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1. RNA was isolated from crude nuclear preparations and from ribosomes derived from rat brain and liver. Nuclear RNA was obtained by lysis of the nuclei with sodium dodecyl sulphate, followed by denaturation and removal of DNA and protein with hot phenol. 2. Base composition analyses indicated that the cerebral nuclear RNA preparation contained a higher proportion of non-ribosomal RNA than the analogous hepatic preparation. 3. Sucrose-density-gradient analyses revealed a heterogeneous profile for each nuclear RNA preparation, with two major peaks possessing the sedimentation properties of ribosomal RNA (18s and 28s). 4. Template activities of both preparations were widely distributed through the sucrose density gradients. 5. The cerebral nuclear RNA preparation was more active than the hepatic nuclear RNA preparation in promoting amino acid incorporation in cell-free systems from Escherichia coli and rat brain. 6. Cerebral nuclear RNA stimulated amino acid incorporation in a cerebral ribosomal system even in the presence of an excess of purified E. coli transfer RNA. 7. It is concluded that a significant proportion of cerebral nuclear RNA has the characteristics of messenger RNA.

1. Acetylation of histones by an enzyme system derived from rat brain and liver (histone acetylase) was studied by using [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA as the acetyl group donor. 2. The activity of this enzyme was largely confined to the nucleus. 3. Histone-acetylating activity of cerebral nuclei purified by centrifugation through 1.9m-sucrose was not altered by the presence of the cytoplasmic fraction. 4. Cerebral nuclei from adult rats exhibited greater histone-acetylating activity than did the corresponding preparation from newborn animals. 5. Nuclear acetylating activity was higher in brain than in liver of adult rats but not in newborn animals. 6. The partially purified enzyme from cerebral nuclei, prepared by ammonium sulphate fractionation of an acetone-dried powder, specifically catalysed histone acetylation. 7. Polylysine, protamine, serum albumin and gamma-globulin were not enzymically acetylated by this preparation. 8. Soluble acetylating preparations from both brain and liver nuclei were more active towards arginine-rich F3 and slightly lysine-rich F2a and F2b histone fractions than towards the lysine-rich F1 fraction. 9. Enzymic acetylation of chromatin-bound proteins was much less extensive than that of free histones. 10. The high histone acetylase activity in mature brain may reflect the importance of this process in the genetic control of cerebral function.

1. Chromatin was prepared from purified nuclei isolated from liver and cerebral regions of the rat. 2. The capacity of these preparations to promote RNA synthesis in the presence of bacterial RNA polymerase was determined. 3. The rate of RNA synthesis on chromatin was normally 12-21% of the rate observed with native DNA, but was markedly stimulated on addition of 200mm-ammonium sulphate. 4. At physiological concentrations (80mug./ml.), the brain-specific S-100 protein inhibited RNA synthesis on DNA and chromatin. 5. Cerebral chromatin from foetal and newborn animals was more active in RNA synthesis than were the analogous preparations from liver. 6. Cerebellar chromatin maintained a high rate of RNA synthesis during brain maturation. In contrast, RNA synthesis on chromatin from other brain regions and liver declined with age of the rat. 7. RNA synthesized on chromatin stimulated amino acid incorporation in an Escherichia coli ribosomal system and hybridized with homologous DNA. 8. RNA synthesized on chromatin from adult cortex or hindbrain hybridized with DNA to a greater extent than that synthesized on cerebellar chromatin. 9. The proportion of RNA formed on cerebral-cortical chromatin that hybridized with DNA increased with age of the rat. 10. The results indicate that the total amount and the types of RNA synthesized on cerebral chromatin vary regionally and during development.

1. Cerebral RNA of adult and newborn rats was labelled in vivo by intracervical injection of [5-(3)H]uridine or [(32)P]phosphate. Hepatic RNA of similar animals was labelled by intraperitoneal administration of [6-(14)C]orotic acid. Nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions were isolated and purified by procedures involving extraction with phenol and repeated precipitation with ethanol. 2. The fraction of pulse-labelled RNA from cerebral nuclei that hybridized to homologous DNA exhibited a wide range of turnover values and was heterogeneous in sucrose density gradients. 3. Base composition of the hybridizable RNA was similar to that of the total pulse-labelled material; both were DNA-like. 4. Pulse-labelled cerebral nuclear RNA hybridized to a greater extent than cytoplasmic RNA for at least a week after administration of labelled precursor. This finding suggested that cerebral nuclei contained a hybridizable component that was not transferred to cytoplasm. 5. The rates of decay of the hybridizable fractions of cerebral nuclei and cytoplasm were faster in the newborn animal than in the adult. Presumably a larger proportion of labile messenger RNA molecules was present in the immature brain. 6. Cerebral nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA fractions from newborn or adult rats, labelled either in vivo for periods varying from 4min. to 7 days or in vitro by exposure to [(3)H]-dimethyl sulphate, uniformly hybridized more effectively than the corresponding hepatic preparation. These data suggested that a larger proportion of RNA synthesis was oriented towards messenger RNA formation in brain than in liver.

A parallel processor shop was modeled in order to simulate its performance, with respect to certain criteria, when jobs were dispatched to machines by various priority dispatching rules. Several rules which have shown good performance in pure job shop studies, as well as a new weighted objective rule, were tested in the modeled environment.
The rules performed much as would have been expected from reviewing job shop literature. However, some interesting differences were observed. In general, the performance of the shop was substantially improved by using the priority rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]