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Urinary albumin excretion during exercise was measured with a radioimmunological method in a group of 13 young male diabetic patients and in a comparable control group. The duration of diabetes was 2-18 years; they had no proteinuria (Albustix®) and no other signs of renal disease. There was no difference in the basal albumin excretion. In the diabetics the average albumin excretion was doubled during exercise at 600 kpm/min for 20 min, from 9.1 μg/min to 18.7 μg/min (P<0.005). No significant change was seen in the controls. These results strongly suggest that abnormal glomerular filter properties are present in patients with relatively short duration of diabetes that is, in patients who are known to have thickened glomerular basement membrane. The exercise provocation test may be useful in other fields of renal pathophysiology.

Seventeen normal subjects and 21 patients with essential hypertension were examined by [131I]hippuran renography. Both groups were studied twice on the same day, first in a state of moderate dehydration and then after rehydration. From these data, four sets of reference intervals were established for several renographic parameters. Differences between the two groups were defined. The most impressive observation was a greater functional disparity between the two kidneys of one individual in the group of hypertensive patients, particularly when in a state of moderate volume depletion. This was reflected in a greater variance of certain kidney-to-kidney ratios derived from the renographic tracings. This article presents basic data to be utilized in clinical renography, as described in an accompanying article.

This investigation begins with the late zygote and traces ultrastructural development to the late globular stage of the embryo. Two nucleoli and satellite nucleoli sometimes occur in the zygote nucleus. Mitochondria, dictyosomes, cytoplasmic ribosomes, rough ER, and lipid bodies are numerous in the zygote. Microbodies are occasionally seen. The cell wall becomes well developed before the first division. No plasmodesmata occur in the zygote wall. The basal cell of the proembryo and the suspensor cells of the later embryo have very dense cytoplasm with a high concentration of cytoplasmic ribosomes. The nuclei are very electron opaque. The terminal cell and the cells of the embryo proper have a fine structure similar to that of the zygote. Plastids increase in number, size, starch content, and amount of thylakoid lamellae as the embryo develops. Mitochondria are numerous and appear active at all stages. Dictyosome activity, ribosomal aggregation, and the amount of ER are highest during the late globular stage. Lipid bodies are present up to the early globular stage, then disappear. The inner cell walls of the embryo are thin and have many plasmodesmata. These walls begin to thicken at the late globular stage, and at this time the size of the embryo begins to show an increase over that of the zygote. The results show a corresponding increase in the amount and activity of the metabolic machinery as the development of the embryo progresses. Lipids are probably more important as a nutrient source in the zygote and early embryo; starch becomes more important in the late stages. Absorption of nutrient material into the embryo sac and developing embryo appears to be from the chalazal end.

This study deals with the occurrence and relative abundance of four different types of abortive ovules in three species of Quercus.It was found that, contrary to previous literature, fertilization does not always occur in the abortive ovules. The most common type of abortive ovule is the one in which a normal embryo sac develops, yet fertilization does not occur. The absence of embryo sacs and the occurrence of empty embryo sacs account for abortion in other ovules. All types of abortive ovules can occur in the same ovary. It is proposed that all of the ovules that develop a normal embryo sac are potential seeds, but the first one to be fertilized suppresses the normal development of the others.

Plasma creatinine, IVP, GFR, and renography were analysed in 53 candidates for unilateral nephrectomy. Renography was used to determine how the function was distributed between the two kidneys. Twelve of 29 patients with normal plasma creatinine had decreased GFR. One-third of 74 individual kidneys showing normal function at IVP had GFR values below 30 ml/min. There was poor agreement between the radiological and renographic estimation of function distribution. In 6 of 14 patients who were not nephrectomized mainly because the other kidney had a reduced function, the kidney scheduled for removal had the major function. GFR and renography were particularly informative in cases with elevated plasma creatinine and normal IVP.

A survey has been made of all invasive moles and gestational choriocarcinomata registered during a 30-year period in Denmark, a nation with a population of about 5 million (1971). All the diagnoses have been verified histologically by reappraisal. Based on clinical data the 2 groups of patients are described with reference to the following criteria: incidence and age; gravidity, parity, and latency; dissemination and course of disease; and treatment. Some case histories are reported which contrast with the view generally prevailing before the era of chemotherapy, viz. that choriocarcinoma was a highly malignant and rapidly progressive disease. All the 19 patients who had an invasive mole, including 5 with metastases, became free from symptoms, and transition from this lesion to choriocarcinoma did not occur in any of these cases. Among the 50 choriocarcinoma patients the over-all mortality was 64%; 18 patients (36%) —10 of them with metastases—recovered. A decreasing mortality was observed during the period under investigation, but much additional work has to be done before the prognosis of the disease approaches that of invasive mole. In conclusion, the results of this study illustrate the many difficulties encountered in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of these rare trophoblastic tumours. The need for collaboration in prospective cases and for centralized treatment is strongly indicated from scientific as well as therapeutic points of view.

In Denmark, 94 cases of trophoblastic disease were classified as choriocarcinoma (CHC) or “probably CHC” during the period 1940-1969. All these cases were subjected to a reappraisal in the study presented here. Based on the criteria laid down by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 50 of the cases were classified as CHC, 18 as invasive moles (IM), and 26 as other trophoblastic proliferations (OTP).Among the CHC patients, 30 died of generalized disease and one from postoperative complications. Eighteen patients (36%)—10 of them with metastases—recovered. Four of these patients have been observed for 2-5 years and 14 for more than 5 years. Finally, one patient has still active disease.Forty-four patients suffering from IM (18) or OTP (26) were cured of their disease, including 5 with metastases. Determination of chorionic gonadotrophs was performed in 88 of the 94 patients at the time of the original diagnosis. Based on the findings at the re-evaluation, the frequencies of IM and CHC were one case per 126 000 and 49 000 births, respectively. The ratio of IM to CHC was 1 to 2.6. As compared with Norway and Sweden, Denmark seems to have the lowest incidence of these diseases. During the years 1943-1963, CHC accounted for approx. 0.03% of all malignant neoplasms in Danish females.The study reported here forms the basis of subsequent immunologic investigations into the transplantation aspects of CHC and IM.

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is abnormally elevated in early juvenile diabetes. In 7 normal and 7 diabetic subjects oral administration of glucose sufficient to raise plasma glucose 76 and 123 per cent, respectively, did not influence GFR and renal plasma flow (RPF) significantly. In 4 normal subjects, whose plasma glucose was raised by intravenous administration to values between 203 and 325 mg/100 ml, GFR increased by 5.7 per cent. This small increase is probably readily explained by the expansion of plasma volume and the fall in the colloid osmotic pressure of plasma during the infusion. There was no consistent change in RPF during infusion. It is concluded that in diabetics the elevated blood sugar per se does not explain the high GFR found in these patients.

When a radioimmunoassay for measuring urinary albumin excretion was used, the following results were obtained: In 11 normal male subjects a mean excretion rate of 9.7 g/min. during the day in the upright position was found. During the night, in the recumbent position, the excretion rate was significantly lower, with a mean value of 5.1 g/min. In 41 insulindependent male diabetic subjects without proteinuria the excretion rate was at the normal level, irrespective of the duration of diabetes. In 5 male patients with recently diagnosed juvenile diabetes, a significant fall in albumin excretion was found during treatment with insulin.

It is demonstrated that the maximum tubular reabsorption capacity for glucose (Tmo) is significantly increased in young patients with diabetes of short duration. (Mean value for diabetics: 419±50 mg/min (n = 10); mean value for normals: 352±64 mg/min (n = 9). GFR is also significantly increased in diabetics. For the whole material there was a clear positive correlation between GFR and Tmc. In the normal subjects GFR was constant during the high glucose level, whereas RPF increased. In the diabetics, RPF was constant but GFR decreased consistently about 9 per cent. In both diabetics and normals there was a decrease in urinary potassium excretion and an increase in urinary sodium excretion during glucose infusion.

AbstractForty-seven diabetic patients with duration of diabetes of 1 to 40 years and 31 normal subjects were investigated using classical renal clearance technique. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal plasma flow (RPF) were significantly increased in patients with juvenile diabetes mellitus of short duration. There was no correlation between GFR and serum glucose concentration, or between GFR and serum sodium concentration. A significant decrease in both GFR and RPF was found with increasing duration of diabetes. If consistent proteinuria was not present in the long-term diabetics, no reduction could be demonstrated in GFR and RPF.

In 11 newly diagnosed juvenile diabetics a clearly abnormal high glomerular filtration rate (GFR) has been found. During treatment with insulin the GFR fell towards the normal level. The normalization of GFR was associated with normalization of fasting growth hormone level, suggesting that the growth hormone hypersecretion in diabetics may play a role in mediating the high GFR observed in these patients. The results obtained in the various clearance tests, including dextran clearance, suggest that the mechanism responsible for the increase in GFR in untreated diabetes is probably an abnormality of the tone of the afferent and/or efferent vessels of the glomerulus and not structural defects in the capillary membrane.

A simple and rapid single antibody radioimmunoassay for the accurate determination of urinary albumin in the normal range of concentrations is described. Microfiltration is used for the separation of free and antibody- bound radioalbumin. The specificity and reliability of the immunoassay is investigated in experiments on dilution, recovery, and following the addition of other proteins. The influence of time and temperature is studied. The range of 24-hour excretion of urinary albumin in 6 normal male subjects was 8.6-12.6 mg.

A method is described for measuring glomerular permeability by dextran clearance using Sephadex gel filtration technique. Clearance is shown to be a function of molecular size, decreasing with increasing molecular weight. At a mol. weight higher than 55,000, the clearance is very low and approximately zero, while it averages 95 ml per minute at a mol. weight of 15,000. If plotted in a log.log. graph, a linear relation is found between clearance and molecular weight. In a semilog. graph, however, with clearance plotted against log. Stokes radius, the relation is also linear, with a slight deflection in the high molecular part, however.

The dwarf‐shoot apex of Pinus monophyllahas a cytohistological zonation typical of pines. Cataphylls are initiated by this apex both before and after the dormant winter period. The needle is initiated in the spring of the same season in which it matures. The cytological details of cataphyll initiation are identical to that of needle initiation; however, the two primordia can be distinguished very early on the basis of their shape and direction of growth. After needle initiation the stem apex becomes inactive, is crowded to one side, and eventually disappears as the base of the needle enlarges. The results of the present work are discussed in relation to earlier conflicting interpretations regarding needle initiation and the subsequent existence of the dwarf‐shoot apex of P. monophylla.

Histochemical analyses of the ovule of Quercus gambeliishow that the major food reserves (starch grains and lipids) are located almost exclusively within the outer integument. Vascular traces are present only within this integument which contains numerous, well‐developed plasmodesmata. The inner integument is virtually devoid of any food reserves and has very few plasmodesmata. The ovule has a persistent chalazal extension of residual nucellar cells (called the postament) which projects into the embryo sac. Due to the above information and the fact that the synergids rarely contain starch and no plasmodesmata are present in the walls of any of the cells of the egg apparatus (Mogensen, 1972), it is concluded that the synergids play little or no role in embryo sac nutrition. Rather, it is proposed that the pathway of available food materials in the young ovule is from the outer integument to the chalaza and through the postament into the embryo sac.

A study of the egg apparatus of Quercus gambeliiwas made at both the light and the electron microscope levels. This investigation was concerned primarily with the changes that occur in these cells before and after the process of fertilization and what role, if any, is played by the synergids in this phenomenon. The synergids before fertilization are, on the basis of ultrastructure, healthy, intact, functional cells. They have numerous mitochondria, dictyosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, and a typical nucleus. A prominent filiform apparatus is present, but the cell wall only extends a short distance around the micropylar end of the cells. Just before fertilization, one of the synergids degenerates. This is the synergid that receives the pollen tube and its discharge, including both male gametes. Dictyosomes increase in number and activity in the other synergid (persistent synergid) after fertilization. Eventually a complete cell wall forms around both of the synergids. No plasmodesmata are present in these walls. The egg has numerous mitochondria, dictyosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, and ribosomes, both free in the cytoplasm and attached to the endoplasmic reticulum. Lipid bodies are characteristic of this cell. A cell wall is present only around the micropylar end of the egg. After fertilization, little change occurs in the zygote. The number and activity of the dictyosomes increase, apparently in correlation with cell wall formation. The number of lipid bodies increases. The zygote is approximately the same size as the egg. Plastids are scarce, and starch grains are typically absent from all cells of the egg apparatus. It is suggested that the synergids function in the secretion of chemotropic substances that guide the growth of the pollen tube. Comparisons are made between the egg apparatus of Quercus gambeliiand that of the other plants studied thus far.

The ovary of Quercus gambeliiis tricarpellary and trilocular; each locule contains two anatropous, bitegmic ovules. The formation of a caecum from a chalazal extension of the embryo sac was observed. A central resistant column of cells, which exhibit some continuity with the vascular trace supplying the ovule, remains protruding into the embryo sac from the chalaza until the later stages of embryo development. Early embryogeny is characterized by a nearly vertical first division with both of the derivative cells contributing to the building of the embryo proper. Such observations suggest that the embryogeny of Quercusshould be placed in the Piperad or Asterad type rather than the Onagrad type as has been the practice.

An investigation was made concerning the gross morphology and the internal anatomy of Quercus arizonicaembryos. It was found that the percentage of fused‐ and separate‐cotyledoned embryos varies from tree to tree. Fusion of the cotyledons is congenital. Intermediate stages of fusion occur. The vascular pattern is the same in both fused‐ and separate‐cotyledoned embryos. The number of cotyledonary traces varies in both types of embryos. The relationship of the single‐cotyledoned embryo of Quercusto the origin of monocotyly is discussed.

AbstractThe nature, frequency and significance of bacterial growths from catheter cultures in 130 subclavian vein catheterizations were studied. 64 catheters were inserted in non-infected patients (group A), and 66 catheters in infected patients (group B). No relevant catheter growth was observed in group A. In a part of group B (58 catheters), comparable with group A as regards duration of catheterization, relevant growth was observed in 6 cases (10) and probably relevant growth in 11 cases (19). The difference between the groups studied is significant (P < 0.05). In the total group B, relevant growth was observed in 9 cases (14) and probably relevant growth in 14 cases (21). The duration of catheterization in the 9 cases with relevant growth was significantly longer than in the other 57 cases (P < 0.01). In 2 of the 9 cases, despite adequate antibiotic therapy, sepsis was not eliminated until catheters were removed. It is concluded that the risk of infection when percutaneous subclavian catheters are inserted in non-infected patients is negligible, but that the risk is appreciable if the patients are infected before catheter insertion. In infected patients, infection of catheters and duration of catheterization are correlated. No such correlation was found in non-infected patients.

The iron ore of the Grundhamn mine on one of the Ulvo islands in the Ångermanland archipelago in northern Sweden is to be regarded as a highly ferriferous variety of a post-Jotnian dolerite. Some peculiarities in the chemical composition of different concentrates from samples of the ore could not be explained otherwise than by supposing that the most common mineral of the ore was a substance, that not earlier had been discovered in Nature. By means of microscopic studies, chemical analysis and X-ray examinations it was found, that the unknown mineral was a ferro-orthotitanate, the spinel Fe2TiO4. In the ore the ferro-ortho-titanate appears in a blend of various spinels, magnetite being the second most frequent one.

The urinary excretion of oestrogens was studied before and after administration of oestradiol in five patients with cirrhosis of the liver. The results were compared with values observed in two control subjects and with the results obtained by other authors. The capacity of converting oestradiol-17β into oestriol was found to be impaired in two very ill patients. The discrepancy between the results obtained by biological and by chemical methods is discussed.

Mogensen, C. E. Chromatographic Evidence by Sephadex Gel Filtration of the Unrestricted Glomerular Filtration of Inulin. Scand. J. clin. Lab. Invest. 22, 203-207, 1968.Several recent studies have indicated that inulin has a considerable polydispersity. When injected into the blood stream for the purpose of determining the glomerular filtration rate, the high molecular-weight part of inulin may not be freely filtered and thus may give erroneous results. Filtration studies were performed in four healthy persons and six patients with severely impaired renal function. Sephadex gel filtration with determination of elution curves of inulin in serum and urine showed an identical pattern indicating unrestricted glomerular filtration for all the molecular-weights of inulin investigated. Comparison of different brands of inulin showed nearly identical elution curves.

During recent years a large number of experimental studies on the hormonal regulation of water metabolism have appeared. Attention has especially been focused on the effect of the hormones of the posterior lobe of the hypophysis and the adrenal cortex. The results are not easily comprehensible, but here the survey published by Gaunt, Birnie & Eversole(1949) is of great assistance. These authors conclude that the adrenocortical hormones exert two principal effects on water metabolism: (1) All adrenocortical hormones studied have a diuretic effect directly facilitating the excretion of water through the kidneys. (2) Most adrenocortical hormones cause retention of sodium – also by a direct effect on the kidneys. Owing to osmotic conditions, the adrenocortical hormones may thus be indirectly instrumental in causing retention of water in the body. During recent years, various investigators have succeeded in demonstrating a difference in the effects of desoxycorticosterone acetate (D. C. A.)

Our knowledge of the normal anatomy of the pituitary gland dates back to the classical study of Erdheim & Stummein 1909. Three years later, Cushingpublished his famous monograph in which he described the various types of pituitary adenomata – eosinophil, basophil and chromophobe – and the main clinical features of these tumours. Although the chromophobe adenoma is much more common than both the eosinophil and basophil varieties, it was nevertheless the latter two which attracted the greatest attention, and only relatively few investigators made the chromophobe adenoma the subject of detailed studies. Among earlier studies, those published by Hendersonin 1931 and 1939 are some of the most important. Our knowledge of endocrine disturbances in the presence of chromophobe adenomata has been increased by the recent investigations of Bakay(1950), who published a study on the first 300 pituitary adenomata of Olivecrona's series. More detailed information concerning the