Lack of gastrointestinal enhancement of the insulin response to glucose in newborn infants

Forty-five normal newborn infants were infused with glucose at constant rates by intravenous or nasogastric routes. Blood glucose rose to higher levels during IV than during NG infusions at identical rates; however, the glycemic responses were similar when NG glucose infusions at 12 mg/minute/kg were compared with IV infusions at 6 mg/minute/kg. The plasma insulin responses to glucose were not enhanced by NG administration. Thus, enterohormonal responses to glucose may not affect pancreatic beta cell regulation of glucose assimilation in the newborn period.

Production of calcitonin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and beta-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in tumors derived from amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation cells

The tumor production of human calcitonin (CT) was examined by radioimmunoassay, and it was found that 50 of 85 (59%) tumor tissues collected at random contained immunoreactive CT. These tumors were grouped as to whether they were derived from the amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) series. The group that was derived from APUD cells showed appreciable amounts of CT in 30 of 31 (97%) of these tumors or in 20 of 21 (95%) when the medullary carcinomas of the thyroid were excluded. However, of the non-APUD group of tumors only 20 of 54 (37%) were found to contain CT, so that the difference between these two groups was highly significant (p less than 0.001). Of the tumors with ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone-melanocyte-stimulating hormone production, 12 of 14 were shown to contain CT. These data indicate that CT is a common product of the APUD tumors and that tumor production of CT is often associated with that of adrenocorticotropic hormone and beta-melanocyte-stimulating hormone.

A case of acute myeloblastic leukemia with Ph1 chromosome showing translocation 9q+;22q-

Cytogenetic studies of the bone marrow and peripheral blood with the quinacrine fluorescence banding technique in a patient with the clinical diagnosis of acute myeloblastic leukemia revealed the Philadelphia chromosome due to a translocation between chromosomes 22 and 9. He had been exposed to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and some hours after the exposure he wandered into the hypocenter.

Corynecin (chloramphenicol analogs) fermentation studies: selective production of Corynecin I by Corynebacterium hydrocarboclastus grown on acetate

Corynebacterium hydrocarboclastus KY 8835 grew in the acetate medium and accumulated 28mM Corynecins which was the highest production yield among the processes using various carbon sources. Selective production of Corynecin I (over 90% of all Corynecins), which had been desired for increase of the product yield, was achieved in this acetate medium. To keep the concentration of acetate, ammonium, and phosphate ions in the optimum range throughout the fermentation, a solution containing CH2COOH (50%), CH3COONH4 (9%), and KH2PO4 (0.2%) was fed continuously to the culture medium as the pH controlling agent. The addition of KCl (1%) and NaCl (1%) to the medium at 12 hr after inoculation stimulated the production of Corynecins.

[The relation of intracranial air to C.S.F. rhinorrhoea in the traumatic pneumocephalus (intracerebral and ventricular) (author's transl)]

The relation of intracranial air to C.S.F. rhinorrhoea in our four cases, one intracerebral and the others intracerebral-ventricular pneumocephalus, were investigated on their clinical course, operative findings and RI-cisternographic findings. In the occurrence of the pneumocephalus, it seemed important for the damaged brain to herniate into the defect of the bone and dura matar. Clinically in the stage of an intracerebral pneumocephalus, the C.S.F. rhinorrhoea was not recognized as a rule. And next stage, the sudden effusions of C.S.F. appeared when the intracerebral pneumocephalus developed to the intracerebral-ventricular pneumocephalus.

[Intracranial neurinoma of jugular foramen--report of a case and reference, its clinical manifestations (author's transl)]

This is the 28th case report of jugular foramen neurinoma in the world. A 24-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with complaints of dizziness and impaired balance. Neurological examination revealed IX, XI and XII cranial nerves and cerebellar involvements, e.g., Brun's-Cushing nystagmus, curtain sign on the left, weakness of the left sternocleidomastoid muscle and deviation of the tongue to the left, accompanied with atrophy. Choked discs and other signs of increased intracranial pressure were not recognized. There were no cerebellar symptoms except impaired balance and nystagmus. Lateral view of vertebral angiography showed that the posterior inferior cerebellar artery was displaced backward and upward, the basilar artery was imposed to the clivus, and the superior cerebellar artery was elevated. A-P view of vertebral angiography showed that the posterior inferior cerebellar artery was displaced to the left. Enlargement of the left jugular foramen was revealed especially by tomograms of horizontal section at the level of 0.3 cm below the external acoustic meatus and 0.5 cm behind the external acoustic meatus. The jugular foramen margins were smooth and somewhat sclerotic. We confirmed the diagnosis of the jugular foramen neurinoma on the left. Suboccipital craniectomy confirmed a huge tumor which covered the left jugular foramen and the bulk of which was in the cisterna magna. These findings were supposed to explain that the patient did not show increased intracranial pressure. The tumor was encapsuled with smooth and thin capsule. This tumor was totally removed and the postoperative course was uneventful. Histological diagnosis was neurinoma. We consider that this tumor arose on the IXth or XIth cranial nerve.

Early carcinoma in the periampullary region: report of two cases

Two cases of early carcinoma in the periampullary region detected microscopically are reported. In Case 1, the carcinoma was found in part of an adenomatous polyp resected transduodenally. In Case 2, carcinoma was located within 1 cm from the main pancreatic duct hidden in the surrounding inflammatory tissue of the pancreatic head excised by radical pancreatoduodenectomy. Case 1 survived more than 3 years after the operation and Case 2 more than 5 years without any evidence of recurrence. The practical significance of such early carcinoma is discussed.

[Simplfied technique of lumbar subarachnoid-peritoneal shunt (author's transl)]

The authors have developed a simplified technique of lumbar subarachnoid peritoneal shunt in which the spinal tube is easily introduced through a puncture needle without doing a laminectomy. Seventeen cases of communicating hydrocephalus of various orgin have been treated by this procedure. In this paper, we reported our shunting system and the technique of precedures, and discussed the clinical results and some advantages of this method. The spinal tube is a custom made Silastic tube with small side holes 2 mm apart from each other at slanting tip located within the first 1.0 cm of the end. French No. 5 tube is available for older children and for adults, and French No. 3.6 tube for infants. Total length of the tube measures 30 cm with 4 black markers at 5 cm intervals from the tip for assisting in positioning. The puncture needle is a modified Touhey needle. Two needles different in size are prepared according to the size of the tube. Outer diameter of these needles is 2.1 mn & 1.8 mn. Our operative procedures are divided into following three steps. 1) Puncture of the lumbar subarachnoid space and insertion of the spinal tube through the needle. 2) Introduction and placement of the peritoneal tube into some point of the peritoneal cavity. Concerning to this point, we have the three candidates, namely into the Douglas pouch, the suprahepatic space, and the bursa omental cavity. 3) Connection of the spinal tube and the peritoneal catheter end. We used a kind of flushing device only in some exceptional cases, and recently, we feel that it is not so necessary for this shunting. We have employed this technique in a total of 17 cases. Eleven cases of them are adults and the other 6 cases are children less than 2 years of age. Postoperative follow up period varied from 13 months to 1 month, and all the cases except two had good result, suggesting the shunt system is working well with no evidence of complications such as low pressure syndrome or radicular irritation. Some troubles occurred in two children. One was a disconnection between the spinal and the peritoneal tube, and the other was an obstruction at the peritoneal tube end. The authors believe that our L-P shunt has several advantages as listed below, 1)Procedure is very simple, in other words, there is no need of laminectomy. 2) The entire system is short. 3) No need to pass the catheter into the brain tissue. 4) Obstruction of the spinal catheter end is very unusual. 5) Alteration of communicating hydrocepalus into non communicating one by secondary obstruction of aqueduct of Sylvius is less likely with this shunting system. 6) Siphon effect might be minimal, if present. 7) As compared to V-A shunt, severe complication like septicemia will not occur in the L-P shunt. With this simple method and good material, we hope that this L-P shunt is employed more widely for the patients with communicating hydrocephalus.

[A case of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage associated with cerebral arteriovenous malformation and aneurysm (author's transl)]

A 45-year-old man suddenly developed right hemiparesis and aphasia during work and lost conciousness next day, when he was admitted to us. Lumbar puncture showed bloody C.S.F. with the initial pressure of 220 mm H2O. Physical examination revealed hypertension and arteriosclerosis. Cerebral angiogram revealed an arteriovenous malformation in the left frontoparietal-parasagittal region and a saccular aneurysm at the left internal carotid-posterior communicating artery junction. In addition, the existence of putaminal hematoma was suspected on account of the displacement of the left anterior cerebral artery and the left lenticulostriate arteries. On the fourth day after admission his consciousness returned and the right hemiparesis gradually improved. One month later the disappearance of the displacement of the anterior cerebral artery was demonstrated by cerebral angiogram. A frontoparietal craniotomy was done and no hematoma was found around the arteriovenous malformation and the basis of the aneurysm did not adhere to the temporal lobe. Taking these findings into consideration, it is presumed that the hematoma in putaminal region was due to neither arteriovenous malformation nor aneurysm but was a hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage.

Plasma human calcitonin (hCT) levels in normal and pathologic conditions, and their responses to short calcium or tetragastrin infusion

Plasma hCT levels were less than 50 pg/ml in 50 normal subjects. In 16 patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT), plasma hCT levels were distinctively elevated and they fell significantly after total thyroidectomy, but in 11 of them plasma levels were still high, indicating the presence of metastases. In 74 patients with the other types of malignancy, plasma hCT levels were found to be high in 9 cases (3 oat cell carcinoma of the lung, 4 malignant carcinoids, one malignant pheochromocytoma and one acute myelocytic leukemia). Except for the leukemic case, all these tumors were derived from neural crest. In 12 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, plasma hCT levels were less than 20 pg/ml. In 13 hypoparathyroid patients, two with pseudohypoparathyroidism and one with pseudoidiopathic hypoparathyroidism, plasma hCT levels were slightly elevated. Some patients with uremia had elevated plasma hCT levels, but there was no relation between plasma levels of hCT and those of PTH, urea nitrogen or creatinine. In response to Ca (4.5 mg/kg/10 min) or tetragastrin (4 mug/kg/5 min) infusion, a marked increase in plasma hCT was observed in all patients with MCT, but not in normal subjects. In 5 hypoparathyroid patients, a significant increase to both stimuli was also observed in all cases. Two patients with pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism responded to the Ca load. These results indicate that the determination of plasma hCT levels especially after a short Ca or tetragastrin infusion is important to study various pathological conditions.

Viral DNA synthesis in vitro with the inclusions isolated from adenovirus 12-infected cells

A fraction defined as the inclusions was isolated by banding in CsC1 gradients from nuclei of adenovirus 12-infected KB cells. When examined by electron microscopy, the isolated inclusions were relatively homogeneous, finely granular materials of moderate electron density, possibly representing the disintegrated type II or IV inclusions. The conditions of endogenous DNA synthesis in vitro with the inclusions were determined. The product of DNA synthesis in vitro with the inclusions was mainly viral and scarcely cellular, as revealed by DNA-DNA hybridization and methylated albumin kieselgur column chromatography. However, viral DNA synthesized in vitro was smaller (18S, 22S) than viral DNA in virions (31 S, 34 S) in neutral and alkaline sucrose gradients. Effects of various treatment of the inclusions on the DNA-synthesizing activity showed that phospholipase C inhibited the activity efficiently. The in vitro DNA synthesis was stimulated by addition of the cytoplasmic extract from adenovirus 12-infected cells and not that from unifected cells. The analysis of the composition of the inclusions showed that the inclusions contained DNA, protein, phospholipid and a small amount of RNA and carbohydrate.

Isolation of a DNA-protein complex containing a single DNA fragment which is at or near the replication origin of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome

A chromosomal fragment containing purA, the nearest marker from the replication origin of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome, was highly purified as a complex containing at least proteins and being solubilized easily during cell lysis. The complex had a markedly higher sedimentation rate (70-120S) than the bulk of the solubilized DNA (40S). The electron microscopic observation showed the complex to be an aggregate of several DNA molecules with a local structure containing amorphous materials which stained black and bushes of RNA. This confirmed biochemical evidences suggesting that the complex is an intermolecular aggregate of the purA-DNA-protein-RNA complex.

Macromolecular synthesis after a nutritional shift-up of Bacillus subtilis

Effects of amino acids of macromolecular synthesis in Bacillus subtilis were studied. Two mutants, CRK4001 and NIG45, that were selected as slow growers in rich media were proved to be useful to analyse early events occurring after addition of amino acids to exponentially growing cells in a glucose-salts medium (nutritional shift-up). In a wild type strain, the rate of stable RNA (sRNA: essentially ribosomal RNA) synthesis increased 2.3 fold shortly after the shift-up to the rate characteristic of the post-shift steady state growth. In contrast,sRNA synthesis in the mutant strains responded to the shift-up in two steps. Thus, shortly after the shift the rate of sRNA synthesis increased 2.2 fold as in the wild type but this increased level was maintained temporarily for 60 min and suddenly decreased to the post-shift steady state rate (1.4 fold increase). On the other hand, rates of DNA synthesis increased some 30 min after the shift directly to the post-shift steady state rates in all strains. Ratios of an origin to a terminus marker (purA/metB) began to increase exponentially to reach maximum values at 60 min after the shift, indicating that initiation of DNA replication occurred at frequencies characteristic of respective post-shift growth rates soon after the shift. These results revealed that the initial increase in the rate of sRNA synthesis and the frequency of initation of DNA replication after nutritional shift are not related to each other and are independently affected by amino acids. In concert with these findings, the increase in sRNA synthesis was not affected by inhibition of DNA synthesis for the first 60 min after the shift, while it was completely prevented by puromycin and choramphenicol. Protein synthesis for 10 min after the shift was sufficient to fully change the sRNA synthesis rate by amino acids.

The existence of three types of acetohydroxy acid synthetase in an isoleucine-requiring mutant of Aerobacter aerogenes

The synthesis of the three types of acetolactate synthase (EC 4.1.3.18) which are responsible for the biosynthesis os isoleucine and valine, was observed in Aerobacter aerogenes I-12, an isoleucine-requiring mutant, when grown on the four kinds of media. When the cells were grown on isoleucine-rich medium, acetolactate synthase sensitive to feedback inhibition and having an optimum pH at 8.0 was formed. By increasing the amount of potassium phosphate in the medium, the catabolite repression of the enzyme having an optimum pH at 6.0 and which is insensitive to feedback inhibition, was released. In contrast, acetolactate synthase having an optimum pH at 8.0 and insensitive to feedback inhibition was formd when isoleucine was limited, irrespective of phosphate concentrations. Two insensitive enzymes were not regulated by isoleucine, leucine and valine, although sensitive pH 8.0 enzyme was repressed by them. Thus, it may be assumed that the synthesis of insensitive pH 8.0 enzyme were repressed by limiting the amount of isoleucine is still open.

Operative indication for corrective surgery in cases of complete transposition of the great arteries associated with large ventricular septal defect

Among 23 patients with complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and large ventricular septal defect (VSD) who underwent corrective surgery, there were nine deaths (39 per cent). Since 1972, improvement in operative techniques, linked with increasing experience in postoperative care, has reduced the hospital mortality rate to 29 per cent (five deaths in 17 patients). Only one of these 23 patients had pulmonary artery banding prior to definitive repair. Analysis of the preoperative hemodynamic data suggests that complete surgical repair is not indicated for patients who have TGA and large VSD, without significant pulmonary stensosis, when the pulmonary arteriolar resistance is greater than 2,500 dynes-sec.-cm.-5 or the effective pulmonary flow index is less than 1.2 L. per minute per square meter of body surface area.

Measurement of Temperature Distribution Within Tool Using Powders of Constant Melting Point

A method was developed to measure tool temperature distribution within the tool by means of fine powders that have a constant melting point. The method involves observation of the boundary line formed by melted and unmelted powder scattered on the tool surface. It is clarified that temperature distribution within the tool is easily and accurately measured in this manner. Temperature distributions were compared with results obtained from analyses based on Loewen and Shaw’s theory, modified on the assumption that heat distribution due to friction along the rake face is not uniform but, rather, like real frictional distribution in cutting, and the fraction of heat flowing into the tool varies along the rake face.

Stereochemistry, metabolism, and antitumor activity of 4-hydroperoxyisophosphamide (NSC-227114) and its stereoisomer

An acid-catalyzed isomerization of 4-hydroperoxyisophosphamide, a synthetic compound with potential antitumor activity, produced a new crystalline epimer having an inverted stereochemistry at the phosphorus atom. The stereochemistry of these epimeric hydroperoxides is discussed on the basis of their chemical and nuclear magnetic resonance properties. The epimers show essentially the same metabolic behavior. This behavior is, however, different from that of isophosphamide (IP) which is metabolized in part via pathways ineffective for its activation. The newly isolated epimer shows slightly higher activity against some kinds of experimental tumors than the original hydroperoxide, suggesting that the inverted stereochemistry of the alkylating group at the phosphorus atom is effective in promoting the antitumor activity of the activated species of IP.

Purification and some properties of rat liver cysteine oxidase (cysteine dioxygenase)

Cysteine oxidase (cysteine dioxygenase, EC 1.13.11.20) was purified approximately 1000-fold from rat liver. The purified enzyme (protein-B) was obtained as an inactive form, which was activated by anaerobic preincubation with L-cysteine. The active form of protein-B was inactivated during aerobic incubation to produce cysteine sulfinate. This inactivation of protein-B was protected by a distinct protein in rat liver cytoplasm, namely stabilizing protein (protein-A). The Ka and Km values for L-cysteine were 0.8-10(-3) M and 1.3-10(-3) M respectively. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by Cu+ and/or Fe2+ chelating agents but not by Cu2+ chelating agent. The optimum pH of enzyme reaction was 8.5-9.5 while that of enzyme activation was 6.8-9.5, with a broad peak.

New trial for endoscopical observation of esophagus by dye spraying method

The Lugol dye spraying method in endoscopy is compared with the usual endoscopy. Its diagnostic values are discussed from the endoscopical and histological point of views. Normal esophageal epithelium is stained brown or dark brown with 5% of Lugol's solution, and shows a "silk-crape" like surface appearance when observed close up. The cancerous or inflammatory epithelium of the stomach and esophagus do not stain. With the sue of directed biopsy this reveals the usefulness of this method, specially for finding small esophagel cancer and for accurately delineating the extent of a cancer. Furthermore, esophagitis is easier to diagnose. As healing occurs, the staining characteristic return. Esophageal epithelium capacity for staining with Lugol's solution seems to be related to the glycogen content of the squamous epithelium.