31P NMR identification of metabolites and pH determination in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6308

The identity of a number of phosphorus-containing metabolites present in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6308 has been confirmed by 31P NMR spectroscopy. The presence of D-ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP); DL-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GlyP); D(-)3-phosphoglyceric acid (3PGA); D-ribulose 5-phosphate (Ru5P);6-phosphogluconic acid (6PGA); phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP); inorganic phosphate (Pi); uridine diphosphoglucose (UDPG); ADP and ATP were demonstrated by the pH dependence of their 31P NMR chemical shifts in spectra of perchloric acid cell extracts. Intracellular pH of cells was determined to be 7.5-7.7.     

印度水电方面的技术成就

大型水电工程需要大量的开挖隧洞，作者是负责印度国家水电公司（NHPC）所属的Tessta Ⅱ级水电工程的总工程师，现对印度在水电开发中的最新隧洞开挖工程做了一个展望。     

The pathogenesis of undiagnosed peritonitis in middle-aged and elderly patients with acute coronary insufficiency

Three-stage treatment using a day hospital instead of a sanatorium with regards to the pattern of a tuberculosis process can achieve the results of closure of decay and abacillation cavities, which are not inferior to those with the conventional treatment, by reducing the basic regimen through the length of a hospital stage. The efficiency of two-stage treatment (day hospital--outpatient clinic) of lung tissue decay and culture-positive patients depends on the duration of the basic regimen, patient compliance, and the presence of a concomitant abnormality.     

No increased mortality in later life for cohorts born during famine

Nutrition early in life may influence adult mortality. The fetal-origins hypothesis suggests that nourishment before birth and during the individual's infancy programs the development of risk factors for several important diseases of middle and old age. The present study was designed to evaluate the impact of extreme nutritional deprivation in utero and during infancy and early childhood on mortality in later life. The authors analyzed the survival of the cohorts born in Finland during the severe 1866-1868 famine and during the 5 years immediately preceding and 5 years immediately following the famine. The study included 331,932 individuals born prior to the famine, 161,744 born during the famine, and 323,321 born after the famine. The authors assessed survival by cohorts from birth to age 17 years and from age 17 to 40, 60, and 80 years, as well as average length of life after age 80 years. Survival from birth to age 17 years was significantly lower in cohorts born before and during the famine than in the cohorts born after the famine (males, 0.566 vs. 0.671, a difference of 0.105 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.102-0.108); females, 0.593 vs. 0.692, a difference of 0.099 (95% CI 0.096-0.102)). At subsequent ages, including old age, mortality was practically identical in the famine-born cohorts and in the five cohorts born before and after the crisis. For both males and females, survival from 17 to 80 years and mean remaining lifetime at age 80 years were very similar across the 13 cohorts studied. These findings suggest that, although cohorts subjected to prolonged and extreme nutritional deprivation in utero and during infancy and early childhood suffer an immediate rise in mortality, after the crisis has passed, they carry no aftereffects that influence their survival in later life.     

Expression of smooth-muscle actin in cultured cells from human plasmacytoid myoepithelioma

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic sclerotherapy (ST), widely used as treatment of bleeding esophageal varices, might cause motility disturbances of the esophagus as well as mucosal damage. We performed this study to evaluate the long-term effects of repeated sclerotherapy on esophageal motility and mucosa. METHODS: Ten patients with liver cirrhosis and bleeding esophageal varices treated with repeated ST were evaluated after the last ST, median 52 months, by esophageal manometry and gastroscopy where forceps biopsies were taken. RESULTS: We found a significant difference in the distal esophageal sphincter intraabdominal length. The distal esophageal sphincter pressure was somewhat lower in the ST group although the difference did not reach statistical significance. There was infiltration of neutrophil leukocytes in biopsies from four patients and normal findings in the rest. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term follow-up evaluation showed statistically longer distal esophageal intraabdominal length in the ST group. No mucosal alterations were found at the histopathological investigation.     

Vascular malformations of the jaw bones. Report on nine patients

Partial complementary DNA (cDNA) for thymidine phosphorylase (dThdPase) was cloned by means of a polymerase chain reaction. There was complete sequence identity between the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence of a clone (288 nucleotides) and the residues of platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF). The amino acid sequence of all four peptide fragments from purified human dThdPase could be aligned with that of PD-ECGF. Our data indicate that residues 125-244 of PD-ECGF are identical to the sequence of human dThdPase. The molecular weights of human dThdPase and recombinant PD-ECGF (rPD-ECGF) that lacks 10 amino acids at the amino terminal were 55 and 52 kDa, respectively. Anti-PD-ECGF antibody recognized dThdPase, and anti-dThdPase antibody recognized rPD-ECGF. rPD-ECGF had dThdPase activity and its specific activity was similar to that of purified human dThdPase. dThdPase activity and molecules were detected in COS cells transfected with human PD-ECGF cDNA, but not in nontransfected cells. The sizes of PD-ECGF and dThdPase in the transfected COS cells were identical. These data suggest that human dThdPase is identical to PD-ECGF.