A causal model is presented that predicts the relationship between the organizational structure and location of the high technology firm on the one hand and its R&D employment intensity on the other. The organizational structure of the firm is treated in two ways. The intra-organizational (internal) structure of the firm is analysed and found to be significantly and negatively related to the level of R&D employment in the firm. This is contrary to the hypothesisied direction of relationship. Variables representing the inter-organizational environment of the firm however are found to be associated with R&D employment intensity in the manner expected. The results further show that R&D employment intensity is positively associated with metropolitan location unmediated by the effects of firm size. This suggests that small high technology firms due to their “liability of newness” and large firms due to their complex inter-organizational environments are dependent on a metropolitan location.
The osteogenic diffusion chamber culture of rodent marrow cells is a well established system. In the present study, marrow cells from children and adult human donors were incubated in diffusion chambers implanted intraperitoneally in athymic mice. After 4 or 8 weeks, the chamber content was examined by light and electron microscopy. Child-cell cultures showed osteogenic tissue consisting of a mineralizing fibrous component and cartilage. Ultrastructurally, the fibrous tissue was similar to osteoid and exhibited osteoblast-like cells and mineralizing nodules. Mineral aggregates were also found in the cartilage. These features in child-cell chambers were similar to those found in control chambers of rabbit marrow cells. Adult-cell chambers showed only unmineralized fibrous tissue. These results render previous findings in animal-cell diffusion chamber systems relevant to the understanding of bone formation in man. It is suggested that the difference between child- and adult-cell chambers reflects an age-related decline in the number of marrow osteoprogenitor cells or their potential to undergo terminal osteogenic differentiation.
We have observed an antiarthritic effect of combined chrysotherapy in adjuvant arthritis. Since superoxide radicals (O2-) are potent mediators of rheumatoid inflammation, we studied the combined effect of auranofin (AF) and injectable golds on luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (LDCL) and O2- generation by cytochrome-c reduction of activated leukocytes by different receptor-mediated stimuli: phorbol myristic acetate, 10(-6) M; f-Met-Leu-Phe, 10(-6) M; and poly-L-histidine, 10(-5) M. AF, 0.6 and 0.9 micrograms Au/ml, inhibited 34 and 58% of O2- generation, respectively; the addition to AF of 0.3 micrograms Au/ml of gold thiosulfate (GTS) increased this inhibition to 84 and 97% of the oxygen burst. Similar synergistic potentiation inhibition was obtained by LDCL. When the inhibition of O2- generation by the combined action of AF and GTS was compared with AF + gold sodium thiomalate (GTM), only GTS showed an activation on AF's inhibition of the oxygen burst of human leukocytes. The ligand thiosulfate in equimolar concentrations to GTS had a statistically significant (P less than 0.01) inhibitory effect on AF's blockade of O2- generation during the first 5 min of the interaction with the PMNs; thiomalate had no effect. Sequential pretreatment of PMNs with AF and GTS on O2- generation revealed that for synergism of combined gold action to take place, the cell membrane had to be subjected first to the action of oral gold or to the simultaneous combined action of oral and parenteral gold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
In comparative clinical studies of auranofin (AF, oral gold) and parenteral gold in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, no difference in efficacy was detected. Since the pharmacologic profiles of these compounds are different, we studied their combined effect on adjuvant arthritis (AA). The effect of AF alone and combined with gold sodium thiomalate (GTM) or gold sodium thiosulfate (GTS) on the excretion of urinary hydroxyproline (UHP) and urinary calcium (UCa), and the articular index of arthritic rats was followed during five weeks of treatment. The excretion of UHP and UCa was significantly inhibited (P less than 0.005) in rats treated with AF combined with GTM or GTS as compared with animals treated with the individual gold compounds. However, the articular index only decreased significantly (P less than 0.02) in the group of rats treated with AF + GTS. The present studies open the possibility that combined treatment with oral and injectable gold provide a new approach for chrysotherapy with an increased antiarthritic potency.
Photosensitized regeneration of 1,4-dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) with an artificial photosystem allows the enzymic fixation of CO2 through carboxylation of α-oxo acids using sacrificial electron donors. Pyruvic acid is carboxylated to malic acid and α-oxoglutaric acid is carboxylated to isocitric acid with the malic enzyme and isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) as biocatalysts, ϕ = 1.9%. Malic acid formed through the photosensitized process is used as a synthetic building block for subsequent sequestered enzymic transformations, and its conversion into aspartic acid is accomplished with fumarase and aspartase as biocatalysts. Photoredn. of CO2 to formate is accomplished in the presence of formate dehydrogenase (FDH) as catalyst. Photosensitized redn. of different bipyridinium relay systems, i.e. N,N'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium (MV2+), N,N'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridinium (DM2+), N,N'-trimethylene-2,2'-bipyridinium (DT2+), and N,N'-tetramethylene-2,2'-bipyridinium (DQ2+) to the corresponding radical cations yields reduced relays that act as cofactors for FDH, which mediates the redn. of CO2 to formate. The quantum yield for formate formation is in the range ϕ = 0.5-1.6%. [on SciFinder(R)]
Human neutrophils (PMNs) which have been incubated with lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from group A streptococci generated large amounts of superoxide (O2- chemiluminescence and hydrogen peroxide when challenged with anti-LTA antibodies. Cytochalasin B further enhanced O2- generation. The onset of O2- generation by the LTA-anti-LTA complexes was much faster than that induced by BSA-anti-BSA complexes. LTA-treated PMNs generated much less O2- when challenged with BSA complexes, suggesting that LTA might have blocked, nonspecifically, some of the Fc receptors on PMNs. PMNs treated with LTA-anti-LTA complexes further interacted with bystander nonsensitized PMNs resulting in enhanced O2- generation, suggesting that small numbers of LTA-sensitized PMNs might recruit additional PMNs to participate in the generation of toxic oxygen species. Protelolytic enzyme treatment of PMNs further enhanced the generation of O2- by PMNs treated with LTA-anti-LTA. Superoxide generation could also be induced when PMNs and anti-LTA antibodies interacted with target cells (fibroblasts, epithelial cells) pretreated with LTA. This effect was also further enhanced by pretreatment of the target cells with proteases. PMNs incubated with LTA released lysosomal enzymes following treatment with anti-LTA antibodies. The amounts of phosphatase, beta-glucoronidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, mannosidase, and lysozyme release by LTA-anti-LTA complexes were much smaller than those released by antibody or histone-opsonized streptococci, suggesting that opsonized particles are more efficient lysosomal enzyme releasers. However, since the amounts of O2- generated by the LTA complexes equaled those generated by the opsonized particles, it is assumed that the signals for triggering a respiratory burst and lysosomal enzyme secretion might be different. Generation of O2- by LTA complexes was strongly inhibited by lipoxygenase inhibitors but not by cyclooxigenase inhibitors. Also phenylbutazone, trifluorperazine, and DASA markedly inhibited O2- generation induced by LTA complexes. These data suggest that bacterial products in the presence of antibody might have important biological effects on phagocytic cells and that these effects may be inimical to the host.
