Magnetism and Opaque Mineralogy of Basalts from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N

The volcanic layer may be only 200 m thick at 45 degrees N and oxidation of titanomagnetite may be responsible for the decrease in amplitude of the magnetic anomalies away from the ridge axis.

Alkaline phosphatase activity of polymorphonuclear leucocytes and lymphocytes separated from normal human blood

Suspensions of polymorphonuclear leucocytes and lymphocytes were prepared from normal human blood by the glass bead column method of Rabinowitz (1964). The alkaline phosphatase activity of the separated cells was determined by biochemical and cytochemical techniques. Lymphocytes were found to contain an enzyme catalysing the hydrolysis of beta-glycerophosphate at alkaline pH but not of p-nitrophenylphosphate at the same pH and in the same buffer system. The alkaline phosphatase in polymorphonuclear leucocytes catalysed the hydrolysis of both substrates equally. The importance of this finding to the interpretation of clinical data is discussed.

The uptake and localization of tetracycline in human blood cells

The uptake of tetracycline by human blood cells has been investigated by means of fluorescence microscopy. The intense yellow fluorescence characteristic of the drug was found only in the leucocytes; the erythrocytes appeared uniformly dark. In both lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leucocytes the nucleus exhibited more intense fluorescence than the cytoplasm. The importance of these results is discussed.

The effects of some drugs which induce agranulocytosis on the metabolism of separated human polymorphonuclear leucocytes and lymphocytes

1. Lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leucocytes were separated from normal human blood by the method of Rabinowitz (1964).2. The oxygen uptake, lactic acid production and glucose uptake of suspensions of these cells in vitro were measured. The values obtained agree with published data using comparable techniques.3. Amidopyrine, chloramphenicol, chlorpromazine, phenylbutazone and thiouracil, in high concentrations, depressed the oxygen uptake of polymorphs, but not that of lymphocytes. With amidopyrine, chlorpromazine and thiouracil significant inhibition was produced by concentrations equal to therapeutic plasma levels. High concentrations of the drugs, except chlorpromazine, stimulated the glucose uptake of lymphocytes but not that of polymorphs. Tetracycline and sulphisoxazole were without effect on either parameter of leucocyte metabolism.4. Because of erythrocyte contamination the lactic acid production of lymphocytes could not be determined. Lactate production by polymorphs was not affected by any of the drugs studied.5. The significance of these results is discussed. It is suggested that there is a relationship between ability to induce agranulocytosis and effect on leucocyte metabolism in vitro.