[Investigation of the physiological effect of heated heliox on the human external respiration parameters].

The investigation was aimed at studying and comparison of the physiological effects of heated heliox and air on the human breathing function. Tests involved eight human subjects aged 24 +/- 4 who breathed gas mixtures and air heated to 58 +/- 5 degrees C for 21 minutes. Effects were evaluated by spontaneous pneometry and forced expiration using equipment Master Screen VIASYS. Heated heliox and air equally caused phase-by-phase growth of external breathing parameters. Conduction of the trachea and main bronchial tubes appear to increase considerably due to heated heliox rather than air.

Biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether by a pure bacterial culture.

Biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) by the hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium Hydrogenophaga flava ENV735 was evaluated. ENV735 grew slowly on MTBE or tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as sole sources of carbon and energy, but growth on these substrates was greatly enhanced by the addition of a small amount of yeast extract. The addition of H(2) did not enhance or diminish MTBE degradation by the strain, and MTBE was only poorly degraded or not degraded by type strains of Hydrogenophaga or hydrogen-oxidizing enrichment cultures, respectively. MTBE degradation activity was constitutively expressed in ENV735 and was not greatly affected by formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, allyl thiourea, or acetylene. MTBE degradation was inhibited by 1-amino benzotriazole and butadiene monoepoxide. TBA degradation was inducible by TBA and was inhibited by formaldehyde at concentrations of >0.24 mM and by acetylene but not by the other inhibitors tested. These results demonstrate that separate, independently regulated genes encode MTBE and TBA metabolism in ENV735.

Polymorphic changes of cell phenotype caused by elevated expression of an exogenous NEU proto-oncogene.

The NEU proto-oncogene encodes a 185,000 dalton transmembrane glycoprotein with extensive homology to epidermal growth factor receptor. In the current study the effect of exogenous NEU expression on phenotype and growth properties of cells established lines was examined. The replication defective retroviruses were used to express constitutively NEU cDNA in the Rat-1, NIH3T3 and Balb/c3T3 cells. In spite of the practically similar NEU mRNA and protein content in infected cells only in Balb/c3T3 cells, high NEU expression ultimately led to oncogenic transformation. The Rat-1 cells were practically insensitive to oncogenic action of NEU. Subpopulation divergency with respect to NEU-dependent transformation was also revealed in infected NIH3T3 cells. These results suggest the existence of unknown host-specific factor(s) determining the response of cells to NEU overexpression.