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Adaptation to steady background lights has been investigated in pcd/pcd mice, a mutant strain with retinal degeneration. The hyperbolic stimulus/response functions of the scotopic b-wave of the electroretinogram show progressive changes. For the dark-adapted eyes the decrease in log sensitivity between ages 1 and 12 months is related linearly to the decreasing rhodopsin content. The observed decline in amplitude of maximum responses from dark-adapted eyes begins only after age 5 months and is accompanied by gradual prolongation of the time to the peak of half-maximum b-wave responses. At all ages, the sensitivity of response is changed little by increments of steady red background lights; the greatest slope of log sensitivity vs. log background plots is about +0.2. (In normal mice the slope is about +0.9.) The pcd/pcd b-wave results do not fit the normal empirical relation that is thought to reflect neural processing in the distal retina. Thus the present results suggest that neural processing is abnormal in pcd/pcd retinas.

A behavioral method of screening binocular infant vision called forced choice preferential looking (FPL) has been developed. Clinical trials of the FPL test for young infants are reported here. The test aids nonspecialized personnel in early identification of bilateral ocular abnormalities and anomalies of binocular cooperation (strabismus). It is not possible to screen for monocular eye disease or amblyopia with this test. Modifications of the FPL test may offer new ways of assessing other aspects of visual function early in life.

A procedure is described whereby the nitrosation of sarcosine can be followed spectrophotometrically in the presence of either hydrophilic or lipophilic antioxidants. Using this technique, a number of antioxidants of both classes at a concentration of 2.0 mmol have inhibited strongly the formation of N-nitrosarcosine from 25 mmol-sarcosine and 25 mmol-nitrite.

A viscometric assay for the determination of carboxymethylcellulase activity is described. The method, which is developed from a direct theoretical approach, takes into account a kinetic energy correction and the non-Newtonian behaviour of carboxymethylcellulose solutions. The enzymic hydrolysis of carboxymethylcellulose shows strong competitive inhibition by the products of the reaction and a method is presented for estimating the initial velocity of such reactions. A direct chemical determination of reducing end groups was used to confirm the validity of this approach.

The relationship between ethylene production and the CN(-)-assimilating enzyme β-cyanoalanine synthase (CAS; EC 4.4.1.9) was examined in the carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) flower. In petals from cut flowers aged naturally or treated with ethylene to accelerate senescence the several hundred-fold increase in ethylene production which occurred during irreversible wilting was accompanied by a one- to twofold increase in CAS activity. The basal parts of the petal, which produced the most ethylene, had the highest CAS activity. Studies of flower parts (styles, ovaries, receptacles, petals) showed that the styles had a high level of CAS together with the ethylene-forming enzyme (EFE) system for converting 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) to ethylene. The close association between CAS and EFE found in styles could also be observed in detached petals after induction by ACC or ethylene. Treatment of the cut flowers with cycloheximide reduced synthesis of CAS and EFE. The data indicate that CAS and ethylene production are associated, and are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that CN(-) is formed during the conversion of ACC to ethylene.

The attenuation of vision that has long been known to accompany saccadic eye movement has a significant component that is not attributable to visual masking or image smear, and this suppression of vision is now associated with nonsaccadic movement. The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the time course of visual suppression during a vergence eye movement. Suppression was evaluated psychophysically in human observers by measuring their loss of sensitivity to a brief, full-field decrement of light during 6 degrees-9 degrees convergence. Vergence-related suppression was similar in total duration and amplitude to saccadic and blink-related suppression. Since these other forms of oculomotor activity are vastly different in speed and total duration, it is unlikely that suppression results directly from the activity itself. Instead, these results support the hypothesis that a common, more centrally originating, suppression of vision occurs during eye movements, including saccades, eyeblinks, and vergence. Thus, while vision during eye movements can often be reduced through masking and smearing effects, the movement-dependent visual suppression measured in these experiments is a more generally occurring event.

Cyclopentolate refractions of 146 premature infants disclosed higher incidences of myopia and anisometropia than those reported for full-term infants. Also, more than 70% of the premature infants had I diopter or more of astigmatism; 83% of the astigmatism was against-the-rule. Infants with shorter gestational periods had more severe myopia and astigmatism. Infants born very prematurely should undergo follow-up refractions to determine whether they retain refractive errors large enough to interfere with visual function.

An important aspect of the control of movement is how the nervous system produces adaptive gain modification. To investigate this problem in a simple motor system, we studied lid movement and orbicularis oculis muscle activity in human and rabbit subjects during adaptation of reflex eye blinks. The gain of the reflex could be increased or decreased, depending upon the nature of the adaptive stimulus. Since these gain changes could persist upon removal of the adapting stimulus, adaptation appears to result from a modification of the neural program subserving the blink reflex. The orbicularis oculis electromyogram revealed that the neural modifications producing adaptive gain changes predominantly altered the longer latency components of the reflex, while the short latency components remained unchanged. Moreover, in two other paradigms that modulate the gain of reflexes, habituation and reflex modification, similar changes also occurred primarily in the longer latency components of the blink reflex. This result suggests that modification of neurons in longer latency, indirect pathways, may underlie different forms of motor learning.

The addition of metallic copper wire to a polyethylene intrauterine device dramatically increases the efficacy of that device. A series of copper-containing Tatum-T devices which had been carried in utero for 2 to 3 years was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Few of these devices showed evidence of corrosion or pitting of the copper, as had been reported previously. Almost all of the Ts showed a definite pattern of layering of fibrinoid deposits; intact cells, cellular debris, and crystalline structures were also seen. The micrographs show an extensive buildup of surface layers which, we believe, encase the copper in a semipermeable matrix. This matrix may retard the diffusion of copper compounds into the uterus sufficiently to compromise the contraceptive action of the copper.