Failure to detect antihuman-immunoglobulinallotype-active antibodies in diagnostic sera directed against some enterobacteria

Diagnostic sera to determine antigenic properties of bacteria were tested to clarify the question whether these sera also contain antibodies being active against human immunoglobulin allotypes. Sera directed against various strains of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Shigella were found to be negative for anti-Ig-allotype activity.     

The Special Case of Pesticides: Science and Regulation

Pesticide regulation is a data-intensive activity that is strongly controlled at the federal level. The pesticide law FIFRA controls pesticide sale, use, and disposal. Normal use of pesticides is excluded under RCRA and CERCLA. There are approximately 1,000 pesticide active ingredients with highly diverse functions ranging from insecticides to disinfectants and pheromones (insect sex attractants). There is a relatively large database on many pesticides, which helps reduce uncertainty in risk assessments. Witnesses subject to Daubert should be familiar with the data as well as the computer models designed for pesticides. “Inert” ingredients that are formulated with the pesticide active ingredients can become issues in torts cases. Federal courts have ruled both in favor and against FIFRA preemption, i.e., the ability of a plaintiff to seek relief in a torts case may be blocked by FIFRA. Golf course permitting provides a special land use whereby fundamental pesticide risk and regulatory issues are debated at the level of local planning and zoning commissions.     

Localization and quantification of histamine in injured skin as parameters for the timing of wounds.

Localization and estimation of the histamine (HA) content in skin wound edges in 86 Sprague-Dawley rats and three cases of human injuries were carried out by a microfluorimetric method specific for this amine which forms a complex with o-phthalaldehyde (OPT). Distribution and density of the mast cells in the same areas were observed at the same time by toluidine blue stain. In all skin specimens with antemortem wounds, both the epidermis and upper dermis exhibit extracellular yellowish fluorescence of the HA-OPT complex. The fluorescent zone spreads in the wound edges with the lapse of time in vital injuries. The HA content increases gradually up to 30 min and then the yellow histamine fluorescence in areas 0-200 microns from the wound edge decreases. None of these features can be observed in normal skin and postmortem-injured skin. Mast cell degranulation can be demonstrated in all antemortem-injured skin. No statistical relationship exists between the number of mast cells and the HA-OPT fluorescence in either ante- or postmortem-injured groups. This study indicates that skin HA microfluorimetry by the OPT method is of practical value for distinguishing ante- from the postmortem wounds and for timing antemortem wounds.     

Histopathologic criteria of primary and secondary brain stem lesions

The brain stems from 52 corpses were microscopically examined. These cases died as a result of closed head injuries, which were clinically diagnosed and/or diagnosed postmortem as primary brain stem lesions. The morphological changes in these cases were compared with morphological changes in the brain stems of corpses who died from cerebral hemorrhage with additional secondary brain stem lesions. The examinations revealed acidophilic necrosis of the vessel walls in brain stem hemorrhages with fibrin impregnation of the vessel walls. Fibrin penetration to the perivascular space was the basic morphological marker that helped to differentiate between these two groups of cases.     

Book review

Anthony Arnold, Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion in Perspective. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press, 1981. 126 pp. $9.95.

Michael Radu (ed.), Eastern Europe and the Third World. Eastbourne: Holt‐Saunders Ltd., 1981. 358 pp. £21.75.

E. J. Feuchtwanger and Peter Nailor (eds.), The Soviet Union and The Third World. London: Macmillan Press, 1981. 229 pp. £20.00

Wladyslaw Bienkowski, Theory and reality: the development of social systems. London & New York: Allison & Busby, 1981. 303 pp. £5.95.

Allen S. Whiting, Siberian Development and East Asia: Threat or Promise? Stanford: University Press, 1981. xv + 276 pp. $22.50.

Christopher D. Jones, Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe: Political Autonomy and the Warsaw Pact. Praeger, 1981. 322 pp. $29.95 cloth, $10.95 paperback.

Stephen Kaplan, Diplomacy of Power. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1981. 733 pp. $9.50 paper, $19.95 cloth.

Derek Leebaert (ed.), Soviet Military Thinking. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981. xii + 300 pp. £14.50 hardback, £6.95 paperback.

J. Brine, M. Perry and Andrew Sutton (eds.), Home, School and Leisure in the Soviet Union. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1980. xiv + 279 pp. £15.00.

Manfred Melzer, Anlagevermögen, Produktion und Beschäftigung der Industrie im Gebiet der DDR von 1936 bis 1978, sowie Schätzung des künftigen Ange‐botspotentials. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1980. 250 pp.

Ilmari Susiluoto, The origins and development of systems thinking in the Soviet Union. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1982. 210 pp.

Michael Waller, Democratic Centralism, an Historical Commentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981. 155 pp. £14.50.     

Possible common partial antigens in human Ig allotype structure and ubiquitous bacteria, studied with the example of Escherichia coli

As can be learned from the literature, bovine serum may contain antibodies directed against human immunoglobulin allotypes. This gave rise to the question of what the origin of those antibodies is. We tested bacteria (E. coli) by means of the haemagglutination inhibition assay, which is used to type either Gm or Km factors. Anti-G1m(2) and anti-G3m(10)-specific antibodies were inhibited by the bacteria in a clear-cut manner, as was anti-Km(1), albeit less significantly. In contrast, the bacteria tested almost totally failed to inhibit anti-G3m(21) serum. The results lead to the assumption that E. coli may carry both Gm- and Km-like antigenic structures, which are presumably the antigenic material leading to immunization of cattle. Furthermore, new attention is drawn to a mechanism for immunization which is discussed regarding the genesis of either AB0 isoagglutinins in man or other "naturally occurring" antibodies.