Personality and oral health

We investigated age-26 personality characteristics and age-32 oral health in a prospective study of a complete birth cohort born in Dunedin, New Zealand. Personality was measured using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Oral health was measured using the short-form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), a global measure, and dental examinations. Personality profiles were constructed for 916 individuals (50.8% men) using standardized MPQ scores, and multivariate analyses examined their association with oral health. Those reporting 1+ OHIP-14 impacts had higher Negative Emotionality scores (and lower Constraint and Positive Emotionality MPQ superfactor scores) than those who did not. After controlling for gender, clinical status, and the other two MPQ superfactors, those scoring higher on Negative Emotionality had a greater risk of reporting 1+ OHIP-14 impacts, as well as 3+ OHIP-14 impacts and worse-than-average oral health. They also had a greater risk of having lost at least one tooth from caries and of having 3+ decayed surfaces. Personality characteristics appear to shape self-reports of oral health. Personality is also a risk factor for clinical disease status, at least with respect to dental caries and its sequelae. Because the attitudes and values tapped into by personality tests can be altered by brief cognitive interventions, those might be useful in preventive dentistry.     

Coming up in the boogie down: the role of violence in the lives of adolescents in the South Bronx.

This article presents data gathered from young people in a poor urban community in New York City, the South Bronx. It seeks to help public health professionals better understand young people's perceptions of violence in the context of their daily lives. Sources of data include a street survey, five focus groups, interviews with incarcerated young males, and observations of several youth programs. These data suggest that violence is pervasive in the lives of both young men and women, although gender plays an important role in shaping the experience of violence. Other factors that influence the experience of violence include patterns of substance use, availability and use of weapons, and a perception that the police do not respect young people. Despite numerous challenges, many young people do take actions to reduce violence. The article suggests actions public health professionals can take to strengthen the ability of families, schools, youth organizations, and young people themselves to reduce violence in low-income urban communities.     

Effect of two antidepressant drugs on REM sleep and EMG activity during sleep

In a placebo-controlled study, the effects on sleep of single and repeated doses of imipramine and dexnafenodone, an antidepressant drug under development, were investigated in young, healthy volunteers. In contrast to placebo, both drugs suppressed REM sleep substantially after acute and repeated administration. As a consequence, REM sleep latencies increased under active treatment to mean values which were about two to four times larger than baseline values. Since the active inhibition of the muscle tone is a distinct feature of REM sleep, we studied the influence of the two antidepressant drugs on this variable. By means of computerised EMG analysis, tonic and transient EMG activity were computed for total recording time and for the different sleep stages. While tonic EMG activity during sleep was increased with both drugs, transient EMG events remained unaffected. Computerised analysis of the microstructure of sleep is an effective tool for studying the effect of antidepressant drugs on sleep.     

Gastric carcinomas with microsatellite instability: clinical features and mutations to the TGF-β type II receptor,IGFII receptor,and BAX genes

The replication error phenotype (RER+) represents an important new form of genetic alteration characterized by widespread instability in repetitive nucleotide sequences. The aim of this study was to compare the features of RER+ gastric tumours with those of RER+ colonic tumours. RER status was determined by analysis of size alterations in the BAT-26 mononucleotide repeat microsatellite. Twelve of 121 (10 per cent) gastric carcinomas from a low-incidence region were found to be RER+. BAT-26 instability was associated with tumours showing an absence of nodal invasion (p = 0·009) and with a trend for improved prognosis. These tumours were more frequent in older, female patients. Frameshift mutations in mononucleotide repeat sequences within the transforming growth factor-β receptor II (RII), insulin-like growth factor II receptor (IGFIIR), and BAX genes were observed in 83, 33, and 25 per cent, respectively, of RER+ tumours. Only 1/12 (8 per cent) RER+ tumours contained a p53 gene mutation compared with 29/109 (27 per cent) RER− tumours. RER+ gastric carcinomas therefore share several important features with RER+ colonic tumours, including less frequent nodal invasion, improved prognosis, a similar frequency of mutation in growth control genes containing repetitive nucleotide sequences, and a low frequency of mutation of the p53 tumour suppressor gene. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expression of proteins associated with hypoxia and Wnt pathway activation is of prognostic significance in hepatocellular carcinoma

In the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma, tumor hypoxia plays an important role, as does activation of the Wnt pathway. The aim of this study was to characterize the expression and interrelationship between hypoxia and Wnt-pathway-associated proteins as prognostic factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. Expression of HIF-1α, CA-IX, E-cadherin, β-catenin, and Ki-67 was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 179 primary hepatocellular carcinoma cases. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the relationship between the clinicopathological factors, protein expression, overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS). By univariate analysis, tumor stage, size, satellitosis, and vascular invasion were confirmed as prognostic factors for worse OS and RFS. High expression of HIF-1α, CA-IX, β-catenin, Ki-67, and E-cadherin was observed in 60, 15, 64, 8, and 64 % of tumors, respectively, and this was significantly associated with poor OS. CA-IX, HIF-1α, and E-cadherin were independent predictors of poor prognosis. We stratified 169 patients into four groups according to the expression level of hypoxia and Wnt pathway markers. The group with high expression of both hypoxia and Wnt-pathway-associated proteins showed worst OS. The poor survival of this group was also significant in patients with early stage disease and tumor size of less than 5 cm (p?<?0.05). We identified a subgroup of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with high expression of both hypoxia and Wnt pathway proteins and found this predictive of poor survival. The therapeutic options for this group might need to be revisited.     

N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced T-lymphomas of AKR/J mice contain somatically acquired ecotropic-like murine leukemia proviruses

We have studied somatically murine leukemia proviral integrations in primary N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced thymic lymphomas of AKR/J mice. The majority of MNU-induced lymphomas contain newly acquired murine leukemia proviral sequences. In contrast to spontaneous AKR/J lymphomas which contain multiple integrations of mink cell focus-forming recombinant proviruses, MNU-induced lymphomas contain ecotropic-related proviruses. This conclusion was based on the demonstration that EcoRI- and PvuII-digested DNA from MNU-induced lymphomas contains new 3' proviral-cellular junction fragments that hybridize with the ecotropic-specific pAKV-4 and pAKV-5 hybridization probes. Also, EcoRI/PstI double digests of DNA from MNU-induced lymphomas revealed that the acquired proviruses do not contain an internal 3' EcoRI site characteristic of mink cell focus-forming recombinant viruses. The proviral integration patterns suggest that MNU-induced lymphomas are clonal or oligoclonal in nature. This conclusion is supported by comparison of proviral integration patterns in lymphomas obtained from thymus and spleen of individual mice, and by analyses of T-cell receptor beta-chain gene rearrangements. The frequent occurrence of ecotropic-related proviral sequences in MNU-induced lymphomas suggests that these newly acquired proviruses may play a role in tumor development.