Relationship of blood groups and bladder cancer

A retrospective study correlating the blood groups of 141 patients with bladder cancer showed that patients with blood group A had lower grade tumors with lower mortality rates, and those with blood group O(H) had higher grade tumors and higher mortality rates.

Partial deprivation of GTP initiates meiosis and sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have investigated the physiological conditions under which meiosis and the ensuing sporulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are initiated. Initiation of sporulation occurs in response to carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur deprivation, and also, when met auxotrophs are partially starved for methionine, but not after starvation of other amino acid auxotrophs. It also occurs after partial starvation of pur or gua auxotrophs for guanine but not after starvation of ura auxotrophs for uracil. Under all these sporulation conditions the concentrations of both guanine nucleotides (GTP) and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) decrease whereas those of other nucleotides show no trend. We show that the decrease of guanine nucleotides is essential for the initiation of meiosis and sporulation: when a gua auxotroph, also lacking one of the two SAM synthetases, is starved for guanine but supplemented with 0.1 mM methionine, GTP decreases while SAM slightly increases and yet the cells sporulate.

Relationship of serum T4 and T3 to TSH in primary hypothyroidism

The relationship of serum thyroxine (T4) and 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) to the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) response to protirelin was studied in 34 hypothyroid patients on a stable maintenance dose of oral levo-thyroxine. Release of TSH from the anterior pituitary, as measured by basal TSH and the TSH response to protirelin, correlated better with serum T4 than serum T3. Our study supports the concept that, in treated hypothyroid patients, serum T4 has a greater relative importance in mediating the actions of thyroid hormone on the anterior pituitary than serum T3.

The relationship between rumen bacterial growth, intake of dry matter, digestible organic matter and volatile fatty acid production in buffalo (Bos bubalis) calves

1. The production rates of bacteria in the rumen of buffalo (Bos bubalis) calves were estimated using an isotope-dilution technique. A series of fifteen experiments was done with animals given green maize and nine experiments with animals given cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). 2. The turnover time ranged from 205 to 567 min in the group given green maize and from 330 to 648 min in animals offered cowpea. The production rates of bacteria were (mean +/- SE; g/d) 145.77 +/- 7.240 and 237.09 +/- 11.847 in animals given green maize and cowpea respectively. 3. There was a significant correlation between bacterial production rates and dry matter intake, digestible organic matter and total volatile fatty acids formed in the rumen. 4. Regression equations obtained for the two foodstuffs were different suggesting that the bacterial growth rate may vary depending upon the quantity and quality of foodstuff digested and possibly the ratio nitrogen:energy of the foodstuff.

Measurements in vivo of the rate of production of protozoa in the rumen

The rates of production of protozoa in the rumen of buffalo calves have been estimated using a single-injection isotope dilution technique. The calves were fed at 2 levels of crude protein, namely, 13% lower and 19% higher than that recommended by the National Research Council. The animals were given their rations at 2-h intervals for 3 weeks. Thereafter 14C-labelled rumen protozoa were injected into the rumen of each calf in a single injection. Samples of the rumen liquor were drawn at various time-intervals for 10 h and were analysed for the concentration of protozoa and radioactivity. The decline in the specific radioactivity of protozoa cells in the rumen as a function of time was used for calculating half life (t½). A mathematical equation was used to calculate the rate of production of protozoa. The average t½ was 1077 min for both groups and the rates of production of protozoa were 73·9 and 92·1mg/min in groups fed on low and high planes of crude protein respectively, showing that the production of protozoa is significantly (P < 0·01) higher in animals consuming a ration high in crude protein.

Quantitative assay of a plasma factor deficient in von Willebrand's disease that is necessary for platelet aggregation. Relationship to factor VIII procoagulant activity and antigen content

In a previous paper, we showed that the abnormality of ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation in platelet-rich plasma in 10 patients with von Willebrand's disease could be corrected by a factor in normal plasma that was present in the same fractions as factor VIII procoagulant activity (antihemophilic factor, AHF, VIII(AHF)) when prepared by chromatography on Bio-Gel 5 M (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Richmond, Calif.). This observation suggests that patients with this disorder are deficient in a plasma factor, associated with the factor VIII molecule, that is necessary for normal platelet function. In the present paper, we describe, an assay for this factor, the von Willebrand factor (VIII(VWF)), based on the observation that a log-log relationship exists between the amount of ristocetin-induced aggregation of washed, normal platelets and the concentration of normal plasma present in the test system. We assayed the activity of VIII(VWF) as well as antihemophilic factor procoagulant activity (VIII(AHF)) and factor VIII antigen (VIII(AGN)) in 15 patients with von Willebrand's disease and 20 normal subjects. A highly significant correlation (r approximately 0.80) between VIII(VWF) and both VIII(AHF) was found in normal subjects and in patients with von Willebrand's disease. This finding, in addition to the observation that agarose gel chromatography fractions that have VIII(AHF) procoagulant activity also have VIII(VWF) activity, strongly suggests that the von Willebrand factor is associated with the factor VIII molecule. VIII(VWF) in normal plasma was not inhibited by human anti-VIII, and VIII(VWF) levels were normal in hemophilic plasma. Thus, the VIII(VWF) site on the factor VIII molecule appears to be different from that determining VIII(AHF). Finally, the activity of VIII(VWF) appeared to correlate better with the bleeding time than either VIII(AHF) or VIII(AGN). This suggests that VIII(VWF) assayed in this study may be the "anti-bleeding factor" that is deficient in von Willebrand's disease. These findings are consistent with a decreased synthesis of the factor VIII molecule in von Willebrand's disease and suggest the possibility of additional abnormalities of the site on the molecule that determines the activity of VIII(VWF).