Increased Cell Activity Research Articles

OCULAR DISTURBANCES IN PREGNANCY AND DURING THE PUERPERIUM

During pregnancy, numerous changes are manifest in the eyes and their adnexa that are normal to the state and disappear with its termination. Not infrequently, however, disturbances of vision arise in the course of gestation and during the puerperium which are danger signals of the greatest importance. These visual disturbances may be the first indication of the gravest danger to the life of the woman, or the first symptoms of disease of the various ocular structures which may terminate in diminished vision or even blindness. All the elements necessary for the growth of the fetus and for the promotion of its metabolic activity are derived from the maternal body, which must also take care of the waste products arising from the increasing cell activity. While the pregnant state is a physiologic condition, there is, nevertheless, an enormous demand made on the reserve material of the maternal body. In addition, there

A STUDY OF EPIDERMAL FIBRILS

In certain animals, in addition to the protoplasmic fibrils of the stratum filamentosum that are present normally in human epidermis, there are well developed fibrils in the cells of the stratum germinativum. These fibrils are present in the human epidermis only under conditions of increased cell activity. These fibrils, that are prominent in the stratum germinativum of human epidermis under conditions of increased cell activity, seem to increase in direct ratio to rapidity of cell production. The differentiation of these fibrils of the stratum germinativum into the finer fibrils which connect the cells of the stratum filamentosum can be observed under proper conditions of growth and therefore there should be no separation of the fibrils into different groups with various names. This process of fibre production by the cells of the human epidermis is analogous to increased fibre production by various other cells under similar conditions, and may be of importance in identifying or classifying new growths of epithelial origin.