Production of dihydroxyacetone from an aqueous solution of glycerol in the reaction catalyzed by an immobilized cell preparation of acetic acid bacteria Gluconobacter oxydans ATCC 621

Dihydroxyacetone (1,3-dihydroxy-2-propanone, DHA) is applied in the food and cosmetic industries as well as in pharmacy and medicine. It is produced as a result of incomplete oxidation of glycerol by acetic acid bacteria Gluconobacter oxydans. This reaction is catalyzed by PQQ-dependent membrane-bound glycerol dehydrogenase. The research developed a method of obtaining DHA by oxidation of a 3?% aqueous solution of glycerol (pH 7.5) at a temperature of 23?°C, with the only reaction biocatalyst being an immobilized cell preparation obtained from G. oxydans cells. After 5?days of the process, DHA concentration in the solution accounted for 27.2?g/L and the reaction efficiency for 94?%. After 4?days of the reaction run in culture media with pH 5.0, at a temperature of 28?°C, free or immobilized cells of G. oxydans produced on average 25?g of DHA/L at the reaction efficiency of 87?%.     

Renal glomerular and tubular lesions in rabbits treated with uranyl nitrate

Renal injury and regeneration was followed light--and electron microscopically in rabbits treated with uranyl nitrate. The presence and importance of glomerular lesions is noteworthy.     

Transplantation of Peyer''s patches under the kidney capsule in syngeneic mice. I. Morphological studies

The morphology of Peyer's patches transplanted under the kidney capsule in syngeneic mice was studied up to 30 days after transplantation. Changes undergoing in transplants were arbitrarily divided into three stages: the initial stage of necrosis, then from the third day on -- clearing of dead tissues, and finally, from the fifth day -- lymphoid regeneration. Starting from the ninth day on, the lymphoid structure of the transplants was quite distinct. Transplants appeared to be similar to Peyer's patches in situ. Reconstituted transplants contained a huge number of blood vessels located with lymphocytes. The epithelial cysts were found in all the transplants. They were formed by remnants of persisted intestinal epithelium covering Peyer's patches in situ. The possibility of epithelial influence on lymphoid regeneration of the transplants is discussed.     

Enteropathies with lactose intolerance accompanying chronic otitis media and mastoiditis in infants

The response of the rabbit utero-ovarian ligament to catecholamines has been studied in vitro, with contractile activity being recorded isometrically from whole rabbit ligaments obtained under various hormonal conditions. Both the catecholamines norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (EPI) produced dose-dependent (10(-2) mug/ml threshold; 10(2) mug/ml maximum) tetanic contractions of rabbit ligament. There was no difference (P less than 0.05) between estrous and ovulatory ligaments either in terms of the dose-response curves or maximal force of contraction. Both agonists were 100% antagonized by the alpha-blockers, phentolamine and phenoxybenzamine. The beta-agonist, isoproterenol, had little effect on ligament tonus but did inhibit spontaneous activity and attenuated the response to both NE and EPI. Propranolol, a beta-blocker, slightly (less than 10%) potentiated the stimulatory effects of NE and EPI. It is concluded that the utero-ovarian ligament of the rabbit contains predominately alpha-stimulatory and possibly weak beta-inhibitory receptors analogous to receptors in ovarian and oviductal smooth muscles.     

Failures in the surgical treatment of retinal detachment. An analysis

One hundred sixteen patients underwent operation for renovascular hypertension from 1962 through 1975; 64% had aortorenal reconstruction and 36% had nephrectomy. Sixty-six percent were cured and 19% were improved. Rapid sequence intravenous pyelography, radioisotope renography, and renal arteriography were equal in ability to detect renovascular hypertension. Bilateral renal biopsy specimens had excellent prognostic value when performed in a graded semiquantitative manner. Plasma renin activity was the most consistently useful criterion for prediction of surgical cure if the following requirements were used: (1) elevated peripheral plasma renin activity, (2) elevated renin from the affected kidney, and (3) suppressed renin secretion from the contralateral kidney. An angiotensin II antagonist, saralasin acetate, used in six patients before operation in an attempt to identify those whose hypertension depended on angiotensin II activity, produced a depressor response correlating well with the surgical result.