Showing papers by "Charles University in Prague published in 1969"

Immunohistochemical demonstration of gastrin in mammalian islets of Langerhans.

Abstract: THE relationship between the gastric secretagogue extracted from Zollinger–Ellison tumours1 and the antral hormone gastrin2,3 was clarified by Gregory et al.4 who found the amino-acid constitution of the gastric secretagogue contained in Zollinger–Ellison tumours to be identical to that of human gastrin. Previous attempts to extract the gastric secretagogue from normal hog pancreas1 and from normal human and animal pancreas5 were, however, unsuccessful. We have now demonstrated the presence of gastrin in some cells of normal mammalian islets of Langerhans by the indirect immunofluorescent technique. In addition, the fluorescent cells found in normal human pancreatic islets were found to correspond to the D cells discovered by Bloom6, which were recently identified7–10 with the argyrophil A1 cells of Hellerstrom and Hellman11.

The Mudurnu Valley, West Anatolia, Turkey, earthquake of 22 July 1967

Abstract: A severe earthquake in the west-central part of the Anatolian fault zone occurred on 22 July 1967, causing loss of life and widespread damage. The earthquake was associated with 80 kilometers of fresh faulting, part of which occurred in a zone ruptured ten years earlier. The sense of movement along the fault break is right lateral with the north side downthrown. Maximum relative displacements of 190 centimeters lateral and 120 centimeters vertical were measured. Damage caused by shaking in the immediate vicinity of the fault-break was equal to or smaller than that caused at some distance from the fault. Thus, proximity to the fault-break was found to be an unjustified criterion for higher intensities. The instrumental epicenter of the main shock had been located near the east end of the fault break. The bulk of the aftershocks is concentrated at the other end of the break, in the extreme west.

Studies on phytohemagglutinins. II. Phytohemagglutinins of Pisum sativum L. and Lens esculenta Moench: specific interactions with carbohydrates.

Abstract: Die in den Samen der Erbse (Pisum sativum L.) und der Linse (Lens esculenta Moench) enthaltenen Phythamagglutinine reagieren spezifisch auf einige Kohlehydratsubstanzen. Mono- und Oligosaccharide, welche die Agglutinationswirkung dieser Phythamagglutinine hemmen, bewirken auch eine Erhohung ihrer elektrophoretischen Wanderungsgeschwindigkeit auf Starkegel. Diese Beschleunigung ist der Hemmwirkung direkt proportionell entgegengesetzt.

Demonstration of glucagon in islet cell adenomas of the pancreas by immunofluorescent technic

Abstract: Some cases of diabetes mellitus have long been known to be associated with A cell tumors of the islets of Langerhans. The rela­ tion of these tumors to the coexisting dia­ betes mellitus and the possible role of gluca­ gon overproduction in the pathogenesis of diabetes have been a matter of speculation for years. 2 • *• 8_1 ° However, the causal relation­ ship between the presence of A cell tumors and the associated diabetic state has never been proven. The purpose of this communi­ cation is to present immunofluorescent evi­ dence of the presence of glucagon in the cells of three autopsy cases of A cell adenomas associated with diabetes mellitus, five au­ topsy cases of A cell adenomas with no endocrine symptoms referable to the islets of Langerhans, and one clinical case of A cell adenomatosis of the pancreatic islets associated with diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Material. The following islet cell tumors of the pancreas were examined for the presence of glucagon with the use of the indirect im­ munofluorescent technic. (a) Three cases of islet cell adenomas of the pancreas that had been discovered by routine methods of ex­ amining the pancreas among 366 consecutive necropsies of diabetic patients at the In­ stitute of Pathology in the period 1956 to 1966. (b) Five cases of asymptomatic islet cell adenomas that had been found inciden­ tally in the same period at autopsy of nondiabetic patients showing no endocrine symp­ toms referable to the pancreas, (c) One case of islet cell adenomatosis of the pancreas associated with severe diabetes mellitus (fast

Algebra of currents on the light cone

Abstract: On the basis of observation that the fixed-mass sum rules are Fourier transforms of the commutators of currents on a lightlike hyperplane a new treatment of the algebra of currents is proposed. It consists in use of the currents integrated over the lightlike hyperplane (« lightlike » charges) and thus includes the commutators of currents on the whole light cone. An algebra of the lightlike charges is a sufficient assumption for the derivation of the fixed-mass sum rules and may be represented in the one-particle space with any momenta. Hence this extension of the usual equal-time current algebra allows us to abandon the methods likep→∞ without losing any of its advanteges.

Biological properties of cell wall mucopeptide of hemolytic streptococci.

Abstract: Several of the toxic properties of streptococcal mucopeptide have been studied in detail. Intravenous injection of as little as 1 µg of mucopeptide, solubilized by ultrasonic treatment, elicits a reproducible febrile response. Rabbits which are made tolerant to Escherichia coli endotoxin are only partially tolerant to the subsequent injection of streptococcal mucopeptide. Soluble mucopeptide was successfully employed to prepare and provoke the localized Shwartzman reaction. Intravenous injection of 80 µg of solubilized mucopeptide leads to diffuse cellular infiltration as well as focal areas of myocardial necrosis, surrounded by inflammatory cells.

Faraday Rotation and Faraday Ellipticity in the Exciton Absorption Region of GaAs

Abstract: Faraday rotation and Faraday ellipticity in the exciton absorption region were measured in GaAs single crystals at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures. The experimental curves are interpreted as a sum of the contributions both of excitons and of free Landau level transitions. The value of the effective g-factor was determined to be g* = −2.1. Es wurden die Faradayrotation und die Faradayelliptizitat im Absorptionsbereich von Exzitonen in GaAs-Einkristallen bei Zimmertemperatur und 77° K gemessen. Die experimentellen Werte werden als Summe der Beitrage der Exzitonen und der Ubergange zwischen freien Landauniveaus interpretiert. Der Wert des effektiven g-Faktors wurde zu g* = −2.1 bestimmt.

Congenital arterio-sinusal fistulae

Abstract: Multiple arterio-sinusal fistulae in five patients have been reported. They were found at all sinuses, but predominantly at the transverse sinus. Meningeal and scalp branches from the external carotid and vertebral arteries, also branches from the internal carotid and even from the subclavian arteries participated in the shunt.

Gamma-ray investigation of different silver isotope decay

Abstract: The investigation of different silver isotope decay gamma-rays fromA=102 toA=113 was made using two Ge(Li) detectors with resolution 3·7–6 keV. The results obtained and data from other papers were analyzed to correct and to complete the decay schemes of these nuclei. The radioactivity having a half-time of 3 min. is considered as a new isotope of97Ag. Three new states were added to the level scheme of102Ag in agreement with the results of the Β-gamma and gamma-gamma coincidences. Two gamma-ray transitions were added to the scheme of excited levels of103Pd. About 60 transitions were found in the decay of the two known isomers of104Ag. Most of them are located in the decay scheme of the 19 excited levels of the104Pd isotope. Positive parity was assigned to all of them.

Time Course of Rat Brain GABA Levels following Methionine Sulphoximine Treatment

Abstract: ADMINISTRATION of methionine sulphoximine (MSI) produces sensitivity to sound-induced seizures in animals which are not genetically so sensitive. No success has been achieved in repeated attempts to demonstrate some significant change induced by MSI administration in brain levels of serotonin, noradrenaline or dopamine, or in the activities of tryptophan hydroxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase, choline acetylase or acetylcholinesterase1. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is another brain constituent which has been frequently invoked as a neurotransmitter and is thought to be important in seizure phenomena. DeRobertis and his co-workers have reported that in rats given 400–800 mg/kg of MSI and killed during convulsions, the MSI is preferentially fixed to a subfraction of nerve endings which appears to be related to glutamate–GABA metabolism. They also found that there was some slight inhibition of glutamic acid decarboxylase in MSI-treated rats and a strong inhibition of glutamine synthetase2. Dogs killed 16–22 h after receiving 6–10 mg/kg of MSI have been reported to have significant changes in the cerebral levels of various amino-acids including glutamic acid and glutamine; in these dogs there was a slight, but insignificant, decrease in GABA levels3. Similar results were observed in cats 18–24 h after receiving 15–20 mg/kg of MSI4.

Mewing cry in a child with the partial deletion of the short arm of chromosome no. 4.

Abstract: A case is presented of partial deletion of the short arm of the chromosome No. 4, but with a mewing cry, typical of the 5p — deletion syndrome. The clinical examination revealed similar features to those described in other cases of 4p — deletion, namely low birth weight, hypertelorism, facial asymmetry, failure to thrive, mental retardation, beak-shaped nose, low set ears, broad nasal bridge, skeletal anomalies and hypotony. The mewing character of the voice was confirmed by analysis of the voice spectrum. The deleted chromosome was identified by the measurement technique.

2,3-Diphosphoglycerate Metabolism in Hereditary Spherocytosis

Abstract: Summary. The red cell 2,3-DPG content of unsplenectomized patients with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) was found to be markedly lower than that of other haemolytic disorders with similar reticulocyte values. However, there were no differences in 2,3-DPG between splenectomized HS patients and healthy subjects. The cause of this decreased 2,3-DPG in unsplenectomized patients was studied. When heparinized blood both of unsplenectomized and splectomized HS individuals was incubated with excess of glucose, there was a significantly higher splitting of 2,3-DPG than in the normal subjects. Since the activity of the 2,3-DPG splitting enzyme, 2,3-DPGase, was shown to be increased by decreasing pH, the increased 2,3-DPG splitting during incubation of HS blood could be explained by the increased fall in pH during incubation of the blood, presumably due to increased lactate formation. This assumption was further supported by the finding that 2,3-DPG splitting both in normal and HS blood was completely inhibited when the pH of blood was raised to 7.8–7.9 and maintained in this range during the incubation. In vitro incubation of blood simulates in some ways in vivo erythrostasis in the spleen and it is suggested that the decreased 2,3-DPG content found in the fresh red cells of unsplenectomized HS patients is due to increased 2,3-DPG splitting in these cells during their erythrostasis in the spleen.

Deoxycytidine and Radiation Response: Exceedingly High Deoxycytidine Aminohydrolase Activity in Human Liver

Abstract: The activity of deoxycytidine aminohydrolase in the liver of various species including man was investigated. An enormously high activity was found in human liver. This fact explains the extraordinarily low level of deoxycytidine in human urine in comparison with that of other tested species. The suitability of deoxycitidinuria as a biochemical indicator of postirradiation damage in man remains, therefore, an open question.

The electric polarization induced by temperature gradient and associated thermoelectric effects

Abstract: It is shown that the possible existence of a direct effect, which consists in the production of electric polarization in a temperature gradient, is connected with the existence of effects that are analogous to the known thermoelectric effects. The thermoelectric effects under study play a role in a periodic regime of temperature and electric current.

Observation of nerve fibers in incident light

Abstract: On decrit une version amelioree d'un microscope «tandem scanning», a lumiere reflechie. Ce microscope utilise un systeme plus efficace de scanning, qui produit une image plus lumineuse que celle qu'on a pu obtenir jusqu'a present. Avec ce microscope des fibres de nerfs ont pu Etre photographiees sans coloration.

Occurrence of ethanol in pea plants in the course of growth under normal and anaerobic conditions

Abstract: 1) At a so-called natural anaerobiosis during the first 48 hours of germination the concentration of ethanol in pea tissues increases (according to the cultivation conditions) up to 40 μmol per gram fresh weight. 2) In a nitrogen atmosphere the content of ethanol in pea seedlings increases as well, and after a 90 hour incubation in N2 it can reach even 100 μmol ethanol per gram fresh weight. In older plants the content increases the most markedly in cotyledons, but considerable amounts were revealed also in stems and roots. Its increase in vegetative organs of plants cultivated both in light and darkness is more or less identical. Ethylalcohol can be formed by the vegetative organs themselves, as proved by the increase of this metabolite in plants deprived of reserve organs; in addition, however, it is evidently transported into them from reserve parts. Ethanol formed under anaerobiosis is catabolyzed after transferring plants to the air.

Influence of sodium humate and nutritive conditions on the content of nucleic acids, particularly on the ribosomal ribonucleic acid in wheat roots

Abstract: Changes in the nucleic acid (NA) content were studied in roots of young wheat plants cultivated under various nutritive conditions, namely in a nutrient solution, in distilled water and in a solution of sodium humate in distilled water. Changes in the ribosomal ribonucleic acid (RNA) in particular and their connection with growth rate were investigated. The amount of the NA fraction investigated (more than 90 per cent of which is represented by the ribosomal RNA) changed substantially under the cultivation conditions studied. In roots of one plant cultivated in water the content of the NA fraction investigated was at the most about 25 μg and it began to decrease as early as from the second day of cultivation. After 12 days of cultivation it decreased to 15 μg. When cultivated in Na-humate the roots contained at the most 33 μg NA, between the 5th–7th day, followed by an intensive decrease after 12 days, to 17 μg. The content of the fraction investigated in wheat plants cultivated in a nutrient solution was about double the value in comparison to these two cases with the maximal value about 60 μg between the 7th–9th day. After 12 days this amount decreased to 45 μg.

The relationship between human and animal hypnosis.

Abstract: Animal hypnosis is offered as a model of human hypnosis. Results of the study of animal hypnosis pertaining to phylogenetic and ontogenetic susceptibility, thermoregulation and metabolism, emotionality and electroencephalography are summarized.