Two-color imaging by the use of patterned optical filters bonded to focal-plane-array detectors.

Two-color imaging by the use of a patterned optical filter directly bonded to a HgCdTe focal-plane array is demonstrated. The optical filter is spatially patterned, by multilayer lithographic techniques, to provide multicolor response in the midwavelength infrared by the use of a single substrate.

The inconspicuous penis.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the etiology and management of the group of abnormalities referred to as the inconspicuous penis. DESIGN: Analysis of 19 cases seen over a period of 2 years by chart review. SETTING: Children's hospital in a major metropolitan area. PATIENTS: Nineteen boys referred to two pediatric urologists over a period of 2 years with penises that appeared abnormally small, but on palpation and measurement, were found to have a normal shaft with a normal stretched length. Diagnoses included were buried penis, webbed penis, and trapped penis. Patients ages ranged from 1 week to 13 years. FINDINGS: There were eight patients (42%) with trapped penis, and all were complications of circumcision (age 1 week to 7 months). Of nine (47%) patients with buried penis, two had been circumcised prior to diagnosis. One (5%) patient had webbed penis and one (5%) had combined buried and webbed penis. INTERVENTION: Six trapped penises were surgically repaired, and two resolved spontaneously. Five patients with buried penis had surgical repair, and two are being followed up for probable repair at age 9 to 12 months. Two were not repaired because of medical conditions or parental concerns. The webbed penis was surgically repaired as was the combined buried and webbed penis. The repair were all successful and had no complications. CONCLUSIONS: Inconspicuous penis encompasses a group of conditions in which the penis appears small but the shaft can be normal or abnormal in size. Circumcision is contraindicated in these patients until they have been evaluated by a urologist. Further study is needed to determine the natural history of these disorders and to better define which patients will benefit from surgical intervention and at what age.

Chronic salicylate intoxication. A common cause of morbidity in the elderly.

We reviewed the clinical profile of adults with chronic salicylate intoxication by evaluating the experience of our community teaching hospital between 1977 and 1987. Data on similar patients reported was obtained from an English-language literature search using MEDLINE (1966-88) and bibliographic reviews of textbooks and review articles. We also examined the impact of education and incentive on increasing the awareness and ability of physicians to diagnose the disorder. Chronic salicylate intoxication was defined by 1) a compatible clinical syndrome; 2) a serum level in the toxic range; and 3) improvement with withdrawal of the drug. Patients with chronic salicylism represent a cross-section of an elderly population. Our review suggests that diminished body mass, concurrent administration of drugs and conditions which exacerbate renal insufficiency may predispose to salicylate intoxication; however, few specific precipitants of chronic salicylism were recognized. Salicylate intoxication should be considered in all elderly patients with delirium and/or dementia.

Interaction of local and reflex thermal effects in control of forearm blood flow.

We measured forearm blood flow (ABF) bilaterally on six subjects during 15-min periods of leg exercise and the first 10 min of recovery. One forearm (control) was kept at about 33 degrees C skin temperature in all experiments. In experiments at ambient temperature (Ta) of 15 degrees C, the other arm (experimental) was kept at about 26, 33, and 40 degrees C, respectively, during three successive cycles of exercise and recovery. ABF in the 26 degrees C forearm was linearly related to and averaged 42% of control. The relation of ABF in the 40 degrees C forearm to control ABF showed a bend at control ABF of 4-5 ml X 100 ml-1 X min-1. Below the bend, experimental ABF average 213% of control. Above the bend, experimental ABF averaged 5.09 ml X 100 ml-1 X min-1 above control. In four subjects, after heating the experimental forearm to 40 degrees C, we measured ABF for 25-30 min at rest in Ta of both 15 and 25 degrees C. At 25 degrees C Ta, ABF in the heated forearms rose gradually, but control ABF showed little change. At 15 degrees C Ta, the effect on ABF of local heating to 40 degrees C was much reduced, apparently due to reflex vasoconstrictor signals.

Ethanol from Whey: Continuous Fermentation with a Catabolite Repression-Resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mutant.

An alternative method for the conversion of cheese whey lactose into ethanol has been demonstrated. With the help of continuous-culture technology, a catabolite repression-resistant mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae completely fermented equimolar mixtures of glucose and galactose into ethanol. The first step in this process was a computer-controlled fed-batch operation based on the carbon dioxide evolution rate of the culture. In the absence of inhibitory ethanol concentrations, this step allowed us to obtain high biomass concentrations before continuous fermentation. The continuous anaerobic process successfully incorporated a cell-recycle system to optimize the fermentor productivity. Under conditions permitting a low residual sugar concentration (

Isolation and characterization of a pleiotropic glucose repression resistant mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A new mutation has been described which confers resistance to catabolite repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mutant allele, termed grr-1 for glucose repression-resistant, is characterized by insensitivity to glucose repression for the cytoplasmic enzymes invertase, maltase, and galactokinase, as well as the mitochondrial enzyme cytochrome c oxidase. Hexokinase levels in grr-1 mutants are approximately 3-fold higher than the corresponding activity of the parental strain. Although the grr-1 allele is expressed phenotypically similarly to the hex-1 (hxk-2) and hex-2 mutations described by Entian et al. (1977) and Zimmermann and Scheel (1977) respectively, we have shown genetically and physiologically that grr-1 represents a new class of mutation.

Ethanol from whey: Continuous fermentation with cell recycle.

The production of ethanol from cheese whey lactose has been demonstrated using a single-stage continuous culture fermentation with 100% cell recycle. In a two-step process, an aerobic fed batch operation was used initially to allow biomass buildup in the absence of inhibitory ethanol concentrations. In the anaerobic ethanol-producing second step, a strain of Kluyveromyces fragilis selected on the basis of batch fermentation data had a maximum productivity of 7.1 g ethanol/L/h at a dilution rate of 0.15 h(-1), while achieving the goal of zero residual sugar concentration. The fermentation productivity diminished when the feed sugar concentation exceeded 120 g/L despite the inclusion of a lipid mixture previous shown to enhance batch fermentation productivities.

Lipid-Enhanced Ethanol Production by Kluyveromyces fragilis.

The fermentation ability of a strain of Kluyveromyces fragilis, already selected for rapid lactose-fermenting capability, was improved dramatically by the addition of unsaturated fatty acids and ergosterol to the medium. The fermentation time of a 20% whey-lactose medium was decreased from over 90 h to less than 60 h. The lipids were shown to be taken up by the organism, and the effects on specific growth rate and biomass production were determined.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mutants Resistant to Catabolite Repression: Use in Cheese Whey Hydrolysate Fermentation.

Mutants of an industrial-type strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae which rapidly and completely fermented equimolar mixtures of glucose and galactose to ethanol were isolated. These mutants fell into two general phenotypic classes based upon their fermentation kinetics and enzyme induction patterns. One class apparently specifically effects the utilization of galactose and allows sequential utilization of first glucose and then galactose in an anaerobic fermentation. The second class of mutants was resistant to general catabolite repression and produced maltase, invertase, and galactokinase in the presence of repressive levels of glucose. These mutants were completely dominant and appear to represent an as yet undescribed class of mutant.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia in the monosomic cell line of a fertile Turner syndrome mosaic (45,X/46,XX).

Malignancy in patients with constitutional chromosome abnormality is of interest not only because it permits insights into the relationship between the chromosome abnormality and cancer, but also because it provides opportunities to address such questions as the clonality and evolution of tumors. We report Ph1-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in a 50-year-old mosaic (45,X/46,XX) Turner syndrome patient whose leukemia was restricted to the monosomic cell line. Our extensive cytogenetic studies of this patient demonstrated that non-leukemic normal cells persisted in the marrow and were able to proliferate during a period of temporary suppression of the leukemic clone following aggressive treatment.

Release of somatostatin from rodent antral mucosae maintained in organ culture.

Somatostatin secretion was investigated from rodent antral mucosal biopsies maintained in organ culture. Under control conditions, the somatostatin secretory output was fairly constant, with each biopsy releasing a mean value of 29.1 +/- 7.5 pg of hormone over a 15-min period. Incubation of the mucosa in medium containing 5% peptone directly induced a 20-fold increase in medium somatostatin levels to 622.5 +/- 15.5 pg/ml. In contrast, a peptone dialysate was a weaker stimulant of hormone release, inducing a three- to fourfold increase in medium somatostatin concentration. Additionally, it was determined that a peptic hydrolysate of bovine serum albumin was a significantly more potent in vitro stimulant of somatostatin secretion than the intact undigested molecule. These results suggest that the amino acid and peptide constituents of these proteinaceous substances are the major stimulants of somatostatin release in vitro. It is presently uncertain whether this direct peptone-induced release of somatostatin from antral mucosal explants can account for the previously reported [Am. J. Physiol. 235 (Endocrinol. Metab. Gastrointest. Physiol. 4): E410-E415, 1978] gastrin secretory "off response" to the same agent, because addition of exogenous somatostatin to the medium failed to block this peptone-induced gastrin secretory response.

Homoazasterol-mediated inhibition of yeast sterol biosynthesis.

A naturally occurring azasterol has been shown to inhibit sterol transmethylation in both in vitro and in vivo in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The inhibition was competitive, with a calculated dissociation constant of 43 muM. The compound prevented the accumulation of ergosterol in aerobically adapting cells. Cultures forced to gain energy by respiration were found to be much more sensitive to growth inhibition by the azasterol than those cells fermenting glucose. The growth inhibition is reversible at low concentrations of the azasterol.

Enzymatic analysis of C27 sterol-accumulating yeast strains.

Several strain of bakers' yeast that accumulate only C27 sterols were analyzed for sterol methyltransferase activity, with no activity being found. Cholesta-5,7,22,24-tetraene-3beta-ol, one of the mutants' sterol products, was found to be an unacceptable substrate for in vitro transmethylation.

Yeast sterol esters and their relationship to the growth of yeast.

Variation in the percentage of sterols esterified to long-chain fatty acids during cellular growth has been examined. Under all conditions, a constant percentage of sterol esters was maintained during exponential growth. This maintenance level was found to vary with different growth conditions. A sharp increase in the rate of esterification was observed upon entry of the culture into the stationary growth phase. The minor cellular sterol components were found to accumulate after this period of rapid sterol ester synthesis, with a relative decrease in the size of the ergosterol pool. Evidence is presented that sterol esters of ergosterol precursors are unable to be metabolized to ergosterol. Once esterified, the fatty acids do not appear to be scavenged during starvation conditions.

Potassium translocation in yeast mitochondria and its relationship to ergostrol biosynthesis.

The energy-dependent transport and accumulation of K+ in respiring mitochondria has been found to inhibit the S-adenosylmethionine: delta-24-sterol methyltransferase enzyme of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Potassium cation translocation is discussed as a possible regulatory mechanism over the biosynthesis of ergosterol.

Response of the intracellular adenosine triphosphate pool of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to growth inhibition induced by excess L-methionine.

Yeast cells accumulate S-adenosyl-l-methionine (S-AM) when cultivated in the presence of l-methionine. Cell growth is inhibited by the addition of high concentrations of l-methionine. A number of investigators have attributed this to the depletion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as a consequence of the utilization of that mucleotide for S-AM formation. The cellular ATP pool of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was measured during growth inhibition caused by addition of excess l-methionine. Polyethylenimine thin-layer chromatography and subsequent autoradiography were used to quantitate the extracted ATP. Addition of l-methionine to a level of 5 mg/ml in a culture during exponential growth caused an increase in the doubling time of 40 to 50%. During this period, the cellular ATP level continued increasing normally and, as the cells entered stationary growth, receded to a level characteristic of an uninhibited stationary culture growth. After the addition of methionine, there was never an observed depletion of the ATP pool other than the normal fluctuation which occurs in an uninhibited culture. We have concluded that growth inhibition by excessive methionine does not result from limiting availability of ATP.

Semliki Forest virus in HEp-2 cell cultures.

The growth and development of Semliki Forest virus (SFV), an arbovirus of serological group A, in HEp-2 cells in tissue culture was examined by various techniques at frequent intervals. Infectivity and fluorescent-antibody studies demonstrated the presence of infective virus and viral antigens within the cells at 8 hr after infection. The antigen was particulate and distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Thereafter, there was rapid progression of virus production and cell destruction. By electron microscopy, tubular structures bounded by a fine membrane were observed in cytoplasm at 12 hr. Rows of small (25 mmu) virus particles were often present on the outer surface of these membranes, and at later times they became progressively more encrusted with the small virus particles. These structures subsequently increased rapidly in number, size, and complexity, and the space between the membrane and the tubules increased, thus forming vacuoles which contained tubules and were covered with the small particles. At later times (24 hr and later) larger (42 to 50 mmu) particles were observed, usually inside of the vacuoles. These larger particles (and occasionally the smaller ones) were also seen at the cell periphery and in the extracellular space. The large SFV particles appear to form by three distinct processes: (i) from the smaller particles, (ii) by development on an intravacuolar membrane, and (iii) at the ends of the tubules. The mode of development of SFV is unique among viruses studied to date, but in some characteristics it resembles that of other group A arboviruses. Its development differs from that of most arboviruses of group B and other serological groups.