A primary preventive approach to children's drug refusal behavior: the impact of rehearsal-plus

The effectiveness of a short-term prevention program to increase drug refusal behavior in a school-age population was assessed. Forty-two third-grade children were randomly assigned to one of three groups: rehearsal-plus, traditional, or attention control. Children in the rehearsal-plus group were taught specific drug refusal techniques and appropriate social skills, and were provided a rationale for each response. This procedure included behavioral training and elaborative rehearsal. Training occurred in four socially validated situations corresponding to settings where children were likely to be offered drugs. The traditional procedure consisted of instructions derived from a "Just Say No" drug program. Assessment focused on specific refusal behaviors, procedural knowledge, and self-efficacy. Significant gains in desired functioning and appropriate behavioral and social skills were found. The effectiveness of the rehearsal-plus procedure as a method of increasing adaptive responding in dangerous and/or anxiety-arousing situations is discussed.

The frequency of chromosome anomalies in human unfertilized oocytes and uncleaved zygotes after insemination in vitro

Data on first trimester human abortions have shown chromosome aberrations in approximately 50% of the cases, most of which were trisomies. More than 80% of these trisomies have been attributed to an error in the oocyte. In this study we investigated the frequency of chromosome anomalies in 44 human unfertilized oocytes and 13 uncleaved zygotes after insemination in vitro. The oocytes were aspirated from preovulatory follicles in parous volunteer donors and patients participating in an embryo replacement programme. Thirty cases could be analysed, 18 of which (60%) carried a chromosome abnormality. There were two hyperhaploidies (6.7%), four hypohaploidies (13.3%), three polyploidies (10%), six with structural aberrations (20%) and five diploidies (16.7%). The incidence of these abnormalities, except for the structural anomalies, was similar to that reported previously. The higher frequency of structural aberrations in the present study may be related to delayed cytogenetic analysis for up to 48 h after insemination.

The frequency of chromosome anomalies in human preimplantation embryos after in-vitro fertilization

Previous studies have reported chromosome aberrations in human pre-embryos after in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Although the reason for these abnormalities is not clear, there is evidence that they can arise during gametogenesis, fertilization or cleavage. The present study has examined further the incidence of chromosome abnormalities in human pre-embryos after IVF, using oocytes recovered from normal volunteer women and from women undergoing infertility treatment in an embryo-replacement programme. Chromosome preparations were performed for 75 pre-embryos. Of these 35 (47%) gave at least one metaphase in which analysis was possible. The overall incidence of abnormal pre-embryos was 40% (14/35). The absolute frequency of aberrations was 9% for trisomies, 3% for polyploidies, 26% for structural anomalies and 3% for hypodiploidies. Five pre-embryos were found to be mosaics, three of which had each one trisomic metaphase. In five of the pre-embryos multiple anomalies were found. In 13 of the 14 abnormal pre-embryos the aberrations were found in only one metaphase. The present study demonstrates that trisomic mosaicism may not be a rare event in human pre-embryos. Further evidence is provided that mitotic non-disjunction is important for the production of aberrations in human pre-embryos.

Installation and use of a neodymium-YAG laser in a urology department

We report our experience in setting up a urological laser unit. An operating theatre was upgraded to include the required safety features and a neodymium-YAG laser was installed. A preliminary study using cadaver bladders was performed to establish the technique of cystoscopic laser application. We treated 55 bladder tumours in 12 patients by laser coagulation, with total destruction of 54 tumours and no serious complications; 6 patients developed recurrent tumours. Twenty-one patients underwent surgery with the contact laser scalpel. The instrument proved slow but effective, with excellent haemostasis and almost painless wounds. Healing was delayed in 2 cases but there were no wound infections. All wounds healed with good cosmetic scars. The neodymium-YAG laser is an effective means of destroying superficial non-invasive bladder tumours endoscopically and can also be used in conjunction with a laser scalpel for open surgery.

Ureteropyelostomy: a simple and effective treatment for symptomatic ureteroureteric reflux

Partial ureteric duplication may cause delayed drainage of urine from the upper tracts because of ureteroureteric "see-saw" reflux. This can be eliminated by the procedure of ureteropyelostomy, in which the partially duplicated ureter is converted into a bifid renal pelvis. This operation leaves a short anastomotic suture line and has a low complication rate. We report seven patients who have undergone ureteropyelostomy for symptomatic ureteroureteric reflux. All remain symptom-free after follow-up for a minimum of 1 year.

Haemorrhage and perforation of gastrointestinal neoplasms during chemotherapy

Gastrointestinal haemorrhage and perforation are known complications of cytotoxic therapy for chemosensitive tumours involving the wall of the gut, in particular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. These complications can be avoided by aggressive surgery before chemotherapy is started. When they do occur, early operative intervention is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality. We report 4 cases in whom delay in diagnosis and surgery led to 3 deaths and suggest a policy for the management of such cases in the future.

Naloxone potentiates the depressant effect of chlordiazepoxide on spontaneous activity in mice

Recent reports suggest that at least some of the behavioural effects of benzodiazepines may involve interaction with endogenous opioid mechanisms. In the present study, chlordiazepoxide (CDP, 10-20 mg/kg, i.p.) induced dose-dependent reductions in spontaneous locomotor activity and rearing in mice. Although naloxone (1 mg/kg) was itself without effect, and did not alter behavioural changes induced by the lower dose of CDP, it enhanced the depressant effects of 20 mg/kg CDP on locomotor activity. Results are discussed in relation to previous studies in which opiate antagonists have been found to block or to have no effect upon behavioural actions of benzodiazepines.

Hot-plate learning in mice is unaltered by immediate post-training administration of naloxone, naltrexone or morphine

Repeated exposure to the hot-plate assay results in shorter response latencies in both rats and mice. In view of the postulated role of endorphins in memory processes, the present study examined the effects of immediate post-trial opiate-induced manipulations on this phenomenon of hot-plate learning. In experiment 1, adult male mice were injected with naloxone (0.1-10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) immediately after initial hot-plate testing and were reassessed 24 and 48 hr later. In experiment 2, mice were similarly treated with either naltrexone (0.1-10.0 mg/kg) or morphine (0.5-5.0 mg/kg) and retested 48 and 72 hr later. Results indicated a potent training effect in all groups but failed to reveal any significant effects of drugs. These data are inconsistent with a role for endorphins in hot-plate learning and, further, may question the generality of the involvement of opioids in memory processes.

Shoulder Reconstruction Following Disarticulation for Ruptured Mycotic Aneurysm

A method of wound management following shoulder disarticulation is described. In this report, the primary lesion is a mycotic aneurysm of the axillary artery. The pectoralis major muscular flap provides satisfactory coverage and maintains shoulder contour. It can be performed in a single procedure. Preoperative arteriography is important to determine the extent of arterial damage as well as the vascular anatomy of the proposed flap.

The measurement and interpretation of Brillouin scattering in the lens of the eye

Brillouin scattering from hypersonic waves in the eye lenses of many animals has been observed with a multipass Fabry Perot interferometer. The measured values of speed and attenuation range widely among the different species and in different parts of any one lens. These variations correlate broadly with the observed stiffness and the densities that have been measured with a graded column. From the spectroscopic and density measurements high-frequency elastic moduli may be derived. The results are also evaluated at a macromolecular level in terms of scattering of hypersonic waves from spherical entities composed of the crystallins and their aggregates. Reasonable agreement is obtained for the hypersonic speed for lower protein concentration; the hypersonic attenuation and variation with scattering vector are consistent with the presence of large aggregates (of order 100 nm radius) in certain of the materials.

Small-angle neutron scattering studies of the conformation of myeloma protein MOPC315 and its Fab fragment, and the interaction with a monovalent dinitrophenyl hapten

The first small-angle scattering study of an immunoglobulin A is reported. Neutron measurements have been made to determine conformational parameters of the mouse myeloma protein MOPC315 and to relate these to previous immunoglobulin G results. Use of the contrast method shows that the MOPC315 IgA molecule is not simply globular, that it has a dry volume of 220.0 +/- 4.5 nm3 corresponding to a mass density of 1.275 +/- 0.025 g cm-3 and that its full and cross-sectional radii of gyration, corrected for concentration dependence, are 7.97 +/- 0.07 nm, 2.40 +/- 0.08 nm and 1.33 +/- 0.07 nm respectively. Similar study of its Fab fragment gives a dry molecular volume of 69.0 +/- 0.7 nm3, a mass density of 1.285 +/- 0.015 g cm-3 and uncorrected radii of gyration that are consistent with those of the parent and support an overall "T" or "Y" conformation in solution. Addition to saturation of a small monovalent dinitrophenyl hapten leaves the dry volume of the whole molecule unaltered, but may slightly lower one or more of its radii of gyration. The significance of this finding is discussed. Comparative studies with rabbit anti-dinitrophenyl immunoglobulin G antibody suggest a different initial conformation but similar consequences of hapten binding, which, if real, are probably unrelated to classical complement fixation.

Serotonin levels in the blood and central nervous system of a patient with sudanophilic leukodystrophy

A case report is presented of a boy with the infantile spasm syndrome beginning at eight months of age. He had a clinical course marked by increasingly severe seizures and neurological regression. After death at twenty-one months of age, autopsy of the central nervous system revealed demyelination of white matter with sparing of arcuate fibers. An earlier born male sibling had had a similar clinical pattern but died without an autopsy. During his lifetime, the patient had markedly elevated levels of 5-hydroxyindoles (a measure of serotonin) in his blood. At autopsy, the level of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) in four grey matter areas of the brain was lower than those of a control who died on the same day. This is the first case reporting a comparison of blood and central nervous system levels of 5-hydroxytrypamine in a child.

The flagellar apparatus as a model organelle for the study of growth and morphopoiesis. With an appendix. Temperature control apparatus used in flagellar regeneration experiments

During the last five years a small group in this Laboratory has been studying the potentialities of the flagellar apparatus of Chlamydomonas reinhardii for the study of growth and morphopoiesis. The results have been recorded in a number of papers (Randall et al . 1964; Warr et al . 1966; Hookes, Randall & Hopkins 1967; Randall et al . 1967). It is self-evident that the understanding of both growth and morphopoiesis in physical chemical and biological terms will most readily be brought about by the examination of the least complex biological systems, i. e. those that contain the fewest chemical and structural entities and are under the control of a strictly limited number of genes; not for preference a multicellular organism or organ, or even a single cell; but rather a virus or organelle. One would hope by this means to limit the number of genes implicated to something less than 10 2 . An outstanding analysis of the morphopoiesis of T-even bacteriophages has been carried out in recent years by workers in Geneva and Pasadena (see, for example, Kellenberger 1964; Kellenberger & Boy de la Tour 1965; Epstein et al . 1963; Edgar & Wood 1966). In the present investigations the methods and techniques of genetics, of optical and electron microscopy (in conjunction with optical diffraction studies of electron micrographs), radioautography and, to some extent, biochemistry have been used. During the last 15 years the structure of cilia and flagella, their basal bodies and associated cortical structures in various organisms (see, for example Fawcett 1961; Gibbons & Grimstone 1960; Satir 1965; Ringo 1966, 1967; Cavalier-Smith 1967; Allen 1967) have been investigated in some detail. Figure 20, plate 8, illustrates the appearance of the living organism in motion and figure 21 the fine structure of the flagellar apparatus ( FA ) of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardii , a biflagellate member of the Chlorophyceae. The FA consists essentially of two normally motile flagella F , external to the cell (figure 20) and two internal basal bodies ( BB ). Each basal body is joined to its flagellum by a transition region TR (figure 21). The basal bodies ( BB ) lie in the main diametral plane of the organism and are joined by a fibrous band ( FB ) (figure 21). The external flagellum, bounded by a membrane continuous with the plasma membrane, contains the axoneme and its subsidiary structures. We shall be concerned chiefly with the basic features of the axoneme of the flagellum, i. e. the two central fibrils and the nine outer pairs. Each of these fibrils is apparently tubular in form and generally similar to the microtubules found in many types of cell (e. g. Tilney & Porter 1965; Tilney & Porter 1967; Peters & Vaughin 1967; Hepler & Newcomb 1964). The appearance in the electron microscope of an intact fragment of tubule (outer pair) from a disrupted negatively stained flagellum of C. reinhardii is shown in figure 24 a , plate 9. The structural interpretation of micrographs of flagellar tubules has been discussed by Grimstone & Klug (1966) and Hookes, Randall & Hopkins (1967) and will be referred to subsequently. For fuller details of the fine structure of the FA of C. reinhardii , as a whole, reference should be made to Ringo (1966; 1967) and to Cavalier-Smith (1967).

Biochemistry of Chlamydomonas flagella

The flagella of Chlamydomonas can be detached from the cell bodies by calcium ions. These flagella round up and some of the axoneme protein goes into solution when they are resuspended in a buffer containing magnesium as used by Gibbons (1963) and Watson & Hynes (1966) for preserving Tetrahymena cilia. Flagella showing a normal transverse section and good membrane preservation may be obtained by including calcium in the magnesium buffer. The axoneme proteins of Chlamydomonas flagella have different solubility properties to the previously studied Tetrahymena cilia (Watson et al . 1966; Renaud, Rowe & Gibbons 1968). A low ionic strength buffer containing EDTA extracts the protein of one of the central pair fibres and part of one of each of the subfibres of the outer nine. The outer nine fibres are not dissolved by dialysis against 0∙6M potassium chloride but are soluble in ionic detergents.

Evidence for the presence of DNA at basal body sites in Tetrahymena pyriformis

The reasons that have led to a search for DNA in the basal body of Tetrahymena pyriformis are twofold: the well-known property of proliferation of this organelle and the possibility that basal body DNA might be involved in its morphogenesis. After a brief review of earlier work the methods employed in this paper are described. To ensure large numbers of cells in a particular state of development organisms were grown in synchronized culture. Animals required for autoradiographic studies were appropriately treated with tritiated thymidine. All investigations were made on the cell cortex or 'ghost’ in order to avoid confusion from cell contents. In addition to autoradiography of ghosts, tests were made with acridine orange in the fluorescence microscope. It is concluded from fluorescence tests that basal bodies of T. pyriformis strain S contain DNA . This DNA is not detectable for the first 2h of the temperature-shock cycle, but is detect­able thereafter until cell division. The presence of DNA is confirmed by the autoradiography experiments. The amount of DNA per basal body is estimated very roughly in order of magnitude as 2 × 10 -16 g. The origin of basal body DNA is discussed and the possibilities and consequences of the existence of DNA in the homologous centriole are examined in terms of the mitotic cycle, the amoeba-flagellate transformation in Naegleria , and artificial parthenogenesis. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the genetic implications of basal body DNA .