Intracellular neutral carrier-based Ca2+ microelectrode with subnanomolar detection limit.

In intracellular electrolyte solutions a Ca2+-selective microelectrode based on the synthetic electrically neutral carrier N,N,N',N'-tetracyclohexyl-3-oxapentanediamide (ETH 129) shows an improved detection limit when compared with the so far widely used Ca2+ microelectrodes based on the neutral carrier ETH 1001. Detection limits are found at pCa = 9.2 in Ca2+ buffers containing an intracellular background of K+ (125 mM).

Cell contamination due to the use of carrier-based microelectrodes.

When using microelectrodes for intracellular ion activity studies, some uncertainties such as interference from cytosolic components at the microelectrode, cell damage, and cell contamination may arise. A model, which treats kinetic processes of the loss of carriers from the membrane phase of microelectrodes into the cytosol and cell membrane, is used for an estimation of the extent and time course of contamination by impaled ion-selective microelectrodes. An isolated model cell consisting of a plasma membrane surrounding a cytosolic milieu is assumed.

Design of ionophores for ion-selective microsensors.

Requirements for a reliable use of liquid membrane microelectrodes are discussed in terms of stability, response time, and lifetime on the basis of membrane technological considerations. The selectivity of H+, Li+, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, and Cl- microelectrodes is critically evaluated using the Nikolskii-Eisenman formalism. Recent progress in the design of new ionophores is presented.

Valinomycin-based K+ selective microelectrodes with low electrical membrane resistance.

A valinomycin-based membrane phase for microelectrodes with relatively low electrical membrane resistances is described. Microelectrodes with tip diameters of about 1 micron exhibit resistances of about 10(10) omega. Extremely high K+ selectivities are obtained, e.

The sexual scripting of oral genital contacts.

There is evidence from a number of sources that contemporary cultural scenarios for sexual conduct are often very approving of oral genital sex. Two surveys of sexual conduct are analyzed to examine the changes in interpersonal sexual scripts for oral genital sex for cohorts of white and college-educated young people who entered young adulthood between 1928 and 1943 and 1963 to 1967. Males in the earlier cohort had an excess of fellatio during the premarital period from erotic contacts with prostitutes and transient partners.

Variables influencing the timing of marrow transplantation in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The prognosis for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) has improved only for patients who can receive marrow transplantation from a histocompatible sibling. The timing of the marrow transplant is made difficult by the high peritransplant mortality of 20% to 35% and a group of patients with a prolonged chronic phase of CML, which can be identified on the basis of prognostic indexes (age, percent blood myeloblasts, spleen size, and platelet count). We have developed a mathematic model and computer program that consider age, prognostic index, and projected survival rate by transplantation to balance the risk of peritransplant mortality against the risk of delaying the transplantation of patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML.

Ion-selective membrane electrodes for clinical use.

We review ion-selective solvent polymeric membrane electrodes for clinical use. The particular requirements that the clinical application set on the membrane are discussed in terms of selectivity, stability, lifetime, and response time. The performance of currently available electrodes is reviewed, with consideration of actual problems that arise in clinical practice.

Sexual scripts: permanence and change.

A general introduction to scripting theory is offered, attempting to provide links between macrolevel considerations of sociocultural development and general theories of individual development. The scripting of behavior is examined on three distinct levels: cultural scenarios (instruction in collective meanings), interpersonal scripts (the application of specific cultural scenarios by a specific individual in a specific social context), and intrapsychic scripts (the management of desires as experienced by the individual). These concepts of the scripting of behavior are then applied to sexual behavior.

Cell counts in cerebral cortex of an autistic patient.

Numbers of neurons and glia were counted in the cerebral cortex of one well-documented case of autism and two age- and sex-matched controls. Areas in which cell counts were made were primary auditory cortex, Broca's speech area, and auditory association cortex. No consistent differences in cell density were found between the brains of the autistic patient and the control patients.

[Importance of clinically prognostic factors in the treatment of advanced ovarian carcinoma].

25 patients with stage III and IV ovarian carcinoma were treated with radical surgery and postoperative chemotherapy. Analysis of the disease-free intervals and the survival rates indicated significant differences related to the stage of the disease. Furthermore patients with minimal residual disease (tumor mass less than 2 cm in diameter) had a far better prognosis than patients with extensive residual disease (greater than 3 cm).

Pharmacological evidence for selective inhibition of gastric acid secretion by telenzepine, a new antimuscarinic drug.

The new antisecretory drug, telenzepine (4,9-dihydro-3-methyl-4-[(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)acetyl]-10H-thieno-[3,4 - b][1,5]benzodiazepin-10-one), was investigated for its inhibition of functionally intact muscarinic receptors involved in gastric acid secretion in rabbit fundic glands, perfused mouse stomach in vitro, perfused rat stomach in situ, gastric fistula in rats and dogs with a Heidenhain pouch. The effects on these receptors were contrasted with effects on receptors located on smooth muscle and heart, i.e.

In vitro modulation of prolactin binding to human mammary carcinoma cells by steroid hormones and prolactin.

This study demonstrates the specific binding of human (h) PRL to mammary carcinoma cells of the newly established line EFM-19. Under saturating conditions, [125I]hPRL bound to these cells with high affinity (Ka = 4.3 X 10(10) M-1) and low capacity (4080 binding sites/cell).

Effectiveness of antineoplastic drugs on the proliferation of human mammary and ovarian carcinoma cells in monolayer culture.

Procedures for the in vitro determination of the drug-induced inhibition of mammary and ovarian carcinoma cell growth were established. In monolayer cultures derived from advanced tumors, separation of epithelial carcinoma cells from concomitant cells of fibroblast-like or mesothelial appearance was achieved by differential trypsinization. The carcinoma cell character of the stock cultures was verified by chromosome analyses showing a high degree of aneuploidy for the epitheloid cell lines and euploidy for cells of apparently mesenchymal origin.

Individual chemosensitivity of in vitro proliferating mammary and ovarian carcinoma cells in comparison to clinical results of chemotherapy.

Cell lines established from advanced mammary and ovarian carcinomas were assayed for the inhibition of in vitro proliferation by various antineoplastic drugs. The assays were performed with multiple experimental cultures derived from stock cultures of the tumor cell lines in early passages of the cultivation. As determined by comparison of the 50% inhibition of in vitro growth, differential sensitivity of the individual cell lines was observed.

In vitro growth promotion of human mammary carcinoma cells by steroid hormones, tamoxifen, and prolactin.

Individually different growth responses of 10 cell lines newly derived from metastasizing mammary carcinomas were determined by cell counts in experimental incubations with the steroid hormones 17 beta-estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, hydrocortisone (cortisol), the antiestrogenic compound tamoxifen, or prolactin. Of 7 cell lines derived from ductal carcinomas, 5 were stimulated by prolactin. The growth of 4 of 7 cell lines established from the tumors of postmenopausal or ovariectomized patients was enhanced by doses of testosterone, which are in the range of the physiologic serum level.

Multicomponent analysis of amino acid transport in human lymphocytes. Diminished L-system transport in chronic leukemic B lymphocytes.

We have examined the amino acid transport in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and compared it with the amino acid transport in isolated B lymphocytes from human blood and tonsils. L-system transport was measured with 2-amino-2-carboxy-bicyclo (2,2,1)-heptane, which is a synthetic amino acid whose transport is limited to the L-system. Amino acid uptake was subjected to a multicomponent analysis that partitioned the total uptake into the saturable carrier-mediated transport system and the uptake by diffusion.

Neutral carrier electrode for continuous measurement of blood Ca2+ in the extracorporeal circulation.

A neutral-carrier-based Ca2+-selective electrode exposed to whole blood exhibited an EMF-stability better than 0.13 mV (approximately 1% change of the initial activity) during 3.7 to 6.