A DISMANTLING TRIAL OF MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING AND FEEDBACK AMONG HEAVY DRINKING COLLEGE STUDENTS

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a brief intervention that has been shown to reduce heavy drinking among college students. To date, all college studies of MI (and most adult studies) have used an intervention format that includes a feedback profile delivered in an MI style. This presentation will discuss the results of a dismantling trial of motivational interviewing, and feedback among heavy drinking college students. After an initial screen, 350 heavy drinking students were randomized to: (1) MI with feedback, (2) MI without feedback, (3) Web feedback only, (4) Assessment only, or (5) Delayed assessment only. At 6 months, only MI with feedback showed an effect over control in reducing drinks per week, peak BAC, and drinking related consequences. Neither MI nor feedback alone had an effect over assessment. Drinking severity moderated the effect of the interventions.     

Terminal differentiation of human promyelocytic leukemic cells in primary culture in response to retinoic acid

The recent finding that retinoic acid induces terminal granulocytic differentiation of the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, HL-60, prompted an investigation of the sensitivity to this inducer of human myelocytic leukemia cells in primary suspension culture. Of the 21 leukemic specimens, only cells from the two patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia differentiated in response to retinoic acid. After an incubation period of 5--7 days in 1 microM retinoic acid, the cells from these two patients showed extensive morphological and functional maturation. Thus, because it appears that retinoic acid specifically induces granulocytic differentiation of leukemic promyelocytes, this compound may have therapeutic utility in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia.     

Coxiella burnetii in northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) placentas from St. Paul Island, Alaska

The decline in the number of northern fur seal (NFS; Callorhinus ursinus) pups on St. Paul Island, Alaska, has led to multidisciplinary research, including investigation into issues of reproductive health and success. Given the recent identification of Coxiella burnetii in the placenta of two other marine mammal species, NFS placentas were collected from Reef rookery on St. Paul Island, Alaska, during the 2010 pupping season, examined histologically, and tested for C. burnetii using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of 146 placentas examined, gram-negative intratrophoblastic bacteria that were positive for C. burnetii on immunohistochemistry were observed in 5 (3%) placentas. Placental infection was usually devoid of associated inflammation or significant ancillary pathology. One hundred nine (75%) of the placentas were positive for C. burnetii on PCR. C. burnetii is globally distributed and persists for long periods in the environment, providing ample opportunity for exposure of many species. The significance of this finding for the declining fur seal population, potential human exposure and infection, and impact on other sympatric marine mammal or terrestrial species is unclear; further investigation into the epidemiology of Coxiella in the marine ecosystem is warranted.     

Megakaryocyte growth and development factor ameliorates carboplatin- induced thrombocytopenia in mice

Megakaryocyte growth and development factor (MGDF) administered intraperitoneally (IP) to mice causes a dose-dependent thrombocytosis accompanied by a decrease in mean platelet volume. MGDF increases the number of megakaryocytes in the bone marrow and spleen. MGDF does not affect the circulating number of leukocytes. Carboplatin, a chemotherapeutic agent that causes thrombocytopenia in humans, administered to mice as a single IP injection at a nonlethal dose causes a significant, but reversible thrombocytopenia. The carboplatin- induced thrombocytopenia is accompanied by an increase in circulating endogenous MGDF that precedes the return of circulating platelets to a normal level. MGDF mRNA is constitutively present in the liver. After carboplatin treatment, hepatic MGDF mRNA does not increase in concordance with circulating MGDF. Circulating soluble MGDF receptor levels (c-mpl) do not change significantly during the course of carboplatin-induced thrombocytopenia. MGDF injected IP once daily beginning 1 day after injection of carboplatin reverses carboplatin- induced thrombocytopenia in a dose-dependent fashion. The normalization of circulating platelet numbers in carboplatin plus MGDF-treated mice is accompanied by a normalization of megakaryocyte numbers in the bone marrow. In conclusion, MGDF, by increasing the number of marrow megakaryocytes and circulating platelets is an effective therapy for carboplatin-induced thrombocytopenia in mice.     

TEL and KIP1 define the smallest region of deletions on 12p13 in hematopoietic malignancies

Unbalanced translocations as well as interstitial deletions of the short arm of chromosome 12 [del(12p)] are found as recurring chromosomal changes in a broad spectrum of hematopoietic malignancies. These changes result in the hemizygous deletion of genetic material from 12p. We mapped a yeast artificial chromosome containing the TEL gene, a cosmid contig containing part of TEL and a P1 contig containing the KIP1 gene to 12p13. These probes were used for fluorescence in situ hybridization to analyze samples from 47 patients with various hematologic malignancies who had unbalanced translocations (25 patients) leading to loss of 12p or deletions (22 patients) involving 12p13. The patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (8 cases), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; 11 cases), acute myeloid leukemia (AML; 10 cases), myeloproliferative disorders (4 cases), therapy-related MDS or AML (7 cases), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (2 cases), and other hematopoietic malignancies (5 cases). All three probes were hemizygously detected in 26 cases and were completely retained in only 9 cases. In 12 cases probes for one of the two genes were deleted, allowing us to map the smallest region of overlap of these deletions to a small genomic region that is bordered on the telomeric side by the TEL gene and on the centromeric side by KIP1. The genomic distance between TEL and KIP1 is estimated to be about 1 to 2 Mbp.     

Malignant versus nonmalignant retroperitoneal fibrosis: differentiation with MR imaging

To evaluate the features on magnetic resonance (MR) images of malignant and nonmalignant retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) and to assess the usefulness of MR imaging in differentiating the two conditions, MR studies of nine patients with malignant RPF were retrospectively examined and compared with those of eight patients with nonmalignant RPF. Morphologic findings at MR imaging were similar for both conditions. The lesions were, however, heterogeneous in six of the nine patients with malignant RPF and homogeneous in all eight patients with nonmalignant RPF. On T2-predominant images, malignant RPF showed high signal intensity, while nonmalignant RPF showed low signal intensity. On T2-predominant images, signal intensity and T2 were significantly higher in malignant RPF than in nonmalignant RPF. Differentiation between malignant and nonmalignant RPF appears feasible and depends on tissue contrast rather than on morphologic characteristics.