Motor vehicle crash involvement and moving violations: convergence of self-report and archival data

In the crash involvement literature, it is generally assumed that archival and other "objective" criterion data are superior to self-reports of crash involvement. Using 394 participants (mean age = 36.23 years), the present study assessed the convergence of archival and self-report measures of motor vehicle crash involvement and moving violations. We also sought to determine whether predictor/criterion relationships would vary as a function of criterion type (i.e., archival vs. self-report), and if a combination of both criteria would result in better prediction than would either by itself. The degree of agreement between the two criterion sources was low, with participants self-reporting more crashes and tickets than were found in their state records. Different predictor/criterion relationships were also found for the two criterion types; stronger effects were obtained for self-report data. Combining the two criteria did not result in relationships stronger than those obtained for self-reports alone. Our findings suggest that self-report data are not inherently inferior to archival data and, furthermore, that the two sources of data cannot be used interchangeably. Actual or potential applications include choosing the appropriate criterion to use, which, as the finding of this study reveals, may depend on the purpose of the investigation.

Evaluation of Ruthenium-Based Assemblies as Carriers of Photosensitizers to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis by Photodynamic Therapy

For the first time, ruthenium-based assemblies have been used as carriers for photosensitizers in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by photodynamic therapy (PDT). These metallacages are totally soluble in physiological media and can transport photosensitizers (PS) in their cavity. After an incubation period, the PS is released in the cytoplasm and irradiation can take place. This strategy allows photosensitizers with low or null solubility in biological media to be evaluated as PDT agents in rheumatoid arthritis. The systems in which 21H,23H-porphine and 29H,31H-phthalocyanine are encapsulated show excellent photocytotoxicity and no toxicity in the dark. On the other hand, systems in which metalated derivatives such as Mg(II)-porphine and Zn(II)-phthalocyanine are used show good photocytotoxicity, but to a lesser extent than the previous two. Furthermore, the presence of Zn(II)-phthalocyanine significantly increases the toxicity of the system. Overall, fifteen different host-guest systems have been evaluated, and based on the results obtained, they show high potential for treating rheumatoid arthritis by PDT.

Ruthenium-based assemblies incorporating tetrapyridylporphyrin panels: a photosensitizer delivery strategy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by photodynamic therapy

Ruthenium-based assemblies containing tetrapyridylporphyrins (TPyP) in their structure have been evaluated as photosensitizers (PS) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by photodynamic therapy (PDT). TPyP is useless by itself as a PS due to its low solubility in biological media, however, incorporated in metallacages it can be internalized in cells. The study shows a cellular antiproliferative activity in fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) in the lower nanomolar range in the presence of light, and no dark toxicity at 1 μM concentration, thus having an excellent photoactivity index. The presence of diamagnetic (Zn2+) and paramagnetic (Co2+) metals in the center of TPyP impairs the effectiveness of PDT, showing no (Co) or reduced (Zn) photoactivity. A total of five metallacages with different structural characteristics have been evaluated, and our results suggest that the incorporation of PS in metalla-assemblies is not only an elegant method to increase solubility in biological media for TPyP but also appears to be an efficient hybrid system to treat RA by PDT.

Dimethyl Sulfoxide: A Bio-Friendly or Bio-Hazard Chemical? The Effect of DMSO in Human Fibroblast-like Synoviocytes

The effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) human fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) has been studied on five different samples harvested from the joints (fingers, hands and pelvis) of five women with RA. At high concentrations (>5%), the presence of DMSO induces the cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP-1, two phenomena associated with the cell death mechanism. Even at a 0.5% concentration of DMSO, MTT assays show a strong toxicity after 24 h exposure (≈25% cell death). Therefore, to ensure a minimum impact of DMSO on RA FLSs, our study shows that the concentration of DMSO has to be below 0.05% to be considered safe.

Combination of tetrapyridylporphyrins and arene ruthenium(II) complexes to treat synovial sarcoma by photodynamic therapy

Four tetrapyridylporphyrin and four dipyridylporphyrin arene ruthenium complexes have been synthesized and characterized. In these complexes, the porphyrin core is either metal-free or occupied by zinc, and the arene ligand of the arene ruthenium units are either the standard methyl-isopropyl-benzene ([Formula: see text]cymene) or the less common phenylpropanol (PhPrOH) derivative. The porphyrin derivatives are coordinated to four arene ruthenium units or only two, in accordance with the number of pyridyl substituents at the periphery of the porphyrins, 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine (TPyP) and 5,15-diphenyl-10,20-di(pyridin-4-yl)porphyrin (DPhDPyP). All eight complexes were evaluated as anticancer agents on synovial sarcoma cells, in the presence and absence of light, suggesting that both the arene ligand and the porphyrin core substituent can play a crucial role in fine-tuning the photodynamic activity of such organometallic photosensitizers.

The Effect of Photosensitizer Metalation Incorporated into Arene-Ruthenium Assemblies on Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer for men and a major health issue. Despite treatments, a lot of side effects are observed. Photodynamic therapy is a non-invasive method that uses photosensitizers and light to induce cell death through the intramolecular generation of reactive oxygen species, having almost no side effects. However, some of the PSs used in PDT show inherent low solubility in biological media, and accordingly, functionalization or vectorization is needed to ensure internalization. To this end, we have used arene-ruthenium cages in order to deliver PSs to cancer cells. These metalla-assemblies can host PSs inside their cavity or be constructed with PS building blocks. In this study, we wanted to determine if the addition of metals (Mg, Co, Zn) in the center of these PSs plays a role. Our results show that most of the compounds induce cytotoxic effects on DU 145 and PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. Localization by fluorescence confirms the internalization of the assemblies in the cytoplasm. An analysis of apoptotic processes shows a cleavage of pro-caspase-3 and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase, thus leading to a strong induction of DNA fragmentation. Finally, the presence of metals in the PS decreases PDT's effect and can even annihilate it.

A Combination of Ruthenium Complexes and Photosensitizers to Treat Colorectal Cancer

Treatment regimens are regularly evolving alongside novel therapies and drugs. Such evolution is necessary to circumvent resistance mechanisms and to give patients the best possible health care. When dealing with cancer, most regimens involve multiple treatments (surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc.). The purpose of this study was to associate in a single compound metal-based drugs and photosensitizers to combine chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy. Two arene–ruthenium tetrapyridylporphyrin compounds (2H-TPyP-arene-Ru and Zn-TPyP-arene-Ru) have been synthesized and evaluated on two colorectal cancer cell lines (HCT116 and HT-29). Their cytotoxicity and phototoxicity have been evaluated. In addition, the anticancer mechanism and the cell death process mediated by the two compounds were studied. The results showed that the two arene–ruthenium photosensitizer-containing complexes have a strong phototoxic effect after photoactivation. The 2H-TPyP-arene-Ru complex induced outstanding cytotoxicity when compared to the Zn-TPyP-arene-Ru analogue. Moreover, under light, these two arene–ruthenium photosensitizers induce an apoptotic process in human colorectal cancer cell lines.

Comparative potency of atropine sulphate and glycopyrrolate on heart rate in man

Disagreement as to the effect of glycopyrrolate and atropine sulphate at various dosages on heart rate has been reported in the literature. Of particular interest is the question of whether small doses of glycopyrrolate cause bradycardia. Three groups of subjects were studied. The QRS complexes of the electrocardiogram were continuously recorded on a microcomputer. Group 1 consisted of 10 healthy volunteers who were given two doses of atropine sulphate 1.25 micrograms kg-1 and glycopyrrolate 0.75 micrograms kg-1, in random order at two different times, i.v. Monitoring continued until heart rate returned to baseline. Group 2 consisted of 24 women, ASA class I or II, scheduled for gynaecological operations. Each patient received fractionated i.v. doses of either atropine sulphate 2.5, 2.5 and 5 micrograms kg-1 or glycopyrrolate 1.5, 1.5 and 3.0 micrograms kg-1 at 3-min intervals. Heart rate was measured continuously for 1 h before drug injection and for 10 min after the last dose. Group 3 consisted of six volunteers given both drugs in the same dose and time schedule as Group 2, but heart rate was monitored for 180 min after the last dose. In Group 1, the incidence of bradycardia and increases in heart rate after the first dose were statistically significant for both atropine sulphate and glycopyrrolate when compared with baseline values. In Group 2, both drugs significantly increased the heart rate and had similar times to peak effect. In Group 3, bradycardia occurred only with atropine sulphate. Increases in heart rate, peak heart rate and duration of action were similar with both drugs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)