A comparison of prospective and retrospective diary methods of assessing alcohol use among university undergraduates.

The objective of this study is to compare data about the quantity of alcohol consumed by university undergraduates using a prospective diary with those data collected using a retrospective diary. Five hundred and ninety-eight subjects were randomly selected and divided into two groups matched for age, sex, year of study and subject group; one group received a prospective and one a retrospective questionnaire-301 students received prospective and 297 retrospective questionnaires. Sixty-eight per cent responded to the prospective and 75 per cent to the retrospective survey. There was no significant difference in the median alcohol consumption detected for men or women in this study (p = 0.13; p = 0.47). However, the prospective diary recorded a greater proportion of heavy drinkers, this difference being significant for men and women (p less than 0.05). The quantitative results of the retrospective diary are similar to those obtained by a similar method in a previous survey. The conclusion is that a prospective diary detects a greater proportion of heavy drinkers than a retrospective diary. The prospective survey may be the most appropriate method for assessing alcohol use in certain situations.     

Longitudinal relationships between lexical and grammatical development in typical and late-talking children.

PURPOSE: This study examined the longitudinal relationships between lexical and grammatical development in typically developing (TD) and late-talking children for the purposes of testing the single-mechanism account of language acquisition and comparing the developmental trajectories of lexical and grammatical development in late-talking and TD children. METHOD: Participants included 30 children identified as late talkers (LTs) at 2;0 (years;months), and 30 TD children matched on age, nonverbal cognition, socioeconomic status, and gender. Data were collected at 5 points between 2;0 and 5;6. RESULTS: Cross-lagged correlational analyses indicated that TD children showed evidence of bidirectional bootstrapping between lexical and grammatical development between 2;0 and 3;6. Compared with the TD group, LTs exhibited less evidence of syntactic bootstrapping. Linear mixed-effects modeling of language sample data suggested that the relationship between lexical and grammatical growth was similar for the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Lexical and grammatical development were strongly related in both groups, consistent with the single-mechanism account of language acquisition. The results were mixed in terms of finding longitudinal differences in lexical-grammatical relationships between the TD and late-talking children; however, several analyses suggested that for late-talking children, syntactic growth may be less facilitative of lexical development.     

Changes in the phosphorylation status of a 19 kD cytosolic protein are linked to the growth arrest of HL-60 cells.

A major 19 kD cytosolic protein (p19) has been described in a number of cell systems with respect to its rapid phosphorylation when protein kinase C is activated and has been proposed as a key substrate of this enzyme. Phosphorylation of p19 occurs when the growth of cells is affected by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and it has been proposed that increased phosphorylation of p19 relates to the cessation of cell growth. This study delineates precisely the relationship between p19 phosphorylation changes in the growth and differentiation status of cells. Changes in the levels of two phosphorylated forms of p19 were assessed in HL-60 promyelocytic cells and a variant HL-60 cell line which stopped growing and differentiated in response to TPA and were compared to changes seen in HL-60 variant lines which merely growth arrested when treated with TPA. In lines which either did or did not differentiate, in response to TPA, the p19 protein was rapidly and transiently phosphorylated. Thus, this alteration in the phosphorylation status of p19 is associated with the process of growth arrest and not related to the onset of cell differentiation. The p19 protein and the enzymes which effect its phosphorylation status modulate the growth of cells and possible disregulation of p19 and/or its kinases and phosphatases is of interest as regards the leukaemic transformation of cells.     

Cadmium Mobilization by Monoaralkyl- and Monoalkyl Esters of meso-2,3-Dimercaptosuccinic Acid and by a Dithiocarbamate

Syntheses and relative cadmium mobilizing properties are described for three new monoaralkyl esters (HOOCCH(SH)CH(SH)COOR, where R = phenylethyl ((CH₂)₂C₆H₅), MPhEDMS; R = 3-phenylpropyl ((CH₂)₃C₆H₅), MPhPDMS; and R = 2-phenoxyethyl ((CH₂)₂OC₆H₅), MPhOEDMS) of meso-2,3-dimercaptusuccinic acid. These were prepared by the reaction of the corresponding alcohol with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) in aqueous HCl. When administered intraperitoneally to cadmium-loaded mice at 0.50 mmol/kg/day for four consecutive days, all induced significant reductions in the whole body cadmium levels. MPhEDMS, 60%; MPhPDMS, 66%; and MPhOEDMS, 58% in comparison with control levels. At the same dosage monoisoamyl meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinate (Mi-ADMS) and a dithiocarbamate, sodium N-benzyl-4-O-(β-D-galactopyranosyl)-d -glucamine-N-carbodithioate (BLDTC) induced reductions of 65% and 57%, respectively. Hepatic and renal cadmium were also depleted significantly, while brain cadmium levels were unchanged. These compounds induced a significant reduction in the cadmium levels of the spleen, and one, MPhOEDMS, produced a 10% decrease in pancreatic cadmium. The manner in which the later injections removed smaller fractions of the total body cadmium is consistent with a bodily distribution of these compounds by which they are concentrated primarily in the kidneys and the liver, with much smaller amounts reaching other organs. It is proposed that these compounds enter renal and hepatic cells through an anion transport system.     

The change process in alcoholics: client motivation and denial in the treatment of alcoholism within the context of contemporary nursing

Despite being constantly cited as a critical intervening variable in the recovery from alcohol problems, there is a paucity of literature on client motivation. This paper reviews the current literature which impacts on motivation and its importance in treatment and develops in a stepwise manner the revised expectancy/motivation hypothesis, tentatively explaining both motivation and denial as a natural process in behavioural change. Because of the revised expectancy/motivation hypothesis' distinctly defined stages which closely relate to the process of nursing and the qualitative and quantitative measurement it entails which the nursing process demands, it offers a particularly appropriate model for treatment within nurse practice.     

Semiconductor manufacturing: an introduction to processes and hazards

Recent studies suggest that semiconductor workers have an increased incidence of work-related illness. Semiconductor manufacturing is a chemically intensive industry involving many potentially hazardous operations. As this industry moves into new geographic areas, health care professionals will be asked to evaluate medical or workplace conditions associated with unfamiliar and complex production processes. This paper provides an overview of semiconductor manufacturing processes for these health practitioners. Each step of device fabrication is detailed with its attendant chemical and physical hazards. Broader concepts of industrial control technology, clean room ventilation, and ergonomics are explained. The hazards are tabulated to allow rapid assessment of the risks inherent to each processing step. References have been chosen to guide the reader to more indepth information.     

Therapeutic effects of bezafibrate and gemfibrozil in hyperlipoproteinaemia type IIa and IIb

Fifty-nine patients with hyperlipoproteinaemia Type IIa and IIb who had failed to respond to 1-month's dietary therapy were treated over a 4-month period with either bezafibrate (600 mg/day) or gemfibrozil (1200 mg/day) in addition to their diet. Fasting serum lipid (cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides) and blood glucose levels were measured on entry and at monthly intervals, and routine laboratory investigations were carried out before and after treatment to monitor hepatic, renal and haematic tolerance. The results showed that whilst both drugs produced significant reductions from baseline in total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels from Day 30 onwards, the reductions were more marked in the bezafibrate group. There was a trend for HDL-cholesterol levels to increase. Fasting blood glucose levels decreased significantly in the bezafibrate group and to a greater extent than in patients on gemfibrozil. Only 1 patient on bezafibrate did not tolerate bezafibrate whereas 13 patients on gemfibrozil reported side-effects, mainly gastro-intestinal, and 4 had to withdraw from the study during the first or second month.     

Preclinical curriculum characteristics and institutional performance on NBME. Part I

A study was conducted that analyzed the relationship between various characteristics of the preclinical curriculum and institutional performance on the Part I examination of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) at a sample of 85 U.S. medical schools. Total scheduled hours per week was the single curriculum characteristic having a positive and significant relationship with institutional NBME examination performance. However, when the data were controlled by medical school selectivity in admissions and institutional policy on the taking of the examination, total scheduled hours per week failed to make a significant contribution to the prediction of performance. The results were viewed as failing to provide support and justification for intense preclinical curriculum loads on the basis that this would enhance NBME examination performance. The authors conclude that simple comparisons of schools on the basis of mean NBME examination performance are meaningless unless the entering abilities of students and school policies on the examination are taken into account. The authors also suggest that those schools that prescribe heavy and intense preclinical curriculum loads should reexamine those policies in light of recommendations of the Project Panel on the General Professional Education of the Physician and College Preparation for Medicine.     

Pharmacological characterization of the receptor mediating the adrenergic inhibition of responses to substance P in the cingulate cortex

The excitatory responses of neurones in the anterior cingulate cortex of the rat to iontophoretically applied substance P (SP) are reduced by noradrenaline (NA) applied iontophoretically or released from noradrenergic pathways. In order to determine the receptor involved in this inhibitory effect we have studied the effects of a number of receptor-specific adrenergic agonists and antagonists on responses of cingulate neurones to SP in rats anaesthetized with chloral hydrate. Low iontophoretic currents (0-15 nA) of NA, adrenaline and the beta-agonist, clenbuterol, all strongly reduced responses to SP. Isoprenaline was also effective but less consistently so, although problems were experienced with its iontophoretic release from micropipettes. The alpha 1-agonists, phenylephrine and methoxamine were also able to reduce responses to SP. However, this reduction required higher iontophoretic currents (15-60 nA) and was associated with depressant effects on baseline firing rate. The alpha 2-agonist clonidine was only weakly active at high currents and this too was associated with depression of baseline firing. Similar weak effects were noted with dopamine. The inhibitory effects of NA on SP responses were convincingly blocked or reversed by the beta-antagonist, practolol, but not by the alpha 1-antagonist, prazosin. The reduction of SP responses by phenylephrine was also blocked by practolol but unaffected by prazosin. Finally, reduction of SP excitations by activation of the coeruleocortical pathway was also blocked by practolol applied iontophoretically to the cortical cells. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the effect of NA on SP responsiveness in the cingulate cortex is mediated by beta-adrenoreceptors.