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Between 1 July and 31 December, 1985, 53 patients, clinically suspected of having deep venous thrombosis (DVT), were prospectively studied by B-scan ultrasound prior to lower-limb venography. Criteria for a positive ultrasound examination included visualization of frank clot, failure of the vein to collapse with compression, and absence of normal phasic flow with pulse Doppler sampling. All (100%) of the contrast venograms were considered of diagnostic quality. Fifty of the 53 ultrasound examinations (94%) were considered diagnostic. Of the 50 patients having venous ultrasound of diagnostic quality, contrast venography was positive in 25 and negative in 25 for DVT. Venous ultrasound was correct in 46 patients, for an accuracy of 92% (46/50). Sensitivity was 88% (22/25), specificity was 96% (24/25), the positive predictive value was 96% (22/23), and the negative predictive value was 89% (24/27). The single most useful sign of thrombosis in ultrasound examinations was the failure of the involved vein to collapse with compression. Venous ultrasound appears to be highly accurate in the detection of deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremity.

Three monoclonal antibodies were produced against the Epstein-Barr virus-induced early antigen complex. These antibodies were shown to be specific for the early antigen complex by the fact that they only reacted with cells supporting a permissive or abortive Epstein-Barr virus infection and their synthesis was not affected by inhibitors of viral DNA synthesis. One monoclonal antibody, designated R3, was directed against a diffuse component of the early antigen complex since it reacted by immunofluorescence with cells fixed in acetone or methanol. The other two monoclonal antibodies, designated K8 and K9, reacted with a methanol-sensitive restricted component of this complex. The appearance of the R3 antigen in P3HR-1 superinfected Raji cells occurred approximately 4 h earlier than the antigen detected by K8. By both sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and radioimmunoelectrophoresis, it was determined that the R3 monoclonal antibody recognized two major polypeptides with molecular weights of approximately 50,000 to 52,000, whereas K8 and K9 precipitated a protein of approximately 85,000. The R3 monoclonal antibody also immunoprecipitated an in vitro primary translation product. It was, therefore, possible to map this product to the Epstein-Barr virus DNA BamH1 M fragment. These in vitro products were slightly smaller than the in vivo proteins, suggesting that these proteins probably undergo posttranslational modification during the virus replication cycle.

Neurotransmitters are essential for communication between neurons and hence are vital in the overall integrative functioning of the nervous system. Previous work on acetylcholine metabolism in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has also raised the possibility that transmitter metabolism may play a prominent role in either the achievement or maintenance of the normal structure of the central nervous system in this species. Unfortunately, acetylcholine is rather poorly characterized as a neurotransmitter in Drosophila; consequently, we have begun an analysis of the role of glutamate (probably the best characterized transmitter in this organism) in the formation and/or maintenance of nervous system structure. We present here the results of a series of preliminary analyses. To suggest where glutamatergic function may be localized, an examination of the spatial distribution of high affinity [3H]-glutamate binding sites are presented. We present the results of an analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of enzymatic activities thought to be important in the regulation of transmitter-glutamate pools (i.e., glutamate oxaloacetic transaminase, glutaminase, and glutamate dehydrogenase). To begin to examine whether mutations in any of these functions are capable of affecting glutamatergic activity, we present the results of an initial genetic analysis of one enzymatic function, glutamate oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), chosen because of its differential distribution within the adult central nervous system and musculature.

Ontogenic changes in respiratory pathways of skins of detached apple fruits were measured during a 4 month period. Results showed that an increase in pentose pathway occurred with increasing senescence in this tissue. Variation in temperature at any given age did not result in an alteration of the C(6)/C(1) ratio. CO(2) evolution from the pentose pathway in senescent fruit was directly related to O(2) uptake. Glucose uptake increased with increasing senescence indicating a change in cell permeability.