DETERMINATION OF ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT ABSORPTION BY CERTAIN BACTERIOPHAGES

The absorption of ultra-violet light by three bacteriophages C13, C16 and C36, prepared with a strain of Escherichia communior has been determined. Each bacteriophage preparation showed a characteristic absorption curve, when the wave-length was plotted against the photographic density. Crude bacteriophage preparations absorbed more light than one such preparation obtained in a purer state, but the wavelength of maximum absorption remained the same.     

Biohybrid artificial pancreas: long-term implantation studies in diabetic, pancreatectomized dogs

Diabetic complications such as neuropathy, retinopathy, and renal and cardiovascular disease continue to pose major health risks for diabetic patients. Consequently, much effort has focused on approaches that could replace conventional insulin therapy and provide more precise regulation of blood glucose levels. The biohybrid perfused artificial pancreas was designed to incorporate islet tissue and a selectively permeable membrane that isolates this tissue from the immune system of the recipient. Biohybrid pancreas devices containing canine islet allografts were implanted in ten pancreatectomized dogs requiring 18 to 32 units of injected insulin daily. These implants resulted in good control of fasting glucose levels in six of these animals without further exogenous insulin for periods of up to 5 months.     

High photosynthetic capacity of a winter annual in death valley

Camissonia claviformis, a winter annual of Death Valley, California, that fixes carbon dioxide by the C(3) mechanism, has an in situ photosynthetic rate at midday in spring of nearly 6 nanomoles of carbon dioxide per square centimeter per second-an exceptionally high rate. Camissonia fixes absorbed noon sunlight in the 400- to 700-nanometer region into chemical energy with an efficiency of 8.5 percent, which is 80 percent of that theoretically possible for intact leaves. This performance is primarily due to an unusual capacity to utilize high irradiances. Factors associated with this include a high stomatal conductance to carbon dioxide and high levels of soluble protein and ribulose-1,5-diphosphate carboxylase.