Serological response of rhesus monkeys to histoplasma, Blastomyces, and Coccidioides antigens

Fifteen adult rhesus monkeys were inoculated with nonviable Histoplasma capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, or Coccidioides immitis. Antibody assays were made periodically during a 2-year period by use of a complement-fixation (CF) test employing four antigens and a latex-agglutination test. Selected sera were also studied in an immunodiffusion test and a coccidioidin-precipitin test. The serological patterns obtained with the anti-Histoplasma, anti-Blastomyces, and anti-Coccidioides monkey sera were comparable to those of sera from patients with diseases caused by the respective organisms. Rhesus monkeys should provide a good laboratory model for additional studies, including the influence of multiple antigenic stimuli on serologic response and patterns. Monkeys could also be used for the production of antisera required for studies to improve the specificity of the currently available CF antigens.

Synchronized high speed scanning infrared spectrometer

A spectrometer which scans a wavelength band of 0.6 micro in 30 microsec and is useful from 2-6 micro is described. The instrument can be synchronized with a pulsed source with a minimum triggering delay of 15microsec. The instrument is basically an Ebert spectrometer equipped with an indium antimonide detector at the exit slit, an aluminum scanning mirror placed 5 cm before the exit slit, and a wavelength calibration signal generator. The scanning mirror, which is supported on pivots inside a helical coil, deflects the spectrum through an angle of approximately 90 degrees onto the exit slit. When a capacitor is discharged through the coil, the resulting magnetic field spins the aluminum mirror causing the spectrum to move across the exit slit. The wavelength calibration signal generator produces a series of electrical pulses as the scanning mirror turns, permitting wavelength calibration when the pulses are displayed below the spectrometer signal on a dual beam oscilloscope. Using this instrument on a shock tube, data have bee obtained on the absolute spectral radiation intensity of air, nitrogen, neon, and argon heated by reflected shocks to equilibrium temperatures in the range of 6000 degrees K to 10,000 degrees K. In this temperature region with these gases, an important source of continuum radiation is neutral Bremsstrahlung caused by the inelastic scattering of electrons from neutral atoms and molecules. By employing the scanning ir spectrometer it has been possible to separate the continuum radiation from contributions owing to lines and bands and determine the cross section for the neutral Bremsstrahlung.