MHPG excretion in depressive disorders: relation to clinical subtypes and desynchronized sleep

The urinary excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) was significantly lower in patients with manic-depressive depressions than in patients with chronic characterological depressions. There was an inverse relationship between MHPG excretion and the amount of time spent in desynchronized sleep, particularly in the manic-depressive disorders. Excretion of MHPG was not related to the degree of retardation, agitation, or anxiety in these patients.     

Hyperactivity and brain catecholamines in lead-exposed developing rats

Newborn rats that suckled mothers eating a diet containing 4 percent lead carbonate display hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and excessive stereotyped behavior starting at 4 weeks of age. There is an eightfold increase in the concentration of lead in brain, no change in norepinephrine, but a 20 percent decrease in dopamine relative to coetaneous controls. This suggests a relationship between central nervous system dysfunction due to lead and dopamine metabolism in brain.     

Fossil spores, pollen, and fishes from connecticut indicate early jurassic age for part of the newark group

Palynologically productive localities have been found in the United States throughout the Newark Group basins, most of which had previously been assumed to be barren. Rich palynoflorules dominated by coniferous pollen of Circulina-Classopollis type, and well-preserved fossil fishes, including possible new semionotids, have been found in the Hartford basin. Palynological data indicate that the Newark Group has considerable time-stratigraphic range: Upper Triassic for the Cumnock Formation (North Carolina), the Vinita Beds (Virginia), and the upper New Oxford Formation (Pennsylvania), Rhaeto-Liassic for the Brunswick Formation (New Jersey), Portland Formation (Connecticut and Massachusetts), and the Shuttle Meadow Formation (Connecticut).     

Identification of DNA sequence responsible for 5-bromodeoxyuridine-induced gene amplification

Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) treatment of the prolactin nonproducing subclone of GH cells (rat pituitary tumor cells) induces amplification of a 20-kilobase DNA fragment including all of the prolactin gene coding sequences. This amplified DNA segment, which is flanked by two unamplified regions, thus designates a unit of BrdUrd-induced amplified sequence. Cloned DNA segments, 10.3 kilobases long, from the 5' end of the rat prolactin gene of BrdUrd-responsive and -nonresponsive cells, were ligated to the thymidine kinase gene of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1TK), and the hybrid DNA was transferred to thymidine kinase-deficient mouse fibroblast cells by transfection. The HSV1TK gene and the rat prolactin gene were amplified together in drug-treated transfectants carrying the hybrid DNA HSV1TK gene and rat prolactin gene of BrdUrd-responsive GH cells. These results suggest that the 10.3-kilobase DNA segment at the 5' end of the rat prolactin gene of BrdUrd-responsive GH cells carries the information for drug-induced gene amplification (amplicon) and that another gene, such as the HSV1TK gene, is also amplified when the latter is placed adjacent to this segment.     

Chesapeake bay anoxia: origin, development, and significance

Anoxia occurs annually in deeper waters of the central portion of the Chesapeake Bay and presently extends from Baltimore to the mouth of the Potomac estuary. This condition, which encompasses some 5 billion cubic meters of water and lasts from May to September, is the result of increased stratification of the water column in early spring, with consequent curtailment of reoxygenation of the bottom waters across the halocline, and benthic decay of organic detritus accumulated from plankton blooms of the previous summer and fall. The Chesapeake Bay anoxia appears to have had significant ecological effects on many marine species, including several of economic importance.     

Renin and angiotensin: the complete system within the neuroblastoma x glioma cell

Cells of the homogeneous hybrid line neuroblastoma x glioma (NG108-15) have many neuronal properties. Immunocytochemical tests show that they contain both immunoreactive renin and angiotensin; direct radioimmunoassays show that they are positive for renin, angiotensin I, and angiotensin II; enzymatic assays show that they contain angiotensinogen and converting enzyme as well. The renin appears to be present in an enzymatically inactive form that can be activated by trypsin and then blocked by antiserum to purified mouse submaxillary renin. Renin concentration and activity are increased by enhancing cellular differentiation with dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate or by serum withdrawal. These findings demonstrate a complete renin-angiotensin system within these neuron-like cells, and suggest that activation of intracellular renin could generate angiotensin II.