The process of muscle relaxation by the combined action of MgAMPPNP and ethylene glycol.

Insect flight muscle fibres were relaxed by the combined action of MgAMPPNP and ethylene glycol, as measured by the stiffness of the fibres. Relaxation occurred over a small range of glycol concentration. Addition of Ca2+ raised the glycol required for relaxation. The speed at which the stiffness measurement was made did not influence the glycol concentration at which relaxation occurred. Glycol in excess of that needed to relax the muscle caused a slight rise in high-frequency stiffness. Removal of the glycol restored the rigor stiffness. Under glycol-relaxed conditions, much of the AMPPNP bound in muscle fibres was retained during cold-chase (elution of [3H] AMPPNP by nonradioactive AMPPNP); the intensity ratio of the inner equatorial X-ray diffraction peaks rose upon glycol relaxation to a value slightly below that characteristic of natural relaxation. The results are interpreted in terms of cooperative attachment of the crossbridges to actin.

The repeat distance of myosin in the thick filaments of various muscles.

The meridional spacing of the X-ray diffraction peak from the repeat of myosin along the thick filament of four muscles has been remeasured on the same apparatus. The frog sartorius gave a shorter repeat distance (143.7 A) than the three invertebrate muscles, which ranged from 144.9 to 145.4 A. These results confirm earlier measurements. Provided that the myosin molecules are staggered relative to one another by a constant 98 residues, it may be inferred that in vertebrate thick filaments part or all of the tail lies at a considerable angle to the filament axis, whereas in the invertebrates the angle is smaller.

Follow-up of children overexposed to lead.

The purpose of this study is to assess the nature and magnitude of the deleterious health effects of subclinical over-exposure to lead in children. The study stems from concerns about the impact on the health of children in city slums who ingest leaded paint without overt evidence of poisoning and the health implication of rising levels of lead in the environment from automotive emissions. The study sample was derived mainly from a registry of children on whom blood lead determinations had been made by the New York City Department of Health and was supplemented by siblings of the registry cases and children from a lead belt area who had extractions of deciduous teeth in dental clinics. Information was obtained through parental interview, medical records, and psychometric evaluation. The data show that deleterious health effects occur in children who were treated for severe lead poisoning and in children without diagnosed lead poisoning who had elevated blood leads (>/=0.06 mg-%). In the absence of diagnosed lead poisoning or elevated blood leads, excess lead exposure, measured in terms of high levels of lead in teeth, was not associated with deleterious health effects.