Agarose gel electrophoresis of human erythrocyte glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT EC 2.6.1.2)

The method of choice to determine erythrocyte glutamate-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) including rare variants was starch gel electrophoresis. Methods using agarose as gel medium were not reported to our knowledge. We present an adapted method using the Tris/maleate buffer system and an agarose of low endosmosis. The common as well as rare variant types of GPT were quickly and reliably separated. In addition, a method for the consecutive determination of esterase D (ESD) and GPT on the same gel using the malic acid buffer system is described.     

Fraud in courtship: Annulment and divorce

The possibility of fraud exists in any contract. Courts and custom allow some amount of fraud before voiding the contract. The same principles hold for marriage. This paper provides a comparative analysis of annulment and divorce, shows that there exists a socially optimal amount of fraud in marriage, and demonstrates how changes in the locale's divorce regime result in changing demand for annulments. While substitutability between annulment and divorce is limited, annulment is shown to become more valuable for introducing fault when the divorce regime shifts to no fault. As European nations harmonize their family laws, they should be conscious of this substitutibility.     

Stability of plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoproteins B and A-I during the early postmortem period

The stability of plasma lipids and apolipoproteins during the early postmortem period was studied by taking four duplicate blood samples from eight cadavers 2, 6, 12, and 24 h after death. The bodies were kept at +4 degrees C. The plasma samples were analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), apolipoprotein B (apo B), and apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I). In TC, values rose by 6 and 11% in two cases, and in six cases diminished 3 to 15% during the first 6 h compared to values obtained 2 h postmortem. The greatest changes were a continuing rise in one case by 33% and a fall by 21% in another case during 24 h. In TG values marked changes took place including one case with a rise of 67% within 24 h. The concentrations of apo B rose by 9 to 11% in three cases and fell by 3 and 4% in two cases during 6 h, but during the whole study period a rise up to 78% occurred. In the concentrations of apo A-I, cases fell by as much as 42% in 6 h, and in one case rose by 20% during 6 h. The results indicate that unpredictable fluctuations occur in plasma lipid and apolipoprotein values within 24 h after death, and they should be interpreted cautiously if the samples have been taken after a prolonged postmortem period.     

Isoelectric focusing studies on the PGM1 subtypes in the northern Japanese population

The distribution of the human red cell phosphoglucomutase (PGM1) subtypes in samples from Japanese population (n = 277) living in the Miyagi Prefecture, the northern part of Japan, was investigated by applying the thinlayer polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing. In our population sample all the ten common phenotypes were demonstrated, and the estimated allele frequencies for the genes PGM1+1, PGM1-1, PGM2+1, and PGM2-1 were 0.671, 0.107, 0.161, and 0.061, respectively. Family studies (n = 40) indicated an autosomal codominant inheritance and confirmed the four alleles. The new system will increase the probability of exclusion in paternity cases among Japanese to 29.4% compared with 14.3% if the two allele system is used.