Mutagenicity of pan-fried bovine tissues in relation to their content of creatine, creatinine, monosaccharides and free amino acids

The mutagenicity of pan-fried patties of five bovine tissues (meat, heart, tongue, liver and kidney) containing various concentrations of creatine, monosaccharides and free amino acids were studied. Two experiments were performed, one on single tissues fried at 150, 175 or 200 degrees C for 3 min and the other on mixtures of meat and one of the other four tissues in various proportions, fried at 200 degrees C for 3 min. For both experiments, a double-sided Teflon-coated plate was used. Frying at 150 degrees C induced mutagenicity to Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 only in the heart sample-6000 revertants/100 gE (grams initial raw weight). Meat, heart and tongue fried at 175 or 200 degrees C showed mutagenicity values between 6000 and 19,600 revertants/100 gE. A linear relationship between mutagenicity and temperature was obtained for each of the three muscles and creatine was converted to creatinine with increasing temperature. Liver or kidney samples fried alone showed insignificant mutagenicity at all three temperatures. The creatine plus creatinine levels of raw meat, heart and tongue samples were between 19 and 33 mumol/g wet tissue. Liver and kidney both showed very low amounts of creatine plus creatinine (about 2 mumol/g wet tissue) in the raw tissue, while free amino acids were high. Glucose levels were high in liver but low in kidney samples. In meat/heart and meat/tongue mixtures the mutagenicity varied between 10,800 and 17,300 revertants/100 gE. The meat/liver and meat/kidney mixtures showed linear relationships between mutagenicity and the proportions of the mixture. The values for the slopes and intercepts of the two lines were almost equal. Among the three groups of precursors (creatine plus creatinine, monosaccharides and free amino acids) the creatine plus creatine in raw tissue seems to be the most important for producing mutagenicity. However, in crusts, the creatinine concentration was the variable with which most of the mutagenicity was associated.     

Learning dementia care in three contexts: practical training in day-care, group dwelling and nursing home

During the period 1996-1999, 18 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) received specialized training to become caregivers and mentors in the field of dementia care at the Silvia Home Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. The aim of the study was to illuminate how the trainees utilized their practical training to learn about dementia care. The trainees gained practical training within three care models for elderly persons with dementia. The three forms of care and the context for practical training included the school's integrated day-care, a group dwelling and a nursing home. The findings show that the trainees made use of each training context in a similar fashion but there were differences between the contexts. A perspective of human dignity characterized the day-care. This was an opportunity for the nursing philosophy taught by the programme to be put to practical use, and for reflection and experiences pertaining to the individual patient to be developed. In the group dwelling, the trainees encountered patients with different forms of dementia and studied how the care-giving could be adapted to the individual patient's symptoms - the disease perspective. In the nursing home, the trainees chose a staff perspective in which they focused on organization, management and working conditions as well as staff attitudes and the effects of these factors on patient care.     

Percutaneous absorption of trivalent and hexavalent chromium. A comparative investigation in the guinea pig by means of 51Cr.

By means of an in vivo isotope technique, the so-called disappearance measurements, a comparison was made during a five-hour period between the percutaneous absorption in the guinea pig of a trivalent (chromic chloride) and a hexavalent (sodium chromate) chromium compound. Nine different concentrations of each substance were studied. We found that in the concentration interval 0.017-0.239 molar the relative absorption of the hexavalent compound was somewhat higher, but the differences were not statistically significant. On the other hand, in the higher concentrations (0.261-0.398 molar) more of the hexavalent compound was absorbed, and the differences were statistically significant. This difference in percutaneous absorption for various concentrations can perhaps account for the divergent results, in respect to the absorption of trivalent and hexavalent chromium compounds, which have recently been published.     

Incidence of cosmetic dermatitis

During 1973–1978, 41 cases of contact dermatitis due to cosmetics were recorded at a skin clinic in Stockholm serving a catchment population of about 250,000 people. Most of the cases were of allergic contact dermatitis and due to eye make-up and antiper-spirants.     

Alcoholism and Social Policy: are we on the right lines?

A critique is presented of a recent Home Office Research Unit review of alcohol distribution theory, and the bearing of the scientific evidence on health policy. The Home Office paper is loaded with errors and mis-understandings.     

Is Alcohol Consumption Lognormally Distributed?

The empirical evidence for the hypothesis of lognormality is reviewed. A theoretical, argument suggesting systematic deviations from lognormality is outlined, and some ‘new’ data are presented.     

Expression of cell proliferating genes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer by immunohistochemistry and cDNA profiling

Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of DNA precursors and thus, cell proliferation-dependent. Antibodies against TK1 have provided attractive tools for cancer diagnosis. Expression of TK1 in 158 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with 59 adenocarcinoma (AC) and 99 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was determined by anti-TK1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) 1E3 (AC, n=50; SCC, n=70). Parallel tumor sections were stained for Ki-67 (MIB-1), and TK1 expression was also investigated with anti-TK1 chicken IgY Ab (AC, n=9; SCC, n=29; normal lung tissues, n=10). In one AC and one SCC patient, gene profiling was done by cDNA array. Using the mAb 1E3, a significantly higher TK1 labeling index (LI) of AC patients was found (68%) compared to the LI of Ki-67 (36%). This difference was due to a significantly higher TK1 LI of tumor stage II and grade 2. Although no difference in the LI of TK1 and Ki-67 of SCC patients was found (54 vs. 53%), significantly higher TK1 LI of SCC patients of tumor grade 1 was found. Using the anti-TK1 IgY Ab, a higher TK1 LI of AC patients (78%) and SCC patients (66%) was found compared to staining with mAb 1E3 (68 vs. 54%), but it was not significantly different. Samples stained only for TK1 represented mostly tumor stages I and II and grades 1 and 2 of both AC and SCC. AC patients whose samples stained only for Ki-67 were found to be in stage I and grade 1. cDNA profiling showed that the expression of BRCA1, cyclin B1 and cdc2p34 was higher in AC compared to SCC, while the expression of IGFBP-3 and EGFR was higher in SCC. TK1 is apparently a more reliable marker in AC patients than Ki-67. However, a combination of the two markers may help identify patients of different stages and grades more efficiently, and cyclin/kinase complexes and growth factors/receptors may be useful markers in distinguishing AC from SCC.