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The stability and arrangements of two dust particles in a plasma are investigated in terms of the Hamiltonian of the system. It is shown that the Hamiltonian description of a non-Hamiltonian system can be used to predict qualitative features of possible equilibria in a variety of confinement potentials and can provide useful plasma diagnostics. The results compare favorably with those of simulations and are used to create experimental hypotheses. In particular, the symmetry-breaking transition of the particles as they leave the horizontal plane admits a Hamiltonian description which is used to elucidate the wake parameters.

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This paper describes the validation and application of a simple flask-based (14)C-respirometer system designed to assess mineralisation of (14)C-labelled substrates under defined conditions. Validation of this respirometer system indicated stoichiometric CO(2) trapping up to a maximum of 400 micromol of CO(2) (in a single trap). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading bacteria were used to measure growth-linked biodegradation of [(14)C]naphthalene to (14)CO(2). A (14)C activity balance of 101.7+/-8.9% (n=6), after 74 h incubation time and 10 respirometer-opening events, indicated the suitability of the system for monitoring substrate mineralisation. This respirometric apparatus was then successfully applied to assess: (i) the PAH catabolism of microbes in a field contaminated soil, where naphthalene and phenanthrene were rapidly mineralised and (ii) soil-associated organic contaminant bioavailability, where increased soil-phenanthrene contact time resulted in a reduction in phenanthrene mineralisation in the soil. The described respirometer system differs from existing respirometer systems in that the CO(2) trap can be removed and replaced quickly and easily. The system is efficient, reproducible, adaptable to many situations, easy to construct and simple to use, it therefore affords advantages over existing systems.

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Treatment of cultured malignant human keratinocytes with sodium arsenate greatly suppressed expression of involucrin, a specific marker of keratinocyte differentiation. This action was primarily attributable to inhibition of involucrin transcription according to message run-on and stability measurements. Involucrin was suppressed in nontumorigenic keratinocytes as well, although the efficacy of suppression was less dramatic in cells derived from clinically normal epidermis. Several transition metal oxyanions (vanadate, molybdate, and tungstate) also substantially suppressed involucrin expression, but okadaic acid was ineffective. Immunoblotting detected marked increases in tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins as a consequence of arsenate treatment of the cultures, while mobility shift analysis revealed a dramatic loss of DNA binding by the transcription factor AP2. These findings support a proposed role for altered levels of protein tyrosine phosphorylation in keratinocyte differentiation. They also suggest that arsenate perturbs the differentiation program in target cells by altering this phosphorylation level and transcription factor activity.

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The effect of chronic renal failure (CRF) on the plasma concentration and urinary excretion of catecholamines and their metabolites was studied in 14 patients with varying degrees of chronic renal failure who had creatinine clearances of 19 to 77 mL/min. The results were compared with those obtained in a group of age-matched normal controls. Plasma catecholamine concentrations were significantly higher in the CRF patients compared with age-matched normal controls (456.9 +/- 303.1 v 278.5 +/- 81.1 pg/mL). The urinary metanephrine (0.6 +/- 0.6 mg/g creatinine) and vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) (6.6 +/- 4.2 mg/g creatinine) were within the normal range. No significant correlations were found between creatinine clearance and urinary metanephrine and VMA excretion or with the plasma catecholamine concentrations. Our observations indicate that, despite the decrease in creatinine clearance, urinary VMA and metanephrine determinations are valid screening tests for pheochromocytoma in patients with compromised renal function. Plasma catecholamine concentrations, however, show moderate elevation with decreasing renal function.

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Altered immunological reactivity in primary hyperparathyroidism is suggested by the strong association between this disorder and malignancy. The present study was carried out to determine whether altered lymphocyte proliferation in response to common mitogens (PHA, Con-A, PWM) exists in primary hyperparathyroidism, and, if so, whether the abnormality resides in the lymphocytes or in humoral factors present in the plasma of patients with hyperparathyroidism. Ficoll-Hypaque purified lymphocytes from 6 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and 4 normal volunteers were stimulated with PHA, Con-A and PWM in the presence of plasma from patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and normal AB+ plasma. The incorporation of [3H]thymidine in unstimulated (control) and stimulated cultures was determined. The results demonstrate that lymphocyte proliferation was significantly higher when both patients' and normal lymphocytes were stimulated with mitogens in the presence of patients' plasma. These findings suggest that plasma from patients with primary hyperparathyroidism contains a potentiator of lymphocyte mitogenesis, or, alternatively lacks an inhibitor of lymphocyte activation that is present in normal plasma.

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A case of N-3 pyridylmethyl-N' 4 nitrophenyl urea (Vacor) rodenticide poisoning in a 52-year-old man is presented. Vacor is structurally related to alloxan and streptozotocin, agents that have been used extensively to produce diabetes mellitus in laboratory animals. Seven days after ingestion of Vacor, the patient presented in diabetic ketoacidosis complicated by postural hypotension and adynamic ileus. The patient recovered from ketoacidosis but has continued to require insulin. With infusion of arginine, glucagon rose from 185 to 650 pg./ml. and C-peptide from 0.5 to 3.4 ng./ml. Six weeks after onset of diabetes, no anti-islet-cell antibodies were detected. Muscle capillary basement membrane thickness on electron microscopy was found to be 1,918 +/- 194 A. The absence of hyperglycemia after Vacor ingestion should not lead to complacency on the part of the attending physician. The patient must be observed closely for development of ketoacidosis and treated prophylactically with nicotinamide, the suggested antidote.

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