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β-trace, γ-trace, albumin, transferrin and γ-globulin protein concentrations were determined immunochemically in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with or without neurologic disease. Special reference was made to the relative concentration of the “trace” proteins with respect to total and individual CSF proteins. In normal CSF, the concentration of γ-trace was approximately 0.83 mg% (2% of total proteins), and was 2 fold greater in infants than in adults. The concentration of β-trace was approximately 4 mg% (10% of total proteins,). It was concluded that the β-trace is a major protein constituent of CSF. The absolute levels of both trace proteins were indepedent of the changes in total or individual proteins in CSF from patients with neurologic diseases studied. A mechanism which may account for the accumulation of these proteins in CSF is discussed.

Rhodnius prolixus, a South American insect, molts five times in its development to an adult after emerging from the egg. Each molting cycle is triggered with a blood-meal. The ventral intersegmental abdominal muscles of Rhodnius develop during each molting cycle and are functional at molting. The fine structure of these fully developed muscles from fourth stage larval insects is studied. They have the characteristic structure of slow muscles. They have multiple motor nerve endings, and the myofibrils are poorly defined in cross-section. Longitudinal sections show long sarcomeres (8–10 µ), irregular Z-lines, and no apparent H zones. No M line is seen. Transverse sections through the A-band region show that each hexagonally arranged thick filament is surrounded by 12 thin filaments. Two thin filaments are shared by two neighboring thick filaments. The ratio of thin to thick filaments is 6:1. This structure is related to that found in vertebrate skeletal muscle and insect flight muscle.

The subunit organization of the myosin filament of chicken striated muscle has been observed directly in cross-sections in electron microscopy. The organization consists of three centrally located and nine peripherally located subunits in a close-packed arrangement. This arrangement is that predicted by a previously derived model for the detailed molecular organization of the myosin filament (Pepe, 1966 a, 1967 a, 1971). Each subunit measures approximately 30 A in diameter and the center-to-center distance is approximately 37 A. If these measurements are considered to be on the high side, then they indicate that each subunit represents one myosin molecule. However, it is not possible to determine unequivocally whether one or two myosin molecules per subunit are present on the basis of this work.

M band protein can be specifically extracted from fresh chicken breast muscle myofibrils suspended in 5 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0. During discontinuous polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis the isolated protein separates into three bands which can be identified as two separate components (A, B) and a complex of the two. When partially purified fractions of the separated components are combined, an increase in the intensity of the band containing the complex can be shown. The polypeptide chain weights of the two components are 100,000 (A) and 40,000 (B) daltons as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate- (SDS-) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Antibody prepared against total M band protein stains only the M band of the myofibril and is completely absorbed by M band protein. M band protein also absorbs the M band staining specifically from antibody which stains both I and M bands. Immunodiffusion data indicate that anti-M band is a mixture of two specific antibodies, one against each component.

Given a closed subset of an $ n$, the $ r$) contains an open subset which is an $ n - 1$ dimensional Hausdorff measure zero. In case and the norm is twice differentiable with bounded second derivative, almost every level set is a 1 manifold.

The M band can be extracted from fibrils suspended in 5 mM Tris buffer, pH 8.0, for 15 min. The M band is completely removed only from fibrils of sarcomere lengths greater than 2.1 µ. Extraction does not alter the fluorescent antimyosin staining pattern of the A band, thus providing strong evidence that no alteration of the structural integrity of the thick filament has occurred. Fluorescent antibody staining of the M band of unextracted fibrils can be prevented specifically by absorbing the fluorescent antibody with extracted M band material prior to staining. This verifies the specificity of the extraction procedure.

Measurements of DNA, RNA, soluble and insoluble protein, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) were made in endometrium of rats ovariectomized on Day 0 (estrus) and treated daily with estrone, progesterone, or a combination of steroids. The data revealed that: (a) G6PDH responded more rapidly to both low and high dosages of estrone than did other soluble proteins; (b) progesterone alone suppressed soluble protein but maintained activity of G6PDH; (c) in the presence of low dosages of estrogen, progesterone blocked G6PDH without affecting the action of estrone on other soluble proteins; (d) with higher dosages of estrone, progesterone blocked G6PDH as effectively as other soluble proteins, but sooner; (e) the effects of the steroids on enzyme activity were not the result of alterations in the affinity of the enzyme for its substrate or cofactor; (f) estrogen-induced increases in DNA and insoluble protein were suppressed by progesterone, while RNA and soluble protein were not affected. The present results, in conjunction with other studies, provide a rationale for the role of progesterone in“progestational differentiation.” This possible“mechanism of action” of progesterone is described.

Measurements of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), 6-phosphogluconic acid dehydrogenase (6PGADH), protein (soluble and insoluble), and nucleic acids were made in endometrium and myometrium of the uterus of the rat during the estrous cycle, early pseudopregnancy, and following decidual induction. During the follicular phase of the estrous cycle, a period of increased hyperplasia and increased synthetic activity in the endometrium, G6PDH, 6PGADH, RNA, DNA, and protein were increased. Little change occurred in myometrium. Immediately following the induction of pseudopregnancy, a decrease in enzyme activity, protein, and RNA content occurred, but total DNA did not decline as rapidly; the data indicate that the endometrium was subjected to an alteration in hormone balance sufficient to cause a degree of cytoplasmic regression, but not much cell death. During Days 1–4 of pseudopregnancy a gradual reversal of these regressive changes was measured; however, increased G6PDH and 6PGADH were not required to support this process, and in fact the specific activity of these enzymes was depressed. Induction of decidualization on Day 4 of pseudopregnancy did not affect the specific activity of G6PDH and 6PGADH on Days 5, 7, or 9. Thus, increased enzyme activity was not required to support either the gradual differentiational process preceding the time of decidual sensitivity, or the rapid hyperplasia and differentiation of the endometrium observed following decidual induction. The relationship between G6PDH activity and metabolism through the hexose monophosphate pathway during pseudopregnancy is discussed.

1. An analysis covering 189 cases of primary malignancy of the uterus has been presented. Ninety-eight cases involved the cervix and ninety-one, the corpus.2. Sixty-nine patients with cancer of the cervix and sixty-two with cancer of the endometrium were used to determine the survival rates.3. The five-year survival rate for cancer of the cervix was 40.8 per cent and for cancer of the corpus, 70 per cent.4. Patients with cervical cancer sought medical advice sooner than those who had corporeal cancer.5. The histologic grade of the cancer had very little influence on the survival rates in cancer of the cervix, but the stage of involvement was all important.6. “Contact” roentgen-ray therapy has been an important adjunct in the treatment of cervical cancer.7. The most important phase in the treatment of endometrial cancer was hysterectomy, but higher survival rates were obtained when radiation was combined with hysterectomy.

To test the hypothesis of Raj & Moudgal (1970) that luteinizing hormone (LH) is the essential luteotrophin during pregnancy in the rat, pregnant rats were hypophysectomized and hysterectomized on either day 12 or day 15 of pregnancy, and the changes in peripheral serum progesterone level measured. The serum progesterone level remained at approximately the day-12 value for 3 days after hypophysectomy and hysterectomy on day 12, but fell drastically and remained low after the same operation on day 15, or in pseudopregnant rats operated on on day 12, or after removal of the ovaries from pregnant rats on day 12. Oestrogen treatment increased the serum progesterone level slightly in the pregnant rats after hypophysectomy and hysterectomy, but not after ovariectomy; it had no effect in the pseudopregnant rats, with or without deciduomata, or in lactating rats nursing litters of seven to nine pups.The corpora lutea stopped growing or slowly regressed soon after hypophysectomy—hysterectomy in all except the pregnant rats operated on on day 12 and treated with oestrogen, and in these growth was very slight. The luteal content of progesterone did not change for 3 days after hypophysectomy—hysterectomy on day 12 of pregnancy, and fell slightly thereafter. The metabolic clearance rate of progesterone was not significantly changed by hypophysectomy—hysterectomy.It thus appears that true secretion of progesterone continues in pregnant rats for about 3 days after day 12 in the absence of the pituitary and placentas, but at a much lower rate than that found in intact, or in day-12 hypophysectomized pregnant rats (Pepe & Rothchild, 1972a). The placental luteotrophin thus seems to increase the rate of progesterone secretion in the absence of LH. The results do not seem to fit with the hypothesis that LH is essential for progesterone secretion.

Physiological investigations have shown that the synaptic input to the sensory neuron of the stretch receptor in the abdominal muscles of the crayfish is purely inhibitory. This neuron was chosen, therefore, as a site in which to study the fine structure of inhibitory synaptic endings. It was hoped that this fine structure might (a) provide a morphological prototype for the study of more complex synaptic systems and (b) reflect the inhibitory mechanisms. Stretch receptors were fixed in situ in buffered OsO4, dehydrated, and embedded in Araldite. Both cross and longitudinal sections were examined after staining with phosphotungstic acid. The inhibitory endings were easily identified by their great similarity to previously described excitatory endings. Small circular profiles (synaptic vesicles) about 460 A in diameter and an accumulation of mitochondria were consistently observed within the presynaptic endings. An increased osmiophilia of pre- and postsynaptic membranes, where they were in apposition, was also seen. The only observed difference between these inhibitory endings and excitatory endings, described by other authors, was the variable presence of a latticework of 230 A tubules in the connective tissue immediately adjacent to the inhibitory endings. Inhibitory endings were observed on all parts of the sensory neuron except the axon.

Glycerinated chicken muscle was stained with antimyosin antibody conjugated with mercury and fluorescein. The antibody was visualized in both the electron and the fluorescence microscope by using adjacent thin and thick sections. In order to make this possible, Araldite was used as the embedding medium. The mercury was reduced to metallic mercury in the electron beam and either migrated in the section or was sublimated in the vacuum. Therefore special techniques of carbon filming had to be used to prevent this. Some nonspecific staining occurred because of the binding of mercury to available sulfhydryl groups in the tissue. The available sulfhydryl groups were blocked by pretreating the tissue with iodoacetic acid and formaldehyde. The non-specific staining which occurred after this treatment was easily removed by brief washing with a buffered solution of thioglycolic acid.

The Refuse Disposal plant being erected at Edmonton for the Greater London Council is the first of its kind to be built in the United Kingdom. It is designed to handle automatically 1333 tons (2240 lb per ton) of crude refuse every 24 hr, untouched by hand. The refuse is used as a fuel to produce steam for the generation of about 30 mw of electric power, the exact amount depending on the throughput and calorific value of the fuel. A brief description of the plant is followed by the reasons and economic considerations associated with the overall concept. Later a more detailed explanation is given of those aspects of the design which were influenced by problems peculiar to refuse handling and incineration. The roller type incineration grates and combustion chambers, which are suitable for handling metallic objects as large as bedsteads, are described and their combustion principles explained. The boilers, of which the grates and combustion chambers are an integral part, presented some problems in designing for satisfactory availability of the gas side of heating surfaces and for an economically justifiable life of certain critical parts; these problems are described and reference is made to the somewhat limited large-scale experience available at the time of establishing the design. Other parts of the plant are also described where novel in design or application.

From observations of fluorescent antibody staining and antibody staining in electron microscopy, evidence is presented for the following: (a) Direct contact of the actin and myosin filaments occurs at all stages of contraction. This results in inhibition of antibody staining of the H-meromyosin portion of the myosin molecule in the region of overlap of the thin and thick filaments. (b) Small structural changes occur in the thick filaments during contraction. This leads to exposure of antigenic sites of the L-meromyosin portion of the myosin molecule. The accessibility of these antigenic sites is dependent upon the sarcomere length. (c) The M line is composed of a protein which is weakly bound to the center of the thick filament and is not actin, myosin, or tropomyosin. (d) Tropomyosin as well as actin is present in the I band. (e) If actin or tropomyosin is present in the Z line, it is masked and unavailable for staining with antibody.