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PANCREATIC calcification is a disease entity with a distinct clinical and pathological picture. It must be considered as a possibility in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain. When the condition is looked for carefully by means of roentgenography, the diagnosis can be established in a greater number of cases than previously reported. Since there are few laboratory findings other than roentgenographic appearance and changes in the serum amylase level to help localize the disease to the pancreas, it is imperative that accurate history, physical examination and clinical judgment be used to help make a positive diagnosis.Description of stones in the pancreas excited the interest of physicians as early as the seventeenth century. DeGraaf1 spoke of the condition in 1667. Oser2 stated that this report was followed by the publications of Bonetus in 1700, Galeati in 1757 and Morgagni in 1765. Thomas Cowley, also cited by Oser,2

One hundred fifteen patients with inoperable adrenal cortical carcinoma were treated with mitotane (o,p' = DDD). Eighty-five percent of the patients with elevated urinary steroid levels showed a marked reduction, 61% of the patients whose conditions we were able to evaluate showed a measurable disease response, and 45% showed an overall clinical response. These results are all markedly better than those described in earlier reports. In previous reports earlier recognition of the disease and institution of chemotherapy with mitotane resulted in the improvements described. There was no evidence of serious organ poisoning, except for the effects upon the adrenal cortex. On the basis of these data, early diagnosis and treatment of inoperable adrenal cortical carcinoma with mitotane seem to be useful.

THE CLINICAL use of absorbable gelatin materials has been accepted as a valuable surgical adjunct in the past few years.1 Our interest in the surgical use of gelatin film was first stimulated in the course of a comparative study of the effect on human tissues of absorbable sponges and various plastic materials. As the result of these studies we felt that the film might be used as an aid in the closure of troublesome pleural defects. This report presents our experience with gelatin film used in this capacity.The gelatin film2 used was supplied in sheets of 4 by 5 inches (10.16 by 12.7 cm.), sterilized in appropriate paper packets. The film is slightly thicker than common cellophane. It can be cut with ease to any desired size or shape. It is pliable and can be sewn, although because of its brittleness it is readily torn. Its pliability

Es werden Gold-, Indium-, Gallium-, Aluminium- und Kadmiumkontakte, die im Hochvakuum auf CdS-Einkristalle bei verschiedenen Temperaturen aufgedampft wurden, mit Hilfe von Potentialsondenabtastungen, Strom-Spannungscharakteristiken, elektro-optischen Effekten und Rauschmessungen untersucht. Die Herstellung von sperrschichtfreien, temperaturbeständigen Al-Kontakten wird beschrieben. Der Einfluß von Kristallinhomogenitäten wird diskutiert.

The correlation between the in vivo functioning and the in vitro behavior of the thermolabile alanyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) synthetase (ARS) of Escherichia colistrain BM113 is presented. As a measure for the ARS activity inside the cell, the amount of acylated tRNAalain vivo was determined. The rapid drop of the per cent tRNAalacharged which was observed upon shifting a culture of BM113 to the nonpermissive temperature indicates that in vivo acylation of tRNAalamight be the growth-limiting step at high temperature. Since neither growth nor the in vivo charging level of tRNAalawas affected by the addition of high l-alanine concentrations to the medium, one may infer that impaired functioning of the mutant enzyme at 40 C seems not to be due to reduced affinity of the enzyme for the amino acid. Separation of bulk tRNA of E. coliand of yeast on benzoylated diethylaminoethyl cellulose and charging of the fractions of the column by wild-type and mutant ARS reveal that only those tRNA species aminoacylated by the wild-type enzyme are also charged by the mutant ARS. Determination of the Kmvalues of wild-type and mutant ARS for the three isoaccepting tRNAalaspecies of E. colishows a ca. 10-fold increase of the apparent Kmvalues of the mutant enzyme for all three species. Thus, the mutation proportionally reduces the apparent affinity for tRNAalawithout causing any detectable recognition errors. Investigation of heat inactivation kinetics of wild-type and mutant ARS without and in the presence of substrates provides further evidence that only the transfer site of the ARS is altered by the mutation. Moreover, whereas both enzymes possess the same pH optimum of the relative maximal velocity, their pH dependence of the Kmvalues for tRNA is different. The Kmof the wild-type enzyme decreases at pH values below 7.0 and that of the mutant enzyme shows the inverse tendency; this again indicates an alteration of the tRNA binding site.