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The principal purpose of this article is to report a survey of the attitudes of the parties involved in conciliation cases under the auspices of the Department of Employment in the first half of 1972. This is particularly appropriate in view of the recent controversy over the limitations placed on the use of the Department of Employment's service and attempts to establish alternatives. Similar surveys have been made in the United States and in Ireland, but we know of no such attempt to gauge attitudes to this subject in Britain.[1] However, before presenting our findings it is necessary to discuss briefly the nature of conciliation, the provisions made for it in Britain, and to indicate trends in its use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two polymers of D-glutamic acid, one synthetic (poly-α-D-glutamic) and the other the capsular polypeptide of Bacillus anthracis (poly-γ-D-glutamic), which did not induce detectable antibody when injected in saline, elicited precipitating antibody in rabbits when complexed with methylated bovine serum albumin (MBSA). Animals that had made an immune response to either of the polypeptides did not produce detectable anti-hapten antibodies when subsequently immunized with the homologous polypeptide conjugated with p-amino-p′-dimethylaminoazobenzene (PDA) groups. Neither was there an observable response to the polypeptide carrier. Hapten-specific antibody was elicited with an immunogenic carrier, hen egg albumin, and with the polypeptide-PDA conjugates complexed with MBSA, demonstrating that PDA could act as a determinant under the appropriate conditions. Rabbits that had made PDA-specific antibody were entirely refractory to polypeptide-PDA conjugate, inasmuch as their levels of anti-PDA antibody remained unchanged. It is concluded that the formation of antibody against a weakly immunogenic molecule does not alter the state of responsiveness of the animal upon subsequent contact with that molecule. Such a molecule cannot serve as a carrier for another structural determinant, either in animals that have made a prior immune response to the carrier or to the determinant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study that examined the tubular-reticular structures in lymphocytes of patients with discoid lupus erythematosus. Patients and methods; Results; Discussion.

Reports on patients who developed hemolytic anemia after insertion of the Starr-Edwards aortic valve prosthesis. Cause of the hemolysis in the patients; Patient characteristics; Accumulation of intracellular iron.

Reviews changes in the level, distribution and causes of strike activity in Great Britain as of May 1967. Decline in the number and proportion of strikes in the coal industry; Cause of the disputes.