A comparison of parameters used to assess liver damage in sheep treated with carbon tetrachloride

Changes in serum enzyme levels, liver histology and liver function tests have been correlated to determine the usefulness of these tests in assessing liver status. The effects of carbon tetrachloride administration on these parameters has been determined in a group of 20 sheep. Normal levels, elevated levels after injury and the effect of elapsed time after injury are reported for serum glutamic dehydrogenase, sorbitol dehydrogenase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, fructose-1-phosphate adlolase, alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol and proteins. Variation in the time of elevation of enzyme activities may be useful in determining the elapsed time between acute injury and serum sampling. In comparison to sheep fed an adequate diet, a diet with a restricted protein intake was associated with increased severity of histological lesions and decreased liver function.     

Studies of 5'-nucleotidase in the perfused rat heart. Including measurements of the enzyme in perfused skeletal muscle and liver

Perfused rat hearts catalyze the hydrolysis of AMP added to the perfusion fluid at a rate of 35 mumol/g dry weight/min. The activity is specific for 5'-nucleoside monophosphates, little activity being observed with 2' and 3'-AMP. The enzyme exhibits Michaelis-Menten kinetics in situ and is inhibited competitively by adenosine-5'-alpha, beta-methylene diphosphonate (Ki = 13 muM). This, as well as the nucleotide specificity, confirms that the hydrolysis is catalyzed by 5'-nucleotidase. The maximum activity of 5'-nucleotidase in perfused hearts is equal to or greater than that found in heart homogenates; thus, all of the enzyme is accessible to AMP added externally. Hydrolysis of endogenous AMP was studied in the perfused heart. Under aerobic conditions hearts contain very low amounts of purine nucleosides, and little or no nucleoside is found in the effluent perfusate. Under anaerobic conditions hearts accumulate adenosine, inosine, and hypoxanthine and release all three substances into the perfusate. Hydrolysis of externally added AMP was also observed in perfused skeletal muscle and liver, at rates of 10 and 17 mumol/g dry weight/min, respectively.     

Two-phonon Raman scattering of light in argon at high temperatures

The two-phonon Raman spectra of solid argon at 60 K, 22.1 cm³/mole and at 153.5 K, 22.3 cm³/mole are calculated, with phonon frequencies obtained from a calculation in which cubic anharmonicity is included self-consistently and short-range correlations are incorporated. The results are compared with existing molecular dynamics calculations and with experimental measurements. Certain general trends, such as the presence of a two-phonon cutoff and a smoothing out of the features of the spectra, are correctly reproduced, but the calculations predict too low intensity at frequencies around 40 cm^–1, between the sum and difference bands.Supported in part by a grant from the Rutgers University Research Council.Work submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Ph.D. degree at Rutgers University.