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The effects of temperature on embryo growth, radicle emergence and cotyledon emergence of Gagea lutea (Liliaceae), a perennial herb widely distributed in Europe, eastern Siberia, the Kurile Islands, Sakhalin and the Far East, were monitored outdoors and in laboratory tests. In Japan, this species inhabits open secondary grasslands and deciduous forests. Seeds with an underdeveloped embryo are dispersed in late May/early June in Hokkaido. The embryo elongates in autumn, and the radicle emerges from the seed in mid-October to mid-November, at temperatures of about 15/4°C. However, cotyledons do not emerge until April, after seeds with an emerged radicle are covered with snow (near 0°C) for about 4 months. In laboratory experiments, temperatures of 25/15°C or 20/10°C followed by 5–10°C were required for embryo growth and radicle emergence. Rate and percentage of cotyledon emergence were promoted by keeping seeds with an emerged radicle under snow. The optimum temperature for cotyledon emergence after 81 d under snow was 15/5°C. Thus, G. lutea has deep simple epicotyl morphophysiological dormancy, and this is the first report of epicotyl dormancy in the genus.

The oxidized form of glutathione transport was studied in human erythrocytes in pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (P5N) deficiency, a disorder in which the amounts of CTP and UTP in the erythrocytes are elevated. The inhibition of ATP-requiring oxidized glutathione (GSSG) transport by CTP and UTP is believed to play a role in elevating the levels of the reduced form of glutathione (GSH) in the erythrocytes of patients with P5N deficiency. The current investigation was undertaken to determine if GSSG transport actually decreases in the erythrocytes of such patients. Erythrocytes from a 17-year-old patient and a 13-year-old patient with P5N deficiency hemolytic anemia and from ten normal subjects were used as materials for the experiment. Erythrocytes, which had been previously incubated with [3H]glycine, were incubated at 37"C, and the rate of [3H]GSSG transported by the cells was estimated. The velocity of GSSG transport out of the erythrocytes was quite low in the patients, 3.17-3.65 nmol GSSG/ ml erythrocytedhr at 37°C in one case, and 3.30 nmol GSSG/ml erythrocytedhr in the other case, vs that in the normal controls (6.00 f 0.80 nmol GSSG/ml erythrocytes/hr; mean f SD). The activity of y-glutamylcysteine synthetase and glutathione synthetase did not decrease in the patients. Decreased transport activity of GSSG in addition to a normal synthesis rate for GSH may explain the increased concentration of erythrocyte GSH in P5N deficiency.

A 16-year-old boy had incomplete Behcet's disease with commoncarotid artery aneurysm and an ulcer in the transverse colon. To our knowledge, this complication in the carotid artery has been previously reported in only 6 cases. Arterial repair and high-dose corticosteroid therapy (pulse therapy) were successful.

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