NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

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NEWS

AND

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announcements of forthcoming meetings and courses must be received in the Edi-tonal Office three months prior to tile date of tile issue in which they should appear.

PEDIATRICIAN APPOINTED CAREER INVESTIGA-TOR BY AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

Dr. Lewis W. Wannamaker, Associate

Pro-fessor of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota,

has been awarded a Career Investigatorship by

the American Heart Association. This provides

life-time support for research. One cannot

appl for this honor but is selected by a

Corn-mittee on the basis of his achievements and

promise. He then lives an Utopian existence

as he may follow any line of study he chooses and need produce scientific papers only v.heii he feels such are justified.

Other new Career Investigators are: Dr.

David B. Sprinson, Professor of Biochemistry

at Columbia University and Dr. John V.

Tag-gart, Professor of Medicine at Columbia

Uni-versity.

WYETH PEDIATRIC FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED

The names of 20 recipients of the annual

Wyeth Laboratories pediatric residency

fellow-ships were announced today by Dr. Philip S.

Barba, past president of the American

Acad-erny of Pediatrics and chairman of the

fellow-ship selection committee.

The l)l1ysician-recipie1ts, from 13 different

states, are the first group to benefit from the

fellowship program established recently by the

Philadelphia pharmaceutical firm. Each doctor

will receive a grant of $4,800 providing for a

2-year postgraduate course in pediatrics. The

cost of the first 3 years of the project will be

$195,000.

Those receiving the fellowship awards

in-eluded: Doctors S. Wayne Klein, Baltimore,

Md.; Robert B. Cole, Cleveland, Ohio; Floy C.

Helvig, Baltimore; Warren D. Grover, Camp

Lejeune, NC.; Luther B. Travis, Fort Ben-ning, Ga.; John D. Siegfried, Red Lake, Minn.;

George T. Kimbrough, Birmingham, Ala.;

Don-ald E. Carey, New Orleans, La. ; and Marvin

L. Rallison, Minneapolis, Minn.; Allan L.

Drash, Baltimore; William C. Kenney,

Roch-ester, N.Y.; Paula Neyman, New York City;

Keith Hammond, Paoli, Ind.; Robert 0.

Hick-man, Salt Lake City, Utah; John C. Gilliland,

J

ackson, Miss.; Jon L. Karlsson, Santa Rose,

Calif.; John I. Larkin, Albany, N.Y.; William

A. Moon, Jr., Denver, Cob.; George A. Lentz,

Baltimore; and Paul

J.

Uhlig, Oceanside, Calif.

Selection was made on the basis of interest

in pediatrics, character, conscientious and able

performance of duties, and academic

compe-tence. The recipients may attend any hospital

whose residency training program is properly

accredited.

Members of the selection committee include:

Dr. John A. Anderson, Minneapolis; Dr. Amos

Christie, Nashville; Dr. Hugh A. Carithers,

Jacksonville; and Dr. Crawford Bost, San

Francisco.

REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE MCCOLLUM-PRATT SYMPOSIUM ON

THE “CHEMICAL BASIS OF DEVELOPMENT”

One hundred investigators from all parts of

the world met on March 24-27, at the

Mc-Collum-Pratt Institute, Johns Hopkins

Univer-sity, to discuss the chemical basis of

develop-ment. A number of the papers presented have

considerable interest to pediatricians.

Clement Markert proposed a hypothesis that

the chromesomes of the fertilized egg are not

identical with adult chromosomes and may,

indeed, be altered during development,

possi-bly by the acquisition of new protei1 1w

nii-cleic acids. These proteins he considered to be

inductors. Evidence for such altered activity of

chromosomes was based on tissue cultures of

liver cells. As the liver cells developed in tissue

culture, different patterns of enzymes

ap-peared. His model enzymes were esterases, of

which there are a large number in liver tissue.

A. E. Minsky of the Rockefeller Institute

dis-cussed the metabolism of the nucleus. He

dem-onstrated that energy generation in the nucleus

is separate from energy generation in the rest

of the cell. Of particular interest was his

evi-dence relating to the sodium content of the

nucleus. Apparently the nucleus operates in a

sodium environment as opposed to the

cto-plasm which is high in potassium. ProteIl

synthesis in the nucleus was stimulated by

so-dium. He described an interrelation between

desoxynibonucleic acid (DNA), the genetic

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con-trols protein synthesis. In the nucleus the DNA

controls the synthesis of RNA. When nuclear

DNA was destroyed enzymatically (DNAse)

RNA synthesis was inhibited. The RNA

syn-thesis could be restored by the addition of a

number of preparations of DNA. This is

remi-niscent of the transfer of characteristics among

bacteria by transfer of DNA, demonstrated by

Hotchkiss.

M. V. Edds spoke on the origin and

struc-ture of intracellular matrix.

Mucopolysac-charides, even from closely related areas,

ap-pear to be different. For example, the cornea

contains mainly keratosulfate as a ground

sub-stance with a small amount of chrondroitin

sulfate. On the other hand, the sclera contains

mainly chrondroitin sulfate and a small

amount of keratosulfate. A relation between

the calcification of bone and the collagenous

matrix was described. Metastable solutions of

calcium and phosphate could be caused to

de-posit hydroxyapatites, the normal crystalline

material from which bones form, by normal

collagen. Abnormal collagen produced no

apa-tite. Edds presented the hypothesis that the

mucopolysaccharide present in the tissues may

prevent calcification of all collagen, except that

collagen which has the proper molecular

spac-ing. Unreconstituted collagen did not form

apatites from metastable calcium and

phos-phate solutions. Only normally reconstituted

collagens stimulated such crystallization. This exciting relation between mucopolysaccharide

and bone formation provides an interesting lead

into the study of the many diseases involving

bone formation.

The burgeoning knowledge of the

intra-cellular structure was discussed by Hewson

Swift, who pointed out that with the exception of the mitochondria, almost all of the particu-late material within the cell represents

broken-up membranes; that certain membranes were

invaginations of the cell membrane (cf. the

report by Herman Spater and Vincent

Dna-piewski at the recent Pediatric Research

So-cietv Meeting). The microsomes are fragments

of a large series of membranes which lie

be-tween the nuclear membrane and the cell

mem-brane. Scattered over the surface of these

membranes are clumps of RNA which, in

current thinking, represent the structural

ma-tnix for protein synthesis.

Of considerable interest to the problem of

teratogenesis was the hypothesis proposed by

DeHaaii concerning morphogenetic

move-ments. Chelating agents inhibit the folding

of the neural crest in chick embryos. The

hypothesis proposed that the folding of cells

was caused by a change in the surface of cells

with the appearance of calcium-binding sites

along adjacent cells. The calcium would then

bind one side of each cell, causing the two

cells adjacent to each other to pull together,

thus forming a fold. Such a hypothesis might

lead to some fruitful work on the development of anatomical abnormalities in the fetus.

Further evidence on the effect of the

en-vironment on the development of the embryo

was presented by Melvin Cohn who reported

that small molecules such as galactose can

in-duce changes in the enzymatic composition of

the cells which are transmittable. As long as

galactose remained in the environment of the cell, the enzyme would continue to be

induci-ble, even though there were no genes for the

enzyme in the particular cell. If all of the

in-ducing substance is completely removed from

the cell, the cell reverts to the original type,

and the progeny no longer forms the enzyme

even with the addition of the new inducers.

Nitrogen metabolism during embryogenesis

was discussed by P. P. Cohen’s group and by

R. E. Eakin. Cohen showed that tadpoles

ex-crete mainly ammonium ions as nitrogenous

waste, whereas frogs excrete mainly urea. The

urea cycle enzymes in the liver parallel the

ratio of urea to ammonia in the waste products.

Eakin showed that the chick embryo excretion

of nitrogen is not according to the currently

accepted interpretation made by Needham.

There is no initial ammonia cycle followed by

a urea cycle, and finally a uric acid excretion

in the chick. The original data presented by

Needham represented artefacts of the

expeni-mental situation. Indeed, uric acid formation

begins early during the development of the

embryo and increases constantly through adult

level. Diminishing ammonia “excretion” is

ac-tuallv a dilution effect as the allantoic fluid

increases. Thus, another example of the rule that ontogeny parallels philogeny is disproved.

J

ames Ebert discussed antibody formation

during development, and he pointed out that

there is no convincing evidence of antibody

formation by the embi-vo. There is also a

de-lay period after birth during which there is no

antibody formation. Certain experiments

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ex-NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

tremely cautious in the use of injections of

organ extracts into normal individuals in order to prevent radiation injury for other purposes.

A phenomenon called the “graft against host

reaction” was described. If a graft of tissue

re-mains in contact with the host long enough, the host decomposes. All of the tissues which showed this decomposition are reticuloendo-thelial tissues. It appears that any time cells

capable of forming antibodies are included in

a graft, the graft reacts against the host by

forming its own antibodies, destroying the host. This explains the reports now appearing

on the damaging effects of bone marrow

injec-tion in animals to protect them against radia-tion injury.

R. E. Billingham pointed out that although

the embryo could not form antibodies which

are demonstrable in the usual manner, there is

a peculiar reaction developed by the embryo,

which is an altered response to antigen. This

reaction he called the “tolerance response

phe-nomenon.” It explains the red cell chimeras in

which two different types of red cells can be

found, apparently because of the intermingling

of the blood stream of non-identical twins in

utero. Cells of two different blood types can

be demonstrated in the circulation, and this

type of chimera can tolerate blood transfusion

from the other twin without reaction. Such

human chimeras have been reported.

Experi-mentally, embryo mice can be given injections

of spleen tissue from other mice and then will

accept grafts from the donor mice. During the

period when the embryo or newborn animal

cannot form antibodies, he develops this par-ticular tolerance response, and maintains it for

a very long time after growth. The tolerance

response reaction explains why animals do not

react to their own tissue. If a tissue is

segre-gated so that its protein can come only with

difficulty into contact with its

reticuloendothe-hal system, there is a possibility that when

such segregation is broken down the animal

can be immunized to its own tissues. For

ex-ample, guinea pigs can be immunized against

their own sperm. This is probably because the

sperm appear late in the course of development of the animal, and some of the sperm proteins

are not present during the early development

of the lmphoid system. It is also possible to

develop antibodies to the lens of the eye. This

is possibly an explanation of the eye

phenome-nOn known as sympathetic ophthalmia. The lens

is segregated with no lymphoid drainage and is

in, as Billingham puts it, “physiologic

quaran-tine.” When this breaks down, the protein of

the lens enters the circulation and antibodies to it form in the lmphoid tissue.

Hashimoto’s disease is probably an example

of antibody formation to a segregated protein

normally kept within the thyroid gland. When

the thvroglobulin escapes into the lymphatic

system, there is a formation of antibodies,

which then attack the thyroid. Brain tissue is

also in “physiologic isolation,” for there is no

lymphatic drainage of the brain. An animal

will produce an immune response against its

own brain tissue if it is injected.

N. T. Spratt described the requirements for

the growth of cells in tissue cultures. An

in-teresting effect was discovered when the

popu-lation of cells diminished. The smaller the

tissue culture population of cells, the poorer the resistance of the cell population to changes

in the environment. This was shown to be a

requirement of carbon dioxide. The more cells

present, the more carbon dioxide was formed,

producing a more favorable environment for all cells. A marked sensitivity of the heart to the

potassium concentration of the medium was

demonstrated. Although other tissues can grow

in the embryo at low potassium concentration,

there is essentially no development of the

heart unless the potassium concentration is in-creased markedly.

Rita Levi-Montalcini and S. Cohn described

a substance found in malignant tissues which

stimulates the growth of sensory and svmpa-thetic nerve tissue but not motor nerve tissue.

Cell activity, mitosis, and speed of

differentia-tion are all increased by this extractable factor

from tumor, and the same effect can be

dem-onstrated in tissue culture. In trying to identify this material, the investigators found it to be

present in snake venom, and also in extracts

of the salivary glands. This material is a

pro-tein which cannot be identified with any of the

known enzymes of snake venom or salivary

glands. Further studies by these two

investi-gators on the growth of nerve fibers revealed

that phenylalanine is necessary by the use of

the amino acid antagonist,

paraflurophenvlala-nine. This may have some significance to the

disease phenylpyruvic oligophrenia, although no anatomic lesion characteristic of the disease has been demonstrated in brain.

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feedback mechanism in which the

concentra-tion of albumin in the serum inhibits the rate

of growth of liver cells and the formation of

albumin by liver cells. An increase in the

con-cenfration of albumin in the extracellular fluid

of the liver, either in vivo, or in tissue culture,

inhibits the incorporation of amino acids into

albumin. Diminution of the albumin content

stimulates growth, mitosis, and albumin forma-tion by the liver cell. This feedback mechanism

is of great clinical significance in liver disease, in cirrhosis of the cirrhotic type, in various

types of portal obstruction, and possibly in

the nephrotic syndrome, and other diseases of

altered capillary permeability. For example, if

the hepatic vein is tied off, the pressure within

the liver rises, and there is extravasation of

protein into the extracellular fluid around the liver cells. This results in an inhibition of pro-tein formation by the liver and a concomitant

drop in serum protein. A similar mechanism

might be described as causing an increase in

the extracellular serum protein concentration in the nephrotic syndrome, although in this situa-tion, the increased protein concentration might be the result of extravasation of serum through the sinusoids of the liver, rather than a result

of pressure. This hypothesis offers some new

leads to study many diseases in which there

is enlargement of the liver. Alterations in the

control mechanism for the synthesis of albumin

and the growth of liver cells could be involved.

This mechanism proposed by Glinos affects

only the liver, since the liver is the sole site of albumin formation.

The net result of such a conference as this

is difficult to assess, but the value of the infor-mation presented to those involved in research concerning pathologic processes is enormous. Many new vistas are opened and correlations

established which provide opportunities for a

great deal of further work.

A detailed report of the proceedings of this

symposium, edited by McElroy and Glass, will

be published by the Johns Hopkins Press.

POSTGRADUATE TRAINING

New York Medical College, Flower and Fifth

Avenue Hospitals, Department of Mental

Re-tardatioii

,

offeis 1)ostgraduate training, from Septeiiiber, 1 958 to June, 1 959, to qualified

medical and non-niedical personnel who are

intei-ested in broadening their knowledge and

experience in the diagnosis, treatment and

re-habilitation of the mentally retarded child, or who have research interests in this field.

The basic plan for the program will be a

combination of selective clinical experience in teams, case demonstrations, and multi-disci-plinary seminars and conferences, utilizing all

the varied individual and group programs

cur-rently in practice.

A full-time faculty team has been selected

consisting of a psychiatrist, clinical psycholo-gist, psychiatric social worker and pediatrician

who will carry on the specialized training and

teaching of the trainees with the help of

part-time faculty from various facilities in New

York City. Chairman of the Faculty

Commit-tee is Lawrence B. Slobody, M.D.

For further information, write to New York

Medical College, Department of Mental

Re-tardation, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals,

1249 Fifth Avenue, New York 29, New York.

POSTGRADUATE COURSE

A continuation medical education course for

pediatricians offered by the University of

Minnesota on September 23 to 25, 1958, will

feature lectures, panels, and round table

dis-cussions on “Advances in the Diagnosis and

Management of Diseases in Infants and

Chil-dren.”

The course will be presented by the

full-and part-time faculty of the Department of

Pediatrics of the University of Minnesota under

the direction of Dr. John A. Anderson,

Pro-fessor and Head. Guest participants will

in-dude Dr. Daniel C. Darrow, and Dr. Waldo E.

Nelson.

The Northwest Pediatric Society’s annual

scientific meeting is being held on Friday,

September 26, 1958, at White Pine Inn,

Bay-port, Minnesota. All registi-ants for the

Pedi-atric Continuation Course are welcome and are

encouraged to arrange their schedule so that

they might attend this meeting.

Lodging and meal accommodations are

available at the Center for Continuation Study.

Registration may be made by writing Dr. N. L.

Gault, Jr., Director, Department of

Continua-tion Medical Education, 1342 Mayo Memorial,

Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.

AMERICAN BOARD OF PEDIATRICS

Diplomates certified at Cincinnati, Ohio,

June 13, 14, 15, 1958:

Adams, Julius T. , 130 Grastone Terrace,

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611

Adler, Philip, 17193 Greenlawn Avenue,

Detroit 21, Michigan.

Anderson, Lewis Bruce, Jr., Billings Clinic,

2802 Ninth Avenue North, Billings, Montana.

Andrus, Bailey C., 315 Nichols Road,

Kan-sas City, Missouri.

Bauer, Charles H., 525 East 68th Street,

New York 21, New York.

Belt, James Harvey, 6202 College,

Indianap-ohs, Indiana.

Bolinske, Robert Edward, 4264 Beechlawn

Road, Columbus 13, Ohio.

Buzan, Edwin F., 604 E. Broadway, Alton,

Illinois.

Carter, Harvey Lee, U. S. Naval Hospital,

San Diego 34, California.

Ching, Alfred Y. T., 1009 Granger Street,

Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Cilella, C. A., 6334 N. Olcott Avenue,

Chi-cago 31, Illinois

Cline, Alan L., 516 Pontiac State Bank,

Pon-tiac, Michigan.

Cohn, Bradford, Philip, 500 Spruce Street,

San Francisco, California.

Collins, William R. Jr., 414 County Street,

New Bedford, Massachusetts

Crea, Maria Antoinette, 3395 Scranton

Road, Cleveland 9, Ohio.

Daly, Joseph Michael, 234 East Southern

Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana.

De Garmo, Albert H., 6513 Cliffridge Lane,

Cincinnati 13, Ohio.

Dorgelo, Gerhard H., 901 Helena Street,

Trail, British Columbia, Canada.

Eisenberg, Nathan P., Charminel Hotel,

Columbus, Ohio.

Englert, James Joseph, 6048 Montgomery

Road, Cincinnati 13, Ohio.

Falliers, Constantine John, 465 South Olive

Way, Denver 22, Colorado.

Fox, Mary Alice Vann, 7400 Fairfax Road,

Bethesda 14, Maryland.

Freeman, Raymond S., 5125 E. Yale

Aye-nue, Denver 22, Colorado.

Gall, John Christian, Jr., 902 South Lake,

Miles City, Montana.

Gauchat, Robert David, Department of

Pediatrics, State University of Iowa Hospitals,

Iowa City, Iowa.

Genlach, Julius Andrew, Jr., 14145 Pleasant Valk’v Road, Cleveland, Ohio.

Glaser, James Vincent, 10703 White Oak

Avenue, Granada Hills, California.

Good, Robert Francis, 348 Livingston Road,

Dravosburg, Pennsylvania.

Greenberg, Robert Eric, Department of

Pe-diatrics, Syracuse Memorial Hospital,

Svra-cuse 10, New York.

Grossman, Herman, 1032 Woodland Avenue,

Oradell, New Jersey.

Hamad-, Alfred, 140 Capital Avenue, N.E.,

Battle Creek, Michigan.

Hanson, Thomas A.

,

Madigan Army

Hos-pital, Tacoma 99, Washington.

Harvey, Birt, 3887 Conina Way, Palo Alto,

California.

Haynes, Ralph E., 1400 Bland Street, Blue-field, West Virginia.

Higgins, Clarence Ronald, Jr., Base

Hospi-tal, Castle AFB, Merced, California.

Howard, Cecil Byron, Doctors Building,

Tuckaleechee Pike, Maryville, Tennessee.

Kaplan, Martin

J.,

730 Judson Avenue,

Highland Park, Illinois.

Kaster, John David, 955 Jackling Drive,

Hillsborough, California.

Kultzen, Ingeburg, G. A., 722 West Lodi

Avenue, Lodi, California.

Langley, Leslie W. Jr., Wahie Apts., Bourne

Avenue, Somerset, Kentucky.

Mackoff, Lesie, 4114 University Way,

Se-attle 5, Washington.

McKeon, Edward C., Office of

Medicare-Office of the Surgeon General (Army-991 1),

Washington 25, D.C.

Medearis, Donald Norman, Jr., Harriet Lane

Home, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore 5,

Maryland.

Mellins, Robert Bere, 102 S. Broadway,

Tarrytown, New York.

Miller, Joseph Boxley, Jr., 802 Grand

Aye-nue, Yazoo City, Mississippi.

Nitchals, Jeanne Elizabeth, 2205

Beech-mont Avenue, Cincinnati 30, Ohio.

Norton, Clayton, Rt. 1, Box 1, Arnold,

Maryland.

Pipkin, Fred, 4202 Poplar Level Road,

Lou-isville 13, Kentucky.

Polley, Robert F. L., 840 Medical-Dental

Building, 509 Olive Way, Seattle 1,

Washing-ton.

Rosa, Franz Weston, U. S. Overseas Mission

to Iran, APO 205, New York.

Rosenthal, Joseph Hyman, 6 Tappan Lane,

Oninda, California.

Rovnaiiek, Agnes Jean, 45 Fort Douglas

Boulevard, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Schwab, Louis, 6719 Hammerstone Way,

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Shiller, Jack G., Bay Street, Westport, Con-necticut.

Simon, David Leo, 634 North Grand, St.

Louis 3, Missouri.

Steinman, Arnold Miller, 5738 Wilkins

Aye-nue, Pittsburgh 17, Pennsylvania.

Sturtz, George Stephen, 121 Mullin Street,

Watertown, New York.

Szeto, Isabel Lai-Fong, 6681 Ridgeville, 2nd Floor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Tall, Milton G., 198 Dumbarton Road,

Bal-tirnore 12, Maryland.

Thomas, Allan Perry, 115 East South

Tern-ple, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Thompson, Spencer Gwaine, Carle Clinic,

Urbana, Illinois.

Turner, James K., 101 5. Meramec, Clayton

5, Missouri.

Turner, Richard Eugene, 2110 Main Street,

Springfield, Oregon.

Upp, James R., 148 St. Andrews Fairway,

Biloxi, Mississippi.

Vrla, Vlastimil, 311 Fir Street, Park Forest, Illinois.

Walsh, S. Zoe, 47 West 75th Street, New

York 23, New York.

Weitemier, Raymond Arthur, 2000 E. Main

Street, Richmond, Indiana.

Whitcomb, John H. 21 East Wright Street,

Pensacola, Florida.

Wilson, John Francis, Children’s Hospital

Research Foundation, Cincinnati 29, Ohio.

Wilson, Lewis Grant, Department of

Pedi-atrics, U.C.L.A. Medical Center, Los Angeles

24, California.

Young, John Thomas, 4167th USAF

Hospi-tal, Travis AFB, California.

The following candidate passed the

exarni-nation in Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1958,

but was not eligible to receive certificate until July 1, 1958:

Kamin, Sheldon, c/o Mr. Sam Kamin, 5449

West Congress Parkway, Chicago 44, Illinois.

Special Foreign Certificates

Canlas-Dizon, Fe, 2410 Jose Abad Santos

Boulevard, Manila, Philippines.

Carretero, Rosario, 2157 O’Donnell Street,

Manila, Philippines.

Choy, Peter Wai Shuen, 9 Stanley Beach

Road, Hong Kong.

Garcia, Libonio, 209 E. Fernandez, San

Juan, Rizal, Philippines.

Haddad, Heskel M., 76 Katznelson Street,

Givataiim, Israel.

Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, 42nd and Dewey

Avenue, Omah 5, Nebraska.

Mazumdar, Harish, 166 East 45th Street,

Brooklyn 3, New York.

Morales, Adoracion Concepcion, 1241

Trabajo Street, Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines.

Vallbona, Carlos, 280 Aragon, Barcelona,

Spain.

Vera Cruz, Pio G. , Unisan, Quezon,

Philip-pines.

Wadhwani, Kishin Vishindas, Medfield

State Hospital, Harding, Massachusetts.

Manonmani, Kariagounder, Kings Counts’

Hospital, Brooklyn 3, New York.

Reyes, Priscilla C., 830 5. Wood Street, Chi-cago 12, Illinois.

Makkia, Mahdy, 335 A/i Rashid Street,

Bet-Lencli, Baghdad, Iraq.

The

American

Academy

of

Pediatrics

TWENTY-SEVENTH SPRING SESSION

ANNUAL MEETING

October 20 to 23, 1958 April 13

to

15, 1959

Palmer House Sheraton Palace

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1958;22;607

Pediatrics