (IBMTR). The median patient age was 38 years (range, 15 to 61). Eighty percent had stage IV disease at the time of transplantation. The median number of prior chemotherapy regimens was two (range, 0 to 5). Thirty-eight percent had refractory disease and 29% a Karnofsky performance score (KPS) less than 80%. All patients underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation from a HLA-identical sibling donor. The conditioning regimen included total-body irradiation (TBI) in 82% of patients; cyclosporine was used for graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in 74%. Survival, disease-free survival, recurrence rate, treatment-related mortality, and causes of death were determined. Three-year probabilities of recurrence, survival, and disease-free survival were 16% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9% to 27%), 49% (95% CI, 39% to 60%), and 49% (95% CI, 39% to 59%), respectively. Higher survival was associated with pretransplant KPS >/=90%, chemotherapy-sensitive disease, use of a TBI-containing conditioning regimen, and age less than 40 years. We conclude that high-dose therapy followed by transplantation from a HLA-identical sibling leads to prolonged survival in some patients with advanced low-grade lymphoma. Most mortality is treatment-related, and recurrences are rare.     

Fluorescence depolarization studies on the flexibility of myosin rod

The single photon counting method has been used to measure the decay of fluorescence polarization anisotropy of myosin rods labeled with extrinsic fluorophores. Rods labeled with 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) or 5-dimethylaminoaphthalene-1-sulfonyl chloride (DNS-Cl) exhibit negative rotational correlation times; the anisotropy increases with time. Possible artifactual causes for the negative decay times are ruled out. It is shown that such curves are to be expected for rigid rods when the fluorophore is bound so that the absorption and emission dipoles each make a small angle with the long axis of the molecule and lie on opposite sides of the rod. At pH 4 and below, rapid decay of the anisotropy (positive correlation times) indicates the presence of a freely bending region in the rod. This is probably the proteolytically sensitive region between light meromyosin and heavy meromyosin subfragment 2. At pH 8, no such free bending is observed, even at temperatures as high as 50 degrees C. From this observation and other physical properties of the rod, we conclude that, at pH 8, the hinge region has considerable resistance to bending. It is more like a spring than a free hinge. The rotational diffusion about the rod axis is faster than would be predicted for a rigid, smooth molecule.     

(AlGa)As strip buried-heterostructure lasers prepared by hybrid crystal growth

The localised nonwetting problem encountered during regrowth by LPE in the fabrication of a strip buried-heterostructure (SBH) laser was solved by using the hybrid process of MBE to grow the uniform four-layer heterostructure and LPE to achieve the melt back and regrowth. As a result of this process, a very significant improvement in the device yield was obtained.     

Effects of spironolactone, canrenone and canrenoate-K on cytochrome P450, and 11beta- and 18-hydroxylation in bovine and human adrenal cortical mitochondria

Effects of spironolactone, canrenone and canrenoate-K on adrenal cytochrome P450 (P450) and corticosteroid biosynthesis were examined by studying difference spectra, P450 reduction and corticoid hydroxylation in mitochondrial preparations isolated from zona fasciculata and zona glomerulosa of bovine adrenals and from adrenal adenoma and hyperplastic adrenal cortex removed from patients with hyperaldosteronism. All three agents bound to P450 producing type I difference spectra and underwent hydroxylation. They all inhibited 11beta-hydroxylation in bovine adrenal at 30 muM and higher concentrations. Canrenone, the most potent inhibitor, blocked enzyme activity by 60% at a concentration of 60 muM. Spironolactone stimulated P450 reduction. The order of potency of inhibition was found to correlate with the order of affinity of these agents for P450. 11beta-Hydroxylase in human adrenal appeared to be less sensitive to canrenone. All three agents or their hydroxylated metabolites blocked 18-hydroxylation in bovine adrenal at lower concentrations. Canrenoate-K, being the most effective, inhibited 52% at 20 muM. Low concentrations of canrenone (2.5-5.0 muM) were without effect on 11beta-hydroxylase but markedly inhibited 18-hydroxylation (62-76%) in hyperplastic human adrenals. The inhibitors produced mixed type inhibition of 11beta-hydroxylation and competitive type inhibition of 18-hydroxylation. These findings indicate that at low concentrations spironolactone and its major metabolites, canrenone and canrenoate-K, or their hydroxylated metabolites, can directly interfere with the biosynthesis of aldosterone in bovine and certain human adrenal cortical tissue.