Maternal mortality yet to be minimized.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Ghosh.
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The serum ceruloplasmin concentration was determined in cancer patients before and after radiotherapy, and after relapse of cancer, The ceruloplasmin concentration in patients who responded to therapy, decreased to the range of normal controls. In patients who did not respond to treatment, the ceruloplasmin concentration was more or less elevated. In patients with relapse of cancer, the ceruloplasmin concentration was higher than before treatment.
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Serum zinc level (SZL) was determined in normal patients and in patients with primary tumors of different sites, with measurements made before and after therapy. Serum zinc concentration was depressed in some of the tumor types examined. In some cases serum zinc concentration increased again after successful treatment. Diagnostic and prognostic value of the serum zinc concentration in malignancy is discussed.
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The black beetle virus (BBV) is an isometric insect virus whose genome consists of two messenger-active RNA molecules encapsidated in a single virion. The nucleotide sequence of BBV RNA1 (3105 bases) has been determined, and this, together with the sequence of BBV RNA2 (1399 bases) provides the complete primary structure of the BBV genome. The RNA1 sequence encompasses a 5' non-coding region of 38 nucleotides, a coding region for a protein of predicted molecular weight 101,873 (protein A, implicated in viral RNA synthesis) and a 3' proximal region encoding RNA3 (389 bases), a subgenomic messenger RNA made in infected cells but not encapsidated into virions. The RNA3 sequence starts 16 bases inside the coding region of protein A and contains two overlapping open reading frames for proteins of molecular weight 10,760 and 11,633, one of which is believed to be protein B, made in BBV-infected cells. A limited homology exists between the sequences of RNA1 and RNA2. Sequence regions have been identified that provide energetically favorable bonding between RNA2 and RNA1 possibly to facilitate their common encapsidation, and between RNA2 and negative strand RNA1 possibly to regulate the production of RNA3.
Synthesis of tryptophanase, D-serine deaminase and alkaline phosphatase in Escherichia coli C was repressed as the result of infection with the single-stranded DNA bacteriophage phi X174. However, the degree of repression differed, the more catabolite-sensitive the operon was, the more severe was the repression. For the catabolite-sensitive enzymes it was found that cyclic adenosine 3'5' monophosphate (cyclic AMP or cAMP) was unable to release or reduce the phage-induced inhibition. Experiments with amber mutants of phi X174 revealed that A, product of cistron A, was responsible for the inhibition. The cistron A product probably acted at the level of transcription. The possible role of A in the observed modulation of gene expression is discussed.
Two lines of evidence suggest that a gene analogous to the recA gene of Escherichia coli exists in Vibrio cholerae and that its product serves a proteolytic function in the SOS response. Firstly, Southern blot hybridization using the recA gene of E. coli as a probe revealed a genomic sequence in V. cholerae which hybridized with the probe. Secondly, the SOS-like response in V. cholerae (as measured by beta phage induction) triggered by DNA damaging agents like Furazolidone could be blocked by Antipain, a protease inhibitor known to inhibit RecA protease action in E. coli. Maximal blocking effect of Antipain on beta phage induction occurred at 1 mM. At this concentration neither the viability of the host bacterium nor the lytic growth of a clear plaque mutant of the phage was affected by Antipain.
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Zinc concentration in serum and hair was measured in a cross-sectional study of 437 Chinese women of whom 310 were normal controls studied at various stages of pregnancy and up to 12 months after delivery. The rest had spontaneous abortions, fetuses with a birthweight below the 10th centile for gestation or congenital abnormalities. Zinc concentration fell throughout normal pregnancy, the fall being greater in serum than in hair. There was no correlation between serum and hair levels. The infant birthweight had a positive correlation with serum level but a negative correlation with hair level. Abortion, low birthweight and congenital abnormality were not associated with low concentrations of zinc in plasma or hair.
The growing mycelia of Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30 are richly endowed with endoplasmic reticula and a variety of pleomorphic subcellular bodies. Mycelia of the culture growing in presence of avicel pH101 was fractionated in sucrose density gradients, and several morphologically and biochemically distinct fractions were isolated. Mycelia were homogenized in a Bead Beater, and the homogenate was freed of nucleus and wall fragments by low-speed centrifugation before fractionation. Organelle-free cytosol, which did not penetrate the gradient, contained (of the total) 72% of the vanadate-sensitive ATPase, 26% of carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase), 2% of cytochrome c reductase, and 13% of the protein. Significant fractions separated on a gradient were light vesicles containing heavily stained material inside and ribosomes attached to the outside surface, intact vesicles resembling condensing vacuoles, large vesicles derived from the plasma membrane, and heavy vesicles containing crystalline material. The light-vesicle fraction contained a large portion of the cell-bound CMCase activity. The particle-bound ATPase and cytochrome c reductase activities were concentrated in heavy fractions. The fractionation in the presence of MgCl2 improved the preservation of subcellular bodies derived from the endoplasmic reticula. Although the CMCase activity of the light-vesicle fraction was 4 times higher than the activity in the heavy-vesicle fraction, the CMCase antibody-binding capacities of both fractions were about the same. This discrepancy between the catalytic activity and the antibody-binding capacity suggests that the heavy vesicles might have contained considerable amount of inactive CMCase compared with that present in the light vesicles.
The subcellular distribution of alkaline phosphatase and penicillinase was determined by double labeling frozen thin sections of Bacillus licheniformis 749/C with colloidal gold-immunoglobulin G (IgG). Antipenicillinase and anti-alkaline phosphatase antibodies were used to prepare complexes with 5- and 15-nm colloidal gold particles, respectively. The character of the labeling of membrane-bound alkaline phosphatase and penicillinase was different: the immunolabels for alkaline phosphatase (15-nm particles) were bound to a few sites at the inner surface of the plasma membrane, and the gold particles formed clusters of various sizes at the binding sites; the immunolabels for penicillinase (5-nm particles), on the other hand, were bound to the plasma membrane in a dispersed and random fashion. In the cytoplasm, immunolabels for both proteins were distributed randomly, and the character of their binding was similar. The labeling was specific: pretreating the frozen thin sections with different concentrations of anti-alkaline phosphatase or penicillinase blocked the binding of the immunolabel prepared with the same antibody. Binding could be fully blocked by pretreatment with 800 micrograms of either antibody per ml.
The duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium was studied in a pest rodent, the bandicoot rat. Fourteen stages of the cycle were identified. The duration of the seminiferous epithelium cycle was determined to be 10.0 days.
The accuracy of gestational age prediction in 30 growth-retarded fetuses as derived from the fetal femur length (FL) was compared with that derived from the biparietal diameter (BPD). The mean difference between the actual and predicted gestational age was smaller when FL was used, but the difference did not reach statistical significance when compared with that associated with the use of the BPD. No consistent pattern of head/limb growth retardation was obvious. The femur length and BPD were both reduced in varying proportions in the growth-retarded fetuses. The significance of such findings in the assessment of intrauterine growth retardation is discussed.
The occurrence of Hb H hydrops fetalis is reported for the first time. The mother has zeta-alpha thalassemia 1 (zeta zeta alpha alpha/----) and the father has non-deletion alpha thalassemia [zeta zeta alpha alpha/zeta zeta (alpha alpha)T]. The complete deletion of the zeta alpha cluster on one chromosome was confirmed by quantitation of alpha and zeta gene numbers, the normal alpha and zeta gene patterns arising from the remaining normal chromosome, and the decreased alpha/beta globin chain ratio of 0.57. The non-deletion alpha thalassemia defect could only be identified by the imbalanced alpha/beta globin chain ratio of 0.65 in the presence of normal gene numbers and patterns. The newborn was markedly anemic, unlike those with classical Hb H disease, because the non-deletion alpha thalassemia defect is more severe than alpha thalassemia 2. The decreased zeta genes during fetal life might have additional deleterious effects. In this family, the distinct BamHI restriction fragment length polymorphism in the hypervariable region of the zeta genes may be used for future prenatal diagnosis.
To understand the nature of copper distribution during malignancy, 27 strains A/RB mice with fibrosarcoma were used. Tracer methodology with radioactive isotope of copper (64Cu) was applied. In the study made at different time intervals after isotope administration whole blood plasma and different tissues like liver, heart, spleen kidney and brain were investigated. Liver nuclear fractions were also examined. Distribution of 64Cu in different tissues reflected interesting results. While the incorporation pattern in the liver showed gradual fall from 8 h of isotope administration, the tumor tissue exhibited gradual elevation, compared to the controls. The effect of this finding is discussed.
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