William Wilde: Historian.

This essay attempts to assess William Wilde as a social historian. It examines some of his contributions to the discipline of history and looks particularly at 'The food of the Irish', which was published in the Dublin University Magazine in February 1854.

The Tabby cat locus maps to feline chromosome B1.

The Tabby markings of the domestic cat are unique coat patterns for which no causative candidate gene has been inferred from other mammals. In this study, a genome scan was performed on a large pedigree of cats that segregated for Tabby coat markings, specifically for the Abyssinian (Ta-) and blotched (tbtb) phenotypes. There was linkage between the Tabby locus and eight markers on cat chromosome B1. The most significant linkage was between marker FCA700 and Tabby (Z = 7.56, theta = 0.03). Two additional markers in the region supported linkage, although not with significant LOD scores. Pairwise analysis of the markers supported the published genetic map of the cat, although additional meioses are required to refine the region. The linked markers cover a 17-cM region and flank an evolutionary breakpoint, suggesting that the Tabby gene has a homologue on either human chromosome 4 or 8. Alternatively, Tabby could be a unique locus in cats.

Albinism in the domestic cat (Felis catus) is associated with a tyrosinase (TYR) mutation.

Albino phenotypes are documented in a variety of species including the domestic cat. As albino phenotypes in other species are associated with tyrosinase (TYR) mutations, TYR was proposed as a candidate gene for albinism in cats. An Oriental and Colourpoint Shorthair cat pedigree segregating for albinism was analysed for association with TYR by linkage and sequence analyses. Microsatellite FCA931, which is closely linked to TYR and TYR sequence variants were tested for segregation with the albinism phenotype. Sequence analysis of genomic DNA from wild-type and albino cats identified a cytosine deletion in TYR at position 975 in exon 2, which causes a frame shift resulting in a premature stop codon nine residues downstream from the mutation. The deletion mutation in TYR and an allele of FCA931 segregated concordantly with the albino phenotype. Taken together, our results suggest that the TYR gene corresponds to the colour locus in cats and its alleles, from dominant to recessive, are as follows: C (full colour) > c(b) (burmese) > or = c(s) (siamese) > c (albino).

Longer term effects of New York State's law on drivers' handheld cell phone use.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether substantial short term declines in drivers' use of handheld cell phones, after a state ban, were sustained one year later. DESIGN: Drivers' daytime handheld cell phone use was observed in four New York communities and two Connecticut communities. Observations were conducted one month before the ban, shortly after, and 16 months after. Driver gender, estimated age, and vehicle type were recorded for phone users and a sample of motorists. INTERVENTION: Effective 1 November 2001, New York became the only state in the United States to ban drivers' handheld cell phone use. Connecticut is an adjacent state without such a law. SAMPLE: 50,033 drivers in New York, 28,307 drivers in Connecticut. OUTCOME MEASURES: Drivers' handheld cell phone use rates in New York and Connecticut and rates by driver characteristics. RESULTS: Overall use rates in Connecticut did not change. Overall use in New York declined from 2.3% pre-law to 1.1% shortly after (p<0.05). One year later, use was 2.1%, higher than immediately post-law (p<0.05) and not significantly different from pre-law. Initial declines in use followed by longer term increases were observed for males and females, drivers younger than 60, and car and van drivers; use patterns varied among the four communities. Publicity declined after the law's implementation. No targeted enforcement efforts were evident. Cell phone citations issued during the first 15 months represented 2% of all traffic citations. CONCLUSIONS: Vigorous enforcement campaigns accompanied by publicity appear necessary to achieve longer term compliance with bans on drivers' cell phone use.

Observational study of the extent of driving while suspended for alcohol impaired driving.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of first time driving while alcohol impaired (DWI) offenders who drive while their driver's license is suspended. DESIGN: Systematic, unobtrusive observations were conducted by surveillance professionals from Pinkerton Investigative Services, Inc, of first time offenders in the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Bergen County, New Jersey. Observations included two four hour periods during suspension (one weekday morning, one Friday/Saturday evening) and two four hour periods after license reinstatement (matched by day of week and time of day). Focus groups of first time offenders were conducted in each site. SETTING: New Jersey laws pertaining to license suspension for DWI and driving while suspended are stronger than Wisconsin laws. SUBJECTS: 93 recently convicted first time DWI offenders (57 in Milwaukee and 36 in Bergen County). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of subjects observed driving during suspension and after license reinstatement, with reference to all subjects and subjects observed traveling by any means. RESULTS: Of subjects observed traveling while suspended, 88% of Milwaukee subjects compared with 36% of Bergen County subjects drove. Five percent of Milwaukee subjects and 78% of Bergen County subjects reinstated their driver's license. Bergen County subjects were significantly more likely to drive after reinstatement (54%) than during suspension (25%). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of driving while suspended among first time offenders is high and can vary substantially between jurisdictions. However, the license suspension can have a positive impact on the driving patterns of offenders during suspension, relative to after license reinstatement. Lower prevalence of driving while suspended in New Jersey may partly be attributable to that state's tougher laws.

Seatbelt use by high school students.

OBJECTIVE: To determine seatbelt use of teenage drivers arriving at high schools in the morning and at evening football games compared with belt use of adults driving teenage passengers to these events, and teenage passenger belt use depending on whether they were being driven by another teenager or an adult. METHODS: Unobtrusive observations of belt use were made at 12 high schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts. RESULTS: Among males, teenage drivers had lower belt use than adults; differences between female teenage and female adult drivers were slight. Teenage passengers had lower belt use in vehicles driven by other teenagers than in cars driven by adults, but more than 40% of teenage passengers in vehicles driven by adults, presumed in most cases to be the teenager's parent, were not belted. Teenage passenger belt use was lower than teenage driver use regardless of gender. These differences were found both at morning arrivals and at football games, but teenage belt use was not much different in these two settings. Teenage passengers were belted more often if drivers were belted, whether the driver was another teenager or an adult, but a third of male passengers and 25%-30% of female passengers were unbelted even when drivers were belted. CONCLUSION: Teenagers have high crash risk but low belt use, which adds to their injury problem. Avenues to address this include strong belt use laws and their enforcement, building belt use requirements into graduated licensing systems, keeping young beginners out of high risk driving situations, and finding ways to influence parents and other adults to ensure that their teenage passengers use seatbelts.

A preliminary study of patient comfort associated with customised mouthguards.

OBJECTIVE: To compare patient perception of custom made mouthguards of ideal and less than ideal designs in terms of their comfort and "wearability". METHOD: A mouthguard of ideal design (A) and one incorporating common design faults of underextension and unadjusted occlusion (B) were provided for 22 active sportsmen and women. They were not informed of the details of the design or the status of the protector. Half the participants were asked to wear mouthguard A first and the other half wore B first, each worn for one hour on two consecutive nights. Questionnaires were used to evaluate and rate the comfort and wearability of each mouthguard. RESULTS: Eighteen people completed the study. The ideal appliance was rated as significantly more retentive and comfortable overall and specifically was more comfortable to lips, gums, and tongue. It was also recognised as being less bulky, less likely to keep the teeth apart, or to cause pain in the jaw muscles. CONCLUSIONS: Comfort is likely to be increased if mouthguards are extended labially to within 2 mm of the vestibular reflection, adjusted to allow even occlusal contact, rounded at the buccal peripheries, and tapered at the palatal edges.

Retention of adhesive cement on the tooth surface after crown cementation.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Adhesive cements increase crown retention, but it is unknown if traces of cement remain undetected on the tooth surface after clinical removal of excess cement, which could exacerbate plaque retention. PURPOSE: This study measured the surface area, volume, mean depth, and maximum depth of a resin composite and a compomer luting cement left adherent on the tooth surface after removal of excess cement, as judged clinically. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Four groups of specimens (n = 48) were prepared for full coverage crowns: group AC bonding alloy with chamfer finish line, group G gold alloy with chamfer finish line, group PC porcelain with a chamfer finish line, and group PS porcelain with a shoulder finish line. Two profiles of the mesial and distal surfaces of the teeth were carried out: (1) tooth with crown seated but not cemented and (2) tooth with the crown cemented in place. Two cements and 2 methods of cement removal were studied. RESULTS: A 4-way analysis of variance for cement, crown type, method of removal, and tooth surface morphology showed that significantly greater volumes and mean depth, but not surface areas, of resin composite cement remained adherent than compomer cement (P<.05). Among crown types, significant differences were found for cement volume (group G>AC, G>PC, G>PS), cement surface area (group AC>PC, G>PC, G>PS), and maximum cement depth (group G>AC). There was no significant difference between the 2 methods of cement removal. Significantly larger surface areas and maximum depths of cement were retained on the anatomically grooved mesial surface of the maxillary first premolars than on the ungrooved distal surface. CONCLUSION: Subclinical cement retention occurred after crown cementation, which was influenced by cement, crown type, and tooth surface morphology but not method of cement removal.

Cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ortho-quinones produced by dihydrodiol dehydrogenase.

Eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) ortho-quinones that can be generated by dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD) were examined for their cytotoxicity in H-4-II-e (rat hepatoma) cells and for their mutagenicity in the Ames test. Seven of the PAH otrtho-quinones were potent cytotoxins yielding IC50 values for cell survival in the range 1-30 microns. PAH ortho-quinones were grouped into three classes based on their cytotoxicity profiles: group I contained ortho-quinones (e.g., naphthalene-1,2-dione and 7,12-dimethylbenz[alpha]anthracene-3,4-dione) which reduced cell viability and cell survival; group II contained ortho-quinones (e.g., benz[alpha]anthracene-3,4-dione and 5-methylchrysene-1,2-dione which reduced cell survival but had no effect on cell viability; and group III contained ortho-quinones (e.g., benzo[alpha]pyrene-7,8-dione) which had a pronounced effect on cell viability but minimal effects on cell survival. Using hepatoma cell suspensions and rat liver subcellular fractions, it was found that ortho-quinones underwent preferential enzymatic one-electron redox-cycling and produced superoxide anion radical (O2-.) and/or ortho-semiquinone anion or alternant radicals. ortho-Quinones that reduced cell viability produced O2-. and caused the most total free radical formation, while those that reduced cell survival produced ortho-semiquinone anion or alternant radicals only. PAH ortho-quinones were also tested as direct-acting mutagens in Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA97a, TA98, TA100, TA102 and TA104. They were found to be more mutagenic than the test mutagens used for each tester strain, and were predominantly frameshift mutagens. The presence of an activating system (Aroclor-induced rat liver S9 plus NADPH) did not increase the mutagenicity of ortho-quinones in tester strains that are sensitive to oxidative mutagens (TA102 and TA104). These data suggest that PAH ortho-quinones produced by DD are cytotoxic and mutagenic by different mechanisms. The mechanism of cytotoxicity involves the formation of reactive oxygen species and/or ortho-semiquinone anion or alternant radicals. The mechanism of mutagenicity is independent of free radical formation and is related to the ability of PAH orthooffinones to intercalate and covalently modify DNA.

Identification of benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dione as an authentic metabolite of (+/-)-trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD) has been shown to catalyze the oxidation of (+/-)-trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo [a]pyrene (BP-diol) to yield benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dione (BPQ) in uninduced fortified rat liver S100 fractions but the formation of BPQ has not been observed in whole cells. In these studies [3H]BP-diol was incubated with isolated hepatocytes from uninduced rats for 0-20 min at 37 degrees C. Organic-extractable radioactivity in the cell media accounted for 20% of the total [3H]BP-diol added. Reverse phase (RP)-HPLC analysis of this fraction revealed the formation of an unknown metabolite that co-chromatographed with an authentic synthetic standard of BPQ. The identity of the unknown metabolite was further established by: (i) co-chromatography with synthetic BPQ under both RP- and normal phase-HPLC conditions using diode array detection, which indicated that metabolite shared UV/vis spectral identity with standard BPQ; and by (ii) electron impact mass spectrometry of the unknown metabolite which gave the same parent and fragment ions as the synthetic standard. The formation of BPQ by isolated hepatocytes was found to be 0.50 nmol/3 x 10(6) cells/10 min, and represented 7% of the total organic-soluble metabolites in the extracellular media. Its formation was abolished by the addition of indomethacin, a competitive inhibitor of DD, indicating that this enzyme was responsible for BPQ formation. Other organic-soluble metabolites formed corresponded to BP-tetraols (hydrolysis products of the anti- and syn-diol epoxides). Examination of the aqueous phase of the extracellular media indicated that a large portion of BP-diol was converted to glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. Under the conditions employed BP-tetraols and BPQ were formed to an equal extent implying that in hepatocytes isolated from uninduced rats, DD and CYP1A1 contributed equally to the metabolism of BP-diol.

Cytotoxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon o-quinones in rat and human hepatoma cells.

A novel pathway of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolism involves the oxidation of non-K-region trans-dihydrodiols by dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD) to yield PAH o-quinones whose cytotoxicity and genotoxicity are unknown. The cytotoxicity of several PAH o-quinones derived from this reaction [naphthalene-1,2-dione (NPQ), benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dione (BPQ), and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-3,4-dione (DMBAQ)] was examined in rat (H-4IIe) and human (Hep-G2) hepatoma cells which are known to express DD. 2-Methylnaphthalene-1,4-dione (menadione), a known cytotoxic p-quinone, was used as a positive control. Hepatoma cells (1 x 10(6) cells/mL) were exposed to PAH o-quinones (1-100 microM) for 0-4 h, and cell viability and survival were measured and related to O2.- production and changes in redox potential [GSSG/GSH and NAD(P)+/NAD(P)H]. Three different modes of cytotoxicity were observed: (1) NPQ (no bay region) and DMBAQ (methylated bay region) were as cytotoxic as menadione in reducing cell survival but had less effect on cell viability. These o-quinones adversely affected GSH levels and the redox state of the cell and caused an increase in the production of O2.- in cell suspensions. This cytotoxicity was not enhanced by dicoumarol (10 microM), a DT-diaphorase inhibitor, implying that this enzyme is unable to prevent these PAH o-quinones from entering one-electron redox-cycles. (2) BPQ (bay region only) was the least cytotoxic of the PAH o-quinones studied. BPQ decreased cell viability (< 40% at 20 microM) but did not adversely affect cell survival or the redox state of the cell.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Examination of diols and diol epoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as substrates for rat liver dihydrodiol dehydrogenase.

Dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DD; EC 1.3.1.20) can suppress the formation of anti-diol epoxides that arise from the metabolic activation of PAH by oxidizing their precursor trans-dihydrodiols to o-quinones [Smithgall, T.E., et al. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 1814-1820]. DD has also been found to reduce the mutagenicity of benz[a]anthracene (+/-)-anti-8,9-dihydrodiol 10,11-epoxide [(+/-)-anti-BADE] in the Ames test (Glatt, H.R., et al. (1982) Science 215, 1507-1509), suggesting that anti-diol epoxides are substrates for this enzyme. In this study, attempts have been made to demonstrate directly that diol epoxides of PAH are substrates for homogeneous DD. Spectrophotometric assays indicate that high concentrations of the stable anti-diol epoxides, naphthalene (+/-)-anti-1,2-dihydrodiol 3,4-epoxide (10 mM) and (+/-)-anti-BADE (20 microM; limit of solubility) were not oxidized by micromolar concentrations of enzyme. By contrast, 20 microM (+/-)-trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene [(+/-)-trans-BP-diol] was oxidized by 50-fold less enzyme. Using a reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)-based assay [1,3-3H]-(+/-)-trans-BP-diol could be almost completely oxidized by DD in the presence of NADP+. Using a similar assay, [1,3-3H]benzo[a]pyrene (+/-)-anti-7,8-dihydrodiol 9,10-epoxide [(+/-)-anti-BPDE], and unlabeled (+/-)-syn-BPDE and (+/-)-anti-BADE were tested as substrates for DD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Rorschach predictors of therapeutic outcome for inpatient treatment of children: a proactive study.

The present study tested the hypothesis that Rorschach measures of psychological instability and perceptual sensitivity (i.e., es, es-EA, Lambda, Blends, Zf, & Zsum) would be sensitive to therapeutic change after inpatient treatment of children. Twelve male children were administered the Rorschach Ink Blot test in accordance with Exner's (1986) procedures and comprehensive system, pretreatment and posttreatment. The 12 children received inpatient treatment an average of 12 months, and all children showed improved functioning after treatment. Pre- to posttreatment Rorschach performance changes provided a partial confirmation of the hypothesis. Specifically, significant changes in es and Lambda were found posttreatment. As such, these Rorschach variables appear to be sensitive to therapeutic change in children.

Studies on the transport of enkephalin-like oligopeptides in rat intestinal mucosa.

Transport of [D-Ala2, D-Leu5]enkephalin (DADLE(], Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe (TDAGP) and tyrosine into rat jejunum mucosal cells was investigated in vitro. Active transport of either the pentapeptide (DADLE) or the tetrapeptide (TDAGP) into jejunal villi was not detected. Because substantial degradation of these peptides occurred during incubation, the proteolytic enzyme inhibitors, bestatin (30 microM) or D-phenylalanine (20 mM), were added during uptake studies of DADLE or TDAGP, respectively. The presence of these inhibitors significantly reduced degradation of the oligopeptides; however, no accumulation of peptides occurred in the mucosal tissue. Tyrosine was actively transported by the jejunum mucosal cells demonstrating the viability of the transport mechanisms of this in vitro preparation. The results suggest that there are no active transport systems for enkephalin-like oligopeptides.