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OROS® (melatonin), an oral osmotic system for controlled drug delivery, was evaluated in an open‐label, two‐way crossover study to test the feasibility of continuous overnight melatonin delivery. Twelve healthy subjects with no sleep disorders, ranging from 60 to 73 years of age, were enrolled in the study. Two doses of melatonin (1 × 110 μg and 4 × 110 μg) were administered on two separate occasions. Endogenous baseline nighttime serum melatonin concentrations were measured the night before each treatment. Following treatment at 2100 hours, the lights were extinguished at 2200 hours and remained so, except during blood sample collection, which was performed under dim light (< 50 lux) at specified times. Serum samples were analyzed for melatonin by an LC/MS/MS method. In addition, safety measurements such as vitals and serum samples for endocrine functions were measured both prior to and after melatonin dosing. The serum melatonin concentration profile following OROS® (melatonin) dosing mimicked the normal endogenous serum melatonin concentration‐time profile. The mean maximal melatonin concentration occurred at 3 a.m. The mean AUCs of endogenous melatonin before the two treatment days were 248 and 234 pg•h/mL, respectively. Serum concentrations of melatonin corrected for endogenous production increased proportionally with dose, with AUCs of 288 and 1069 pg•h/mL, respectively. Deconvolution of the serum concentration data showed good correlation between the in vitro amount released and the in vivo amount absorbed, suggesting continuous absorption throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Less than 5% residual content was observed in the recovered OROS® system. Minimal changes in serum hormone concentrations (luteinizing hormone, follicular stimulating hormone, and prolactin) and no serious adverse events were observed following OROS® treatment in these subjects. Delivery of melatonin with OROS® formulation may result in a physiologic nocturnal profile in elderly subjects.

Data relating to the hemodynamic efficaciousness and mechanism of action of a pulmonary artery catheter or vent used for left ventricular venting during cardiac operations are presented. The pulmonary artery vent is a plastic sump catheter that is introduced into the main pulmonary artery through a purse-string suture and connected via a roller pump to the venous reservoir of the heart-lung perfusion machine. Placement and removal require only a few minutes. The pulmonary artery vent retrieved 85% of a 99mtechnetium-labeled solution placed in the left atrium during aortic cross-clamping, and there was no detectable radioactivity in peripheral or aortic root blood samples. Pulmonary artery vent return during cardiopulmonary bypass in 10 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass averaged 12.5 L. The effectiveness of left ventricular decompression was evaluated in 20 patients also undergoing bypass grafting. Use of the pulmonary artery vent consistently and significantly decreased left heart pressures, compared to the control situation with the vent off, with the aortic cross-clamp applied, and in both the fibrillating and beating heart in the early postishemic reperfusion period. We reached the following conclusions: (1) The pulmonary artery vent withdraws left heart blood via the pulmonary vasculature, in addition to returning right heart spillover and retrieving bronchial flow. (2) Left heart pressures are reduced to levels which reduce oxygen demands and preserve endocardial perfusion, therefore protecting myocardium, during fibrillation and during coronary reperfusion of the beating heart. (3) Because of its effectiveness and safety, especially the impossibility of introducing air into the left ventricle, the pulmonary artery vent is recommended for routine left ventricular venting.

Lavas from the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise are geochemically diverse even within a single tectonically defined spreading cell. Within such spreading cells, small offsets of the rise axis are often boundaries between petrologically distinct magmatic units which must be supplied independently from beneath the ocean crust. Volcanics erupted near the small offsets can have chemical characteristics similar to those previously found near transform faults.

An injection of 5 µg of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) into hens 8 h prior to oviposition advanced the expected time of oviposition by approximately 1 h. The plasma concentration of progesterone increased approximately 1 h earlier in GnRH-injected hens in comparison to saline-injected hens. The plasma concentration of 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-prostaglandin F2α(PGFM) increased significantly (p< 0.05) at the time of oviposition in both the GnRH- and saline-injected hens. Significantly (p< 0.05) greater concentrations of prostaglandin F2α(PGF2α) were assayed in media containing the largest preovulatory follicles collected at oviposition than in media containing the second and fifth largest preovulatory follicles collected at the same time. No prostaglandin was detected in media containing small, nonhierarchial follicles. The concentration of PGF2αin media containing granulosa cells from the largest preovulatory follicle was significantly greater (p< 0.05) than in media containing 4 times as many theca cells. Ovine luteinizing hormone (oLH) alone or in combination with arachidonic acid had no effect on PGF2αoutput from granulosa cells collected 6 h before oviposition, whereas A23187 caused a small stimulation of PGF2αoutput. However, treating cells first with oLH and then with A23187 stimulated a 15- to 20-fold increase in PGF2α. None of these stimuli enhanced the already high output of PGF2αwhen added to incubations of granulosa cells collected within 5 min after oviposition. These data suggest that the granulosa cells of the largest preovulatory follicle are the major intraovarian source of prostaglandin and that production of PGF2αis associated with the preovulatory surges of gonadotropins and steroid hormones preceding oviposition.

Basalts from the Southeast Indian Ridge south of Australia form two geographically and isotopically distinct groups that show affinities with either Indian Ocean or Pacific/Atlantic Ocean isotope compositions. The data raise the possibility that there is a sharp boundary between the Indian and Pacific Ocean isotope provinces. The isotope boundary occurs over less than 200km within the Australian–Antarctic Discordance, a technically complex region believed to overlie a zone of downwelling mantle flow.

1. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of metyrapone on the time of oviposition and LH-stimulated steroido-genesis by granulosa cells and small yellow follicles.2. In experiment 1, White Leghorn hens were injected for 11 d with 240 mg metyrapone 5 h before 'lights off. Control hens were injected with 1 ml of vehicle (PEG-400). Metyrapone treatment resulted in a 28% decrease in the rate of lay and the modal frequency of the time of oviposition was phase-shifted by 15 h.3. In experiment 2, hens were injected with 240 mg metyrapone 5 h before 'lights off or at 'lights on'. While metyrapone treatment reduced the rate of lay, a clear phase-shift in the distribution of oviposition was not observed. Basal and LH-stimulated progesterone synthesis by the granulosa cells of the largest follicle and oestradiol synthesis by small yellow follicles was significantly reduced.4. Metyrapone treatment significantly reduced basal, but not LH-stimulated output of androstenedione by whole small yellow follicles compared to that observed in control hens.5. The addition of metyrapone in vitro to isolated granulosa cells from the three largest preovulatory follicles inhibited LH-stimulated progresterone production in a dose-specific manner.6. The results of this study suggest that the ability of metyrapone to perturb the open-period is a pharmacological effect mediated through inhibition of ovarian and adrenal steroidogensis.

The Lucky Strike hydrothermal field occurs in the summit basin of a large seamount that forms the shallow center of a 65 km long ridge segment near 37°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The depth and chemistry of the ridge segment are influenced by the Azores hot spot, and this hydrothermal field is the first Atlantic site found on crust that is dominated by a hot spot signature. Multiple hydrothermal vents occur over an area of at least 300 m by 700 m. Vent morphologies range from flanges and chimneys with temperatures of 200–212°C, to black smoker chimneys with temperatures up to 333°C. Cooler fluids from northern vents have higher chlorinities and lower gas volumes, while hotter, southern fluids have chlorinities 20% below seawater with higher gas volumes, suggesting phase separation has influenced their compositions. All gas volumes in fluids are higher than those at TAG and Snake Pit hydrothermal fields. Black smokers exhibit their typical mineralogy, except that barite is a major mineral, particularly at lower-temperature sites, which contrasts with previously investigated Atlantic sites. The fluid chemistry, distribution of the relict sulfide deposits on the seamount summit in the areas investigated using DSV Alvin, and contact relationships between active vent sites and surrounding basaltic and sulfide substrate suggest that the hydrothermal system has a long history and may have recently been rejuvenated. Fauna at the Lucky Strike vent sites are dominated by a new species of mussel, and include the first reported sea urchins. The Lucky Strike biological community differs considerably from other vent fauna at the species level and appears to be a new biogeographic province.

This study reports UTh disequilibrium data obtained by mass spectrometry for basaltic glasses collected along the Azores platform portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (37°30′–40°30′N), a region characterized by both a geochemical and bathymetric gradient. High Th and U concentrations, as well asTh/Uratios, document an enriched geochemical signature. (230Th238U) activity ratios range from 1.20 to 1.35 and are thus systematically larger than most EPR MORBs reported in the literature. (230Th232Th) activity ratios show remarkable homogeneity for multiple samples taken from single dredge hauls. Additionally, samples with the highest Th concentrations (2.4 ppm) have among the highest Th isotope ratios. Taken together, these observations rule out assimilation of230Th-rich sediment as an explanation for the230Th238U systematics. The relatively large230Th excesses in the erupted lavas may be related to the influence of the enriched Azores mantle plume source. The lack of observed correlations between230Th excess and trace element and isotopic indices of source enrichment, however, rules out source composition as an explanation for the variations in (230Th238U).

There is a fundamental question that any historical analysis of the relations between Christianity and Judaism must face. What is the relation between the hostility that Christians have directed at Jews and their faith as Christians? It is a hard question to answer for both conceptual and evidential reasons. The conceptual problem is that historians may be misled by some of the theological categories which are so deeply embedded in the languages of Western culture. Let me give an example close to home. At the first conference of the Society, C. N. L. Brooke spoke of theChristian religion and of theChurch with a capital ‘C’. Similarly, several titles of the volumes of Studies in Church Historyand many of the contributions in them have used ‘the Church’ as if there was such a thing as the universal Christian Church. Indeed, the style sheet for Studies in Church Historystates that a capital is required for ‘the Church’ where the universal Church is implied and gives as an example the sentence, ‘The Church preaches tolerance’—an assertion that may seem passing strange in the context of this year’s conference.

The enthalpy, Gibbs free energy, and entropies of aqueous radium species and radium solids have been evaluated from empirical data, or estimated when necessary for 25°C and 1 bar. Estimates were based on such approaches as extrapolation of the thermodynamic properties of Ca, Sr, and Ba complexes and solids plotted against cationic radii and charge to radius functions, and the use of the Fuoss or electrostatic mathematical models of ion pair formation (Langmuir, 1979). Resultant log K(assoc) and ΔH0(assoc) (kcal/mol) values are: for RaOH+0.5 and 1.1; RaCl+−0.10 and 0.50; RaCO032.5 and 1.07; and RaSO042.75 and 1.3. Log Kspand ΔH0(dissoc) (kcal/mol) values for RaCO3(c) and RaSO4(c) are −8.3 and −2.8, and −10.26 and −9.4, respectively.

Tholeiitic basalts collected over an area of less than 100 km2near the Oceanographer transform fault have isotopic compositions interpreted as mixing between three chemically distinct mantle sources. Of the two enriched sources, one has an isotopic composition not previously observed in basalts from the North Atlantic. Its characteristics suggest a model whereby portions of the mantle currently beneath 35° N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge contain detached fragments of old sub-continental mantle.

Ocean island basalts (OIBs) possess uniformly low B contents, and lower B/Nb and B/K2O ratios than mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs). As with Pb, B enrichments in both MORBs and OIBs are substantially lower than those of arc volcanics or continental rocks. The devolatilization of subducting plates and associated arc magmatism efficiently segregate B into crustal reservoirs and return large volumes of B-depleted material to the deep mantle. Subduction processes (and presumably arc volcanism) have thus played a major role in continental crust formation.

As a result of a court order, computerized summaries of approximately 1,300 cases reported as Guillain-Barré syndrome by state health departments to the Centers for Disease Control during the intensive national surveillance instituted following the swine influenza vaccination program in 1976-1977 became available for further study. Although the data were not uniformly adequate to confirm the diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome, they were sufficient to enable classification according to extent of motor involvement. Vaccinated cases with "extensive" paresis or paralysis occurred in a characteristic epidemiologic pattern closely approximated by a lognormal curve, suggesting a causal relationship between the disease and the vaccine. Cases with "limited" motor involvement showed no such pattern, suggesting that this group included a substantial proportion of cases which were unrelated to the vaccine. The effect attributed to the vaccine lasted for at least six weeks and possibly for eight weeks but not longer. The relative risk of acquiring "extensive" disease over a six-week period following vaccination ranged from 3.96 to 7.75 depending on the particular baseline estimate of expected normal or endemic incidence that was chosen. Correspondingly, the number of cases that could be attributed to the vaccine over the six-week period ranged from 211 to 246, or very slightly higher over an eight-week period if the lowest baseline estimate was used. The total rate of Guillain-Barré syndrome cases attributed to prior use of the vaccine was 4.9 to 5.9 per million vaccinees.

The article focuses on filmmaker and writer Miranda July with information on her works including the film "The Future," the books "The First Bad Man" and "How Should a Person Be?"

THE confirmation by X-ray data1,2of C2, the A 288-residue cage structure proposed for the insulin molecule3, makes it of interest to consider the nature of the cyclol bond, upon the postulation of which this structure and the cyclol theory of protein structure in general4depend.The making and breaking of a cyclol bond between an NH group of a polypeptide chain and a CO group of the same or of another polypeptide chain, requires only the migration of an H atom thus: