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To reduce the time to monitor success of growth hormone therapy, Gulliver G-100 (G-100), a new portable height measurement device based on ultrasound technology, was developed and compared with a conventional determination system, the Harpenden stadiometer (HS). In addition, growth of 12 children was monitored at home twice per day 3 months before and 3 months during GH therapy. Mean body height of 101 children was 144.67 cm using G-100 compared to 145.16 cm using HS. The coefficient of variability of 3 measurements from each patient was 0.29 and 0.18 using G-100 or HS, respectively. Statistic analysis of these data revealed no significant difference between G- 100 or HS. Statistical analysis of short-time growth of 12 patients revealed an increase of growth velocity for 8 patients (p < 0.01) after 3 months. Calculated growth velocity using data revealed from short-time growth analysis with G-100 and using long-term growth analysis with HS did not show any significant difference. Our data reveal that G-100 is able to produce accurate results in height measurement comparable to the HS. Using G-100, the patient can be classified as a ‘responder‘ of GH therapy already after 3 months.

Temperature-sensitive mutants of 3T3 cells (H6-15) express the transformed phenotype at 33 degrees C and the normal phenotype at 39 degrees C. Cold-sensitive mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells (cs4-D3) express the transformed phenotype at 39 degrees C and the normal phenotype, along with a G1 block, at 33 degrees C. When either cell type is under conditions such that it is normal and in a G0 state, the number of S1-sensitive sites in purified DNA, labeled in parental chains only, is zero. When the normal cells are stimulated by 10% serum, the number of S1 sites per 10(5) base pairs increases slightly, to 0.7 in cs4-D3 and 1.1 in H6-15. Under conditions permitting the expression of the transformed phenotype, but not proliferation, the maximum number of S1 sites per 10(5) base pairs is 5 in cs4-D3 and 44 in H6-15. When the stationary transformed cells are stimulated by 10% serum, the number of S1 sites per 10(5) base pairs increases to 6 in cs4-D3 and 43 in H6-15. Furthermore, the DNA from the stimulated transformed H6-15 cells contains at least twice as many S1 sites as the total number of breaks (nicks plus gaps), raising the possibility of the acquisition of stable looped or cruciform structures as the cells are stimulated.