The two faces of conscientiousness: duty and achievement striving in escalation of commitment dilemmas

The author proposes that 2 facets of conscientiousness, duty and achievement striving, affect decision makers in escalation of commitment dilemmas in opposing ways, thus masking the predictive ability of a broad measure of conscientiousness. It is proposed that duty is associated with an other-centered orientation and that achievement striving is associated with a self-centered orientation. Analyses of decisions from 360 respondents showed that duty was associated with a deescalation of commitment, achievement striving was associated with an escalation of commitment, and the broad measure of conscientiousness was unassociated with commitment. The author advocates the utility of understanding potential self-centered versus other-centered aspects of the criterion of interest when conducting personality-based research.

Looking forward and looking back: integrating completion and sunk-cost effects within an escalation-of-commitment progress decision

Currently, there are 2 conflicting frameworks with which to understand why decision makers might escalate their commitment to a previously chosen course of action: sunk costs and project completion. The author proposes that sunk costs and need to complete exert simultaneous pressures, both independent and interactive, on a decision maker's level of commitment. The responses of 340 participants were analyzed and supported a complementary relationship between the 2 predictors. In addition, sunk costs demonstrated a curvilinear influence on commitment and an interaction with level of completion that supported a Level of Completion x Sunk Cost moderation model. (A marginal utility model was not supported.) Results are discussed in terms of their relevance toward offering a complementary view of 2 potential antecedents to a decision maker's propensity to escalate his or her commitment to a previously chosen course of action.

Production of hydroxy fatty acids in the seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana

Seed-specific expression in Arabidopsis thaliana of oleate hydroxylase enzymes from castor bean and Lesquerella fendleri resulted in the accumulation of hydroxy fatty acids in the seed oil. By using various Arabidopsis mutant lines it was shown that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) n-3 desaturase (FAD3) and the FAE1 condensing enzyme are involved in the synthesis of polyunsaturated and very-long-chain hydroxy fatty acids, respectively. In Arabidopsis plants with an active ER Delta12-oleate desaturase the presence of hydroxy fatty acids corresponded to an increase in the levels of 18:1 and a decrease in 18:2 levels. Expression in yeast indicates that the castor hydroxylase also has a low level of desaturase activity.

Prediction of the clinical course of Behçet's colitis according to macroscopic classification by colonoscopy

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

The lesions in Behçet's colitis show aphthoid or punched-out ulceration, but the macroscopic types of lesion found have not been defined. To predict the clinical outcome in patients with Behçet's colitis according to the colonoscopic findings, we classified the characteristic colonic ulcers, evaluated the efficacy of medical treatment on colonoscopic lesions, and calculated the operation rates and recurrence rates relative to the macroscopic types.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The medical records and colonoscopic photographs of 50 patients with Behçet's colitis were reviewed. The colonic lesions were examined by colonoscopy in patients with Behçet's disease and gastrointestinal symptoms. The colonoscopic findings were categorized into three types of ulceration: volcano-like, geographic, and aphthous. The efficacy of medical treatment was assessed by follow-up colonoscopy or double-contrast barium enema four to eight weeks after treatment, and recurrence of the lesions was evaluated during the follow-up periods. Cumulative surgery rates were obtained using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

The macroscopic classification of colonic ulcers identified 25 of 50 patients (50%) with volcano-type lesions, 11 (22%) with the geographic type, and 14 (28%) with the aphthous type. The rates of complete remission after medical treatment and surgery, respectively, were six of 25 (24%) and 13 of 25 (52%) with volcano-type ulcerations; eight of 11 (73%) and one of 11 (9%) with the geographic type; and nine of 14 (64%) and two of 14 (14%) with the aphthous type. The endoscopic and clinical recurrence rates were nine of 19 (47%) in volcano-type ulcerations, one of nine (11%) in the geographic type, and one of 11 (9%) in the aphthous type.

CONCLUSION

Volcano-type ulcerations in Behçet's colitis showed a less favorable response to medical treatment, a more frequent requirement for surgery, and more frequent recurrences than the geographic and aphthous types of ulcerations.

Primary peritoneal pregnancy implanted on the uterosacral ligament: a case report

Peritoneal pregnancies are classified as primary and secondary. Primary implantation on the peritoneum is extremely rare in extrauterine pregnancy and is a potentially life-threatening variation of ectopic pregnancy within the peritoneal cavity, representing a grave risk to maternal health. Secondary abdominal pregnancies are by far the most common and result from tubal abortion or rupture, or less often, after uterine rupture with subsequent implantation within abdomen. Early diagnosis and appropriate surgical management, regardless of stage of gestation, appear to be important in achieving good results. We report a case of primary peritoneal pregnancy in a 28-year-old woman, who had severe lower abdominal pain one day before laparotomy for a preoperative diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy. The conceptus was implanted on the left uterosacral ligament. A fresh embryo of approximately 8 weeks' gestation was found in the conceptus.

Changes in fatty acid composition in plant tissues expressing a mammalian delta9 desaturase

Plant tissues expressing a mammalian stearoyl-CoA delta9 desaturase were reported to accumulate delta9 hexadecenoic acid (16:1), normally very minor in most plant tissues. The transgenic plants were thoroughly analyzed for alterations of individual lipids in different subcellular sites. Western blot analysis indicated that the animal desaturase was targeted to the microsomes. The delta9 16:1 was incorporated into both the sn-1 and sn-2 positions of all the major membrane lipids tested, indicating that the endoplasmic reticulum acyltransferases do not exclude unsaturated C16 fatty acids from the sn-2 position. In addition to increases in monounsaturated and decreases in saturated fatty acids, accumulation of 16:1 was accompanied by a reduction in 18:3 in all the lipids tested except phosphatidylglycerol, and increases in 18:2 in phospholipids. Total C16 fatty acid content in the galactolipids of the transgenics was significantly higher than that in the control, but those in the phospholipids were unchanged. In transgenics, delta11 18:1 was detected in the sn-1 position of the lipids tested except phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylserine. Introduction of the animal desaturase, controlled by a seed-specific phaseolin promoter, into soybean somatic embryo resulted in a significant reduction in saturated fatty acids. Such effects were greater in cotyledons than hypocotyl-radicles. This study demonstrated that the animal desaturase can be used to decrease the levels of saturated fatty acids in a crop plant.

Effects of ethanol and its metabolite acetaldehyde on responses of the rat bladder

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the pharmacological effects of ethanol and its metabolite acetaldehyde on isolated rat bladder muscle, and thus assess the potential influence of ethanol ingestion on the risk of urinary retention in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Isometric tension changes of isolated rat bladder muscle strips were recorded in an organ bath using a pressure transducer. The acute or prolonged effects of ethanol (1-4%) or acetaldehyde (0.01, 0.1 or 1 mmol/L) were assessed on resting tension, electrical field stimulation (EFS), and bethanechol- (0.5 mmol/L), ATP- (2 mmol/L) or KCl- (127 mmol/L) induced contraction. To determine the mechanism of acetaldehyde-induced stimulation, an antihistamine, diphenhydramine was used after bethanechol stimulation.

RESULTS

At the concentrations used, ethanol and acetaldehyde did not change the pH of the bathing medium. The resting tension of the muscle was not changed by ethanol, and acetaldehyde caused only a small increase in baseline tone at 1 mmol/L. Incubation with ethanol or acetaldehyde significantly suppressed contractility induced by EFS, bethanechol, ATP or KCl at each concentration (P<0.05). Contractions induced by all drugs were not changed significantly by the acute application of ethanol and the acute application of acetaldehyde did not affect contractions induced by ATP or KCl. However, EFS- or bethanechol-induced contractions were significantly enhanced (P<0. 05). The acetaldehyde-induced effects were completely blocked by the H1 antagonist, diphenhydramine (10 micromol/L).

CONCLUSIONS

Ethanol did not affect resting tension but acetaldehyde and ethanol suppressed bladder muscle contractions. However, direct acetaldehyde-stimulation may release histamine and enhance contractility. This suggests that chronic alcoholism rather than acute intoxication is more likely to provoke urinary retention.

Morphological and biochemical analysis of anti-nuclear matrix protein antibodies in human sera

Autoimmune sera have been used in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases as well as the analysis of nuclear substructures. In an attempt to study the biological characteristics of the nuclear matrix, we screened human sera using immunofluorescent staining and immunoblot. We detected antibodies against nuclear matrix (NM), a remnant nonchromatin protein compartment after the treatment of detergent, salt and nuclease, in 212 out of 284 tested sera (74.6%) by immunoblot. Peptides with molecular weights of 70 kDa, 50 kDa and 25 kDa were detected in the order of frequency. Clinical informations of 198 out of 212 cases were available and went as follows: 38 cases were autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis; 132 non-autoimmune and non-neoplastic diseases; 16 neoplastic diseases and 12 cases unclassified. The immunofluorescent staining intensity by anti-nuclear matrix protein (NMP) antibodies decreased variably, but fibrillogranular, speckled and nucleolar immunolocalization patterns were retained after in situ fractionation. Ku70 and La protein were detected by anti-NMP antibodies. Immunolocalization by anti-NMP antibodies indicates that the NMPs constitute a variety of characteristic nuclear substructures and may serve as autoantigens in diverse human diseases. In addition, the presence of Ku70 and La protein as NMPs suggests that the NM can be functionally active in association with DNA or RNA.

Behenoyl cytarabine-associated reversible encephalopathy in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia

We report a case of reversible encephalopathy syndrome in a 16-year-old girl with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), who is undergoing during consolidation chemotherapy composed of BH-AC (N4-behenoyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl cytosine) and idarubicin. On the 6th day of chemotherapy, she was in a drowsy state following generalized tonic clonic seizure lasting 20 minutes. MR images revealed extensive cortical and subcortical white matter brain edema. Alertness returned over the 24 hr following by the discontinuation of BH-AC and intravenous administration of diphenylhydantoin, although she complained of intermittent headaches and visual disturbance. She gradually recovered from these symptoms during subsequent 7 days. Previously noted abnormal signal intensities have nearly disappreared on follow-up MRI obtained on the 22nd day after the first seizure. She was discharged without any neurologic sequela. This case suggests that BH-AC, a derivative of cytosine arabinoside (1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine) could be a cause of reversible encephalopathy syndrome.

Psoriasiform eruption triggered by recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rGM-CSF) and exacerbated by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rG-CSF) in a patient with breast cancer

Colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) are commonly used for the treatment of neutropenia following chemotherapy and for the mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). We recently experienced a rare case of a new onset of psoriasiform eruption by GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) which was exacerbated by G-CSF (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) in a patient with breast cancer. A 36-year-old woman had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and 5-fluorouracil), modified radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and mitoxantrone followed by GM-CSF administration for the treatment of locally advanced breast cancer. She had developed a psoriatic skin lesion on face and both upper arms during leukocyte recovery in spite of no previous history of psoriasis. Next, the chemotherapy course was complicated by a flare of mild psoriatic skin lesion, although CSF was changed into G-CSF due to GM-CSF-associated psoriasis. Subsequently, she had had high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for consolidation therapy. GM-CSF was administered for the mobilization of PBSC and post-transplant period, but psoriatic skin lesion did not appear. During 6 months after PBSCT, psoriasiform eruption did not appear.

Quality of life (QOL) assessment of MIP (mitomycin, ifosfamide and cisplatin) chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC)

BACKGROUND

Quality of life (QOL) assessment has emerged to measure and quantify the balance between treatment benefit and toxicity, and has a value in predicting response and overall survival in cancer patients.

METHODS

From July 1995 to February 1997, 38 symptomatic patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were treated with MIP chemotherapy (mitomycin 6 mg/m2, ifosfamide 3000 mg/m2 and cisplatin 50 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks). Patients were assessed for QOL including physical well-being, general symptoms and lung cancer-specific symptoms, as well as objective response.

RESULTS

The overall response rate was 38.9% (14/36, all were partial response) and the median duration of response was 3.5 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.0-4.0]. The median duration of overall survival was 7 months (95% CI 5.9-8.5). The overall improvement of QOL was 58.3% with 21 patients feeling better on treatment. The toxicity of chemotherapy was mild, mainly nausea/vomiting and minimal alopecia. Using multiple clinical predictors of survival (age, histology, stage, performance status), only change of QOL emerged significantly (P = 0.0007).

CONCLUSIONS

MIP had an endurable response and low toxicity profile, and provided good QOL. Integral QOL data in our study provided the strong prediction of survival in advanced NSCLC. Further experienced QOL study will provide greatly enhanced outcome data in clinical trials.

Characteristic immunolocalization of Ku protein as nuclear matrix

Two hybridoma clones, NMB1 and NML90, were established using nuclear matrix proteins from normal human thymi or malignant lymphoma as immunogens. They reacted with human Ku70 and Ku80, respectively, by immunoblotting. When HeLa cell nuclear proteins were fractionated and applied to immunoblotting, both Ku70 and Ku80 were detected in the nuclear matrix as well as the soluble nuclear protein fractions. By confocal scanning microscopy, the immunoreactivity of Ku70 and Ku80 was localized to distinct nucleoplasmic fibrillar network and fine granules in the interphase cell nuclei. When HeLa cells were fractionated in situ using DNase I and buffers containing 0.25 M (NH4)2SO4 and 2 M NaCl, the nucleoplasmic reticular structure was largely preserved, but granules disappeared. The nucleoplasmic distribution of Ku in the tissue and in cultured cells was distinct from each other. In the adult tissue, it consisted mostly of either distinct curvilinear lines along the nuclear periphery or of tangled, beaded lines throughout the nuclei. When xenotransplants of HeLa cell in Scid mice were examined, the "tissue type" immunolocalization pattern was reproduced consistently. In most fetal tissues, "tissue type" and "cell type" patterns were admixed. Monoclonal antibodies described here are useful tools for studying the structure and function of the nuclear matrix.

National survey of Korean dentists' knowledge and opinions: dental caries etiology and prevention

OBJECTIVE

Dentists have the potential to influence what their patients know and do regarding dental caries prevention. The practices of dentists and what they tell their patients are influenced, in part, by their own knowledge and opinions. The purposes of this study were to determine the level of knowledge and opinions about caries etiology and prevention among Korean dentists and to describe related factors.

METHODS

A pretested, 27-item questionnaire was mailed to 2,047 dentists, selected by a stratified random sampling allocated proportionately. A postcard reminder was sent to all dentists after one week. Nonrespondents were sent additional complete mailings after three, seven, and nine weeks. The response rate was 83 percent (n = 1,700 dentists).

RESULTS

Analysis of six factors thought to be related to knowledge about caries etiology and prevention showed that recent graduates and dentists who worked in public health centers were likely to be more knowledgeable about caries etiology and prevention than their counterparts (P < .05). In regression analysis of perceived effectiveness of caries-preventive procedures for children, recent graduates, males, and dentists who worked in public health centers tended to rate caries-preventive procedures more effective than other dentists (P < .05). Dentists who had experience with school-based preventive programs and dentists in rural areas were likely to rate caries-preventive procedures for adults more effective than other dentists (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, results of this study suggest that the majority of dentists do not know current information concerning etiology and prevention of dental caries, mechanisms of action of fluoride, and effectiveness of preventive procedures for children and adults. Efforts to enhance the level of knowledge and practices of Korean dentists about caries prevention should focus on strategies to educate older graduates and female dentists, especially those in private practice.

Investigation of filter sets for supervised pixel classification of cephalometric landmarks by spatial spectroscopy

The diagnostic process of orthodontics requires the analysis of a cephalometric radiograph. Image landmarks on this two-dimensional lateral projection image of the patient's head are manually identified and spatial relationships are evaluated. This method is very time consuming. A reliable method for automatic computer landmark identification does not exist. Spatial Spectroscopy is a proposed method of automatic landmark identification on cephalometric radiographs, that decomposes an image by convolving it with a set of filters followed by a statistical decision process. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and test appropriate filter sets for the application of Spatial Spectroscopy for automatic identification of cephalometric radiographic landmarks. This study evaluated two different filter sets with 15 landmarks on fourteen images. Spatial Spectroscopy was able to consistently locate landmarks on all 14 cephalometric radiographs tested. The mean landmark identification error of 0.841 +/- 1.253 pixels for a Multiscale Derivative filter set and 0.912 +/- 1.364 pixels for an Offset Gaussian filter set was not significantly different. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between identification of individual landmarks for the Multiscale Derivative and the Offset Gaussian filter set (P > 0.05). These results suggest that Spatial Spectroscopy may be useful in landmark identification tasks.

Barrett's esophagus: metaplastic cells with loss of heterozygosity at the APC gene locus are clonal precursors to invasive adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus is the second most rapidly increasing cancer in western society. The cause and pathogenesis are unknown. Although histological studies suggest that there is successive progression from metaplasia and dysplasia, with a high risk of subsequent invasive carcinoma, at present there is no direct evidence that metaplastic and dysplastic epithelia are clonal precursors of adenocarcinoma. We selected 12 esophagectomy specimens of Barrett's esophagus patients, which showed a spectrum of normal tissue, metaplasia, dysplasia, and invasive carcinoma in each individual biopsy. We applied the microdissection technique to selectively procure microscopic tissue samples from H&E-stained slides for genetic evaluation using polymorphic markers flanking the APC gene locus. Identical APC gene alterations were found in the dysplastic and adenocarcinoma foci of all informative cases. The same changes were observed even in some metaplastic foci adjacent to dysplasia. Furthermore, clonality analysis of X-chromosome inactivation in female cases verified the same X-chromosome inactivation pattern in carcinoma, dysplasia, and metaplasia adjacent to dysplasia. No APC gene alterations were found in the normal epithelium and metaplasia distant from dysplasia. These data show for the first time that a tissue field of genotypic changes precedes the histopathological phenotypic changes of carcinoma in Barrett's esophagus syndrome. Our findings, in conjunction with the applied tissue microdissection technique, may help identify genotypic changes in patients with Barrett's esophagus before phenotypic changes occur. Therefore, genotyping of Barrett's metaplastic epithelium may supplement the histopathological evaluation of Barrett's esophagus.

X-gene product antagonizes the p53-mediated inhibition of hepatitis B virus replication through regulation of the pregenomic/core promoter

Employing the glutathione S-transferase column retention method and far Western analysis, we found a physical association between tumor suppressor p53 and the hepatitis B virus X-gene product, which led us to study the function of observed interaction in relation to viral propagation. In the cell culture-based in vitro replication system, expression of p53 resulted in dramatic inhibition of viral replication, and this inhibition was relieved by the coexpression of the X-gene product in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the activity of pregenomic/core promoter, responsible for the synthesis of pregenomic RNA, was almost completely inhibited upon expression of p53, and as in the replication assay, the inhibition was rescued by the coexpression of the X-gene product in a dose-dependent manner. Based on these results, we propose that the ratio of X-gene product to p53 is an important factor determining the fate of viral replication through modulation of the pregenomic/core promoter.

Fluorescence analysis of the interaction between ganglioside GM1-containing phospholipid vesicles and the B subunit of cholera toxin

Binding of cholera toxin B protomer (CT-B) to a pyrene-labeled analogue of its ganglioside GM1 receptor (pyrene-GM1) in the absence and presence of phosphatidylcholine vesicles was monitored using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. CT-B association with pyrene-GM1 micelles induces changes in the fluorescence properties of this ganglioside analogue that are consistent with its conversion from an excimer to a monomer form. Incubation of pyrene-GM1 with preformed vesicles of phosphatidylcholine (PC) results in complete conversion of pyrene-GM1 to its monomer form, however, unlike with CT-B binding, incorporation of pyrene-GM1 into PC vesicles occurs with a concomitant loss of fluorescence quenching by the small polar quenching agent acrylamide. Subsequent binding of CT-B to the PC-GM1 composite vesicles causes no further change in the pyrene fluorescence emission spectrum but does appear to increase acrylamide accessibility. These data lead to the conclusion that cholera toxin binding to a cell membrane alters membrane packing at the site of attachment. Furthermore, this phenomenon appears to be influenced by environmental conditions such as pH. A pH of about 4.0 or less causes acrylamide quenching to decrease to approximately the levels observed in the absence of CT-B. These results may be useful in describing the dynamics of the interaction between cholera toxin and target cell membranes. Moreover, these data could provide clues to the mechanism by which the toxic portion of CT is able to enter the cytoplasm of target cells.

Stimulation of anchorage-independent cell growth by endothelin in NRK 49F cells

Endothelin (ET) is a vasoconstrictor peptide originally isolated from vascular endothelial cells. Recent studies have revealed that ET has many biological functions including growth factor-like activity. The present study aims to clarify whether ET-1 possesses the ability to stimulate anchorage-independent cellular growth, an indicator of factors with transforming activity. We found that NRK 49F cells possess a large number of high-affinity ET-1 receptors; labeled 125I-ET-1 binding was displaced by unlabeled ET-2 in a similar dose response, but in the case of ET-3, 100-fold more was required. Specific 125I-ET-3 binding was undetectable in NRK 49F cells, indicating that ET receptors in NRK 49F cells are ET-1/ET-2 selective. NRK 49F is a cell line which is most commonly used to assay for anchorage-independent cellular growth. Therefore, we explored whether ETs promote anchorage-independent cellular growth in this cell line. ET-1 and ET-2 stimulated NRK colony formation dose dependently in the presence of 1 nM epidermal growth factor (EGF). In contrast, ET-3 did not have colony-stimulating ability. In the presence of EGF, the maximal effect of ET-1 was approximately 90% of that of transforming growth factor-beta. Moreover, in the presence of maximal stimulating concentrations of EGF and transforming growth factor-beta, ET-1 additionally induced colony formation. These results indicate that ET-1 and -2 possess transforming growth factor-like activity for NRK 49F cells. Since ET-1 and -2 increased intracellular calcium levels, this ion may participate in signal transduction pathways by which ET-1 and -2 promote colony formation.