Factors affecting the production of thermonuclease by Staphylococcus aureus Z88

The effects of temperature, initial pH and presence of sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium chloride and potassium chloride on the growth and thermonuclease production by Staphylococcus aureus Z88 in brain heart infusion broth were examined. A quantitative assay was developed to measure thermonuclease activity. Growth of S. aureus was monitored by measuring absorbance of broth cultures at 660 nm and by aerobic plate counts at specific time intervals. Aerobic plate counts were also used to determine the number of cells/ml present when nuclease could first be detected. At low temperatures of incubation, growth and thermonuclease production were delayed. At an initial pH of 5.3, growth and thermonuclease production of the organism were delayed. At an initial value of 8.3, pH growth and thermonuclease production were delayed but the final numbers of organisms and levels of thermonuclease produced were not affected. As the level of sodium acid pyrophosphate was increased, the pH of the medium became more acid. NaCl delayed growth and thermonuclease production to a greater extent in the broth medium than did KCl. On some occasions, nuclease was detected when 10(\u275) cells/ml were present. In all environments however, nuclease was always detected when greater than 10(\u276) cells/ml were present

Modern Core Processes for the Non-ferrous Foundry

The authors intend to project cogent thoughts conce-rning the rapid development of modern core practices, as also to indicate how India can benefit from the back-ground of available practical experience. The growth of modern core practice has been concurrent with the growth of the use of synthetic binders. Thin walled light non-ferrous alloys would be very difficult to economically cast otherwise. Magnesium and aluminium based castings and copper alloys have benefitted from the use of modern sysnthetic binders; and to a lesser extent brass and bronze industries

Practitioner Perceptions of Juvenile Transfer in Pennsylvania

Consistent with virtually all other states in the nation, in the mid-1990s legislation was enacted in Pennsylvania to address increasing concerns about serious and violent juvenile offending. This legislation included provisions for facilitating the transfer of violent juvenile offenders to adult criminal court. The current study examines contemporary practitioner perceptions of juvenile transfer to adult court, with regard to the number of juveniles transferred, the effectiveness of this practice, and the appropriate minimum age for transfer to occur. Utilizing statewide survey data, comparisons are made between juvenile court judges, probation officers, prosecutors, and public defenders, and other predictors are assessed. The findings indicate modest overall support for transferring juveniles to adult court, with various significant differences across practitioner groups. Policy implications are discussed

Cognitive Transfer from Right to Left Hemisphere after Section of the Forebrain Commissures

Transfer of cognitive information from right to left hemisphere was examined in patients with complete surgical section of the forebrain commissures. A simple new technique is described that allows lateralized presentation of visual input for prolonged viewing by a single hemisphere without attachments to the eye. This technique was applied in tests of the ability of two complete commissurotmy patients to name simple visual and tactual stimuli projected to the right hemisphere and to cross-compare bilateral input, in exception to characteristic disconnection effects. Special procedures and control tests were employed to determine the underlying mechanisms of such behaviors, and especially to assess the involvement of the left hemisphere. Three commissurotomy subjects were also tested for their ability to verbally describe pictures and printed nouns, corresponding to items associated with distinctive tastes and smells, presented for prolonged viewing in the left hemifield. The commissurotomy patients could sometimes name or cross-integrate the simple stimuli. Use of cognitive strategies and access to stimulus information by the left hemisphere was shown under these conditions. The subjects could not orally name more complex pictures and words. They could, however, provide relevant and appropriate verbal reports including evaluations, category and context cues and even distinct perceptual impressions and other specific associations but not the precise identity. Results demonstrate that certain cognitive aspects of right hemisphere processing can transfer to the left hemisphere through brainstem channels. Verbalizations in response to stimuli presented in the left visual field and other recent exceptions to symptoms of disconnection may result from this subcortical communication. Other possibilities including oral naming by the right hemisphere cannot account for these results. The name or identity of stimuli is not conveyed by these interhemispheric transmissions but rather, less specific information that is more connotative or orientational in nature. Such transmissions are presumed to function also in normal cognitive processing. The findings provide further evidence for relatively high-level cognitive processing by the right hemisphere.</p

Eleutherodactylus biporcatus group

48 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-48).A revision of the broad-headed frogs of the biporcatus species group of Eleutherodactylus s.l. has a wholly unexpected nomenclatural consequence. Eleutherodactylus biporcatus (W. Peters, 1863) is not from "Veragua" (western Panama) as originally thought, but is the proper name for the Venezuelan frog heretofore known as E. maussi (Boettger, 1893). Three names are resurrected from synonymy for Central American species currently masquerading under the misapplied name biporcatus, and a fourth species is described as new: (1) The rediscovery of Eleutherodactylus gulosus (Cope, 1875) shows it to be a large montane frog occupying an apparently small range in the borderland of Costa Rica and Panama. (2) Eleutherodactylus rugosus (W. Peters, 1863) is a smaller species occurring on the Pacific versant of southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama; Lithodytes pelviculus Cope and L. florulentus Cope are synonyms of E. rugosus. (3) Eleutherodactylus megacephalus (Cope, 1875), an intermediate-sized frog ranging from Honduras to central Panama, is the more common species to which the name biporcatus has usually been applied. Available material from the western half of the Isthmus of Panama was too sparse to decide if another (unnamed) species is being included under the name megacephalus. (4) The name biporcatus also has been used for Eleutherodactylus opimus, new species, which occurs from central Panama to western Colombia. Based on the condition of the m. adductor mandibulae, the Venezuelan Eleutherodactylus biporcatus s.s. (E. maussi, auctorum) belongs to the Middle American clade of Eleutherodactylus (subgenus Craugaster). However, preliminary data on karyotypes, as well as morphological differences, cast doubt on the closeness of E. biporcatus to the other species studied. The monophyly of the "biporcatus group" therefore remains to be tested

Visualization and functional analysis of a maxi-K channel (mSlo) fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP)

We have constructed a fusion protein between (mSlo) (a recombinant, high conductance, calcium-activated potassium channel or Maxi-K), and GFP (green flourescent protein). This construct represents a tag to not only monitor channel expression, but to locate the protein in living cells. The GFP was fused in frame to the carboxy-terminus of the (mSlo) core protein (mSlo-GFP fusion protein). Expression of this fusion protein in COS-7 cells resulted in robust fluorescence localized near the cell membrane. Fluorescing cells that were patch clamped exhibited whole cell currents with a direction consistent with potassium currents. Conversely, non-fluorescing cells showed no significant whole cell currents. Excised inside out patches revealed single channel currents and calculated conductances in the range of those expected for the maxi-K. The mSlo and mSlo-GFP channels reconstituted into lipid bilayers bound wild-type, recombinant CTX with high affinity and displayed a half-blocking concentration (KD) of 7.4 and 7.6 nM, respectively (at +30 mV in 150 mM equimolar KCl). This resulted in single channel evaluation of the functional inhibition of CTX on these clones. As newly constructed GFP chimeras emerge for the study of physiological processes in living organisms, this work provides another area of insight illuminated by GFP