Showing papers by "University of South Florida published in 1987"

A c-myc antisense oligodeoxynucleotide inhibits entry into S phase but not progress from G0 to G1

Abstract: Initiation of T-lymphocyte proliferation by mitogen or antigen involves a cascade of gene activation events. Thus, by the time mitogen-activated T cells have reached the G1/S interface, many genes that are transcriptionally silent in GO, like the c-myc, IL-2, IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) and transferrin receptor (TfR) genes, have been transcriptionally activated1–4. To understand the role of the individual genes in the activation process, one must be able to interfere specifically with the expression or function of each particular gene product. In this way, by blocking the IL-2R with an antibody, it has been demonstrated that IL-2/IL-2R interaction is required to induce TfR expression in activated T cells3. When the function or expression of intracellular proteins is to be blocked, however, the need to introduce antibodies into the cytoplasm of viable cells, although possible5–7, is a limiting factor. We have taken another approach, namely the exogenous addition to bulk cell cultures of small antisense oligomers. Sequence-specific anti-sense oligodeoxyribonucleotides have been reported to inhibit intracellular viral replication without interfering with cellular protein synthesis8,9. Similarly, rabbit globin mRNA translation in a cell-free system and in rabbit reticulocytes has been inhibited by oligomers complementary to the globin mRNA initiation codon region10. Recently, a pentadecadeoxyribonucleotide complementary to the initiation codon and four downstream codons of human c-myc mRNA was reported to inhibit the proliferation of the human leukaemic cell line HL-60 specifically11. We report here that the same c-myc complementary oligonuelectide inhibits mitogen-induced c-myc protein expression in human T lymphocytes and prevents S phase entry. Interestingly, c-myc antisense treatment did not inhibit G0 to G1 traversal as assessed by morphologic blast transformation, transcriptional activation of the IL-2R and TfR genes, or induction of 3H-uridine incorporation.

Fatalities from immunotherapy (IT) and skin testing (ST)

Abstract: The Committee on Allergen Standardization of the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology obtained information about 46 fatalities that had occurred during immunotherapy (IT) or skin testing (ST) since 1945. Sufficient information for complete analysis was provided for 30 patients (six for ST and 24 for IT). Of the 30 fatalities, there were 15 male and 15 female fatalities. ranging in age from 7 to 70 years (x=33 years). Known errors of administration accounted for three and possibly an additional three fatalities. Ten fatalities occurred during seasonal exacerbation of the patient's disease, four in patients who had been symptomatic at the time of the injection, two of whom had been receiving β-adrenergic blockers. Of the 24 fatalities associated with IT, four had experienced previous reactions, 11 manifested a high degree of sensitivity, and four had been injected with newly prepared extracts. Fifteen of the 30 fatalities had received pollen extracts as part of the fatal injection. Of the six fatalities associated with ST, five were due to intradermal testing without prior puncture testing. The signs and symptoms were variable and did not indicate that death was imminent nor predict the cause of death. the time to onset of the reaction was less than 30 minutes in 22/30, more than 30 minutes in 3/30, and not reported in 5/30. The cause of death in 14/16 patients with asthma was respiratory. Epinephrine had been administered to 18, not administered to three, and was either not recorded or unknown in the remaining nine patients. Since seven to 10 million allergen injections are administered yearly, the risk of a fatal reaction is low and may be lessened even further as additional precautions are taken in the selection and treatment of allergic patients and in improved treatment of the anaphylactic reactions.

8-Cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX)--a selective high affinity antagonist radioligand for A1 adenosine receptors.

Abstract: The properties of 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX) as an antagonist ligand for A1 adenosine receptors were examined and compared with other radioligands for this receptor. DPCPX competitively antagonized both the inhibition of adenylate cyclase activity via A1 adenosine receptors and the stimulation via A2 adenosine receptors. The Ki-values of this antagonism were 0.45 nM at the A1 receptor of rat fat cells, and 330 nM at the A2 receptor of human platelets, giving a more than 700-fold A1-selectivity. A similar A1-selectivity was determined in radioligand binding studies. Even at high concentrations, DPCPX did not significantly inhibit the soluble cAMP-phosphodiesterase activity of human platelets. [3H]DPCPX (105 Ci/mmol) bound in a saturable manner with high affinity to A1 receptors in membranes of bovine brain and heart, and rat brain and fat cells (KD-values 50-190 pM). Its nonspecific binding was about 1% of total at KD, except in bovine myocardial membranes (about 10%). Binding studies with bovine myocardial membranes allowed the analysis of both the high and low agonist affinity states of this receptor in a tissue with low receptor density. The binding properties of [3H]DPCPX appear superior to those of other agonist and antagonist radioligands for the A1 receptor.

The mislabeling of sexual impulsivity

Abstract: Several authors have discussed a pattern of behavior that has been called Compulsive Sexual Behavior, Sexual Addiction, or Hypersexuality. The literature concerning this disorder is reviewed. It is suggested that the various labels applied to this disorder are inaccurate descriptions that are not reflective of the true nature of the condition. It is further suggested that this behavioral pattern is best viewed as a manifestation of an Atypical Impulse Control Disorder.

Interactive effects of perceived control and job stressors on affective reactions and health outcomes for clerical workers

Abstract: Karasek's (1979) hypothesis that perceived control interacts with various job stressors in affecting employee satisfaction and health was tested. It was proposed that high levels of perceived stress would only be associated with poor health and negative affect in the presence of low control. One hundred and thirty-six clerical workers at a major US university completed questionnaries containing the measures of interest. The results of regression analyses failed to support the interaction hypothesis. However, measures related to both control and job stressors were found to correlate with satisfaction and health outcomes, as has been found in prior research. Limitations of the self-report and correlational methodology are discussed.

Relationships of organizational frustration with reported behavioural reactions: The moderating effect of locus of control

Abstract: The present field study was designed to examine the influence of organizational frustration and locus of control on emotional and behavioural reactions to frustrating conditions. Data were collected by questionnaire from 160 employees from all levels of a community mental health facility. As hypothesized, organizational frustration was found to be positively related to interpersonal aggression, sabotage and withdrawal. Subgroup moderator analysis supported the hypothesized moderating relationship of locus of control on the perceived frustration behavioural reactions relationship. These results suggest that persons with an external locus of control are more likely to respond to frustration with counterproductive behaviour than persons with an internal locus of control. The implications of these findings for organizations are discussed.

Insulin Rapidly Increases Diacylglycerol by Activating De Novo Phosphatidic Acid Synthesis

Abstract: The mechanisms whereby insulin increases diacylglycerol in BC3H-1 myocytes were examined. When [3H]arachidonate labeling of phospholipids was used as an indicator of phospholipase C activation, transient increases in [3H]diacylglycerol were observed between 0.5 and 10 minutes after the onset of insulin treatment. With [3H]glycerol labeling as an indicator of de novo phospholipid synthesis, [3H]diacylglycerol was increased maximally at 1 minute and remained elevated for 20 minutes. [3H]Glycerol-labeled diacylglycerol was largely derived directly from phosphatidic acid. Insulin increased de novo phosphatidic acid synthesis within 5 to 10 seconds; within 1 minute, this synthesis was 60 times greater than that of controls. Thus, the initial increase in diacylglycerol is due to both increased hydrolysis of phospholipids and a burst of de novo phosphatidic acid synthesis. After 5 to 10 minutes, de novo phosphatidic acid synthesis continues as a major source of diacylglycerol. Both phospholipid effects of insulin seem important for generating diacylglycerol and other phospholipid-derived intracellular signaling substances.

Long-term neuropathological and neurochemical effects of nucleus basalis lesions in the rat

Abstract: The long-term effects of excitotoxic lesions in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis of the rat were found to mimic several neuropathological and chemical changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. Neuritic plaque-like structures, neurofibrillary changes, and neuronal atrophy or loss were observed in the frontoparietal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex 14 months after the lesions were made. Cholinergic markers in neocortex were reduced, while catecholamine and indoleamine metabolism was largely unaffected at this time. Bilateral lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis increased somatostatin and neuropeptide Y in the cortex of the rat by at least 138 and 284 percent, respectively, suggesting a functional interaction between cholinergic and peptidergic neurons that may differ from that in Alzheimer's disease.

Distribution and Molecular Weight of Dissolved DNA in Subtropical Estuarine and Oceanic Environments

Abstract: Dissolved DNA and a series of microbial biomass and activity parameters were measured in offshore, coastal, estuanne and coral reef environments of the southeast Gulf of Mexico. Oceanic concentrations of dissolved DNA ranged from 0.2 to 19 vg 1-' and decreased as a function of distance from shore and depth in the water column. Dissolved DNA concentrations were greater than half the particulate DNA content in offshore environments (Z = 63 + 45 O/O), but were a smaller percentage of particulate DNA in nearshore and estuarine environments (Z = 35 f 21 %). Dissolved DNA correlated better with bacterial parameters (i.e. bacterial direct counts, particulate DNA and thymidine incorporation) than with phytoplankton parameters (chlorophyll a, primary productivity). The molecular weight (MW) of dissolved DNA (determined by agarose gel electrophoresis) ranged from 0.12 kilobase pairs (kb; 7.75 X 104 daltons) to 35.2 kb (2.32 X 10' daltons) for estuarine samples, while an oligotrophic environment contained smaller MW DNA (range 0.24 to 14.27 kb). DNA fragments in this size range are sufficient to contain gene sequences. These results are discussed in terms of the potential for transformation by dissolved DNA.

Evolving theories of vowel perception.

Abstract: In the past 15 years, research on the perception of spoken vowels has given rise to new conceptions of vowels as articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual events. This paper traces the evolution of vowel theory starting from “simple” target models in which vowels were characterized articulatorily as static vocal tract shapes and acoustically as points in an F1/F2 vowel space. Within this conceptual framework, two major problems in perception to be accounted for were the Speaker Normalization problem and the Target Undershoot problem. Theoretical developments have taken two directions: (1) “Elaborated” target theories have been hypothesized which account primarily for perceivers' solution of the Speaker Normalization problem; (2) dynamic specification models have been offered (a) to deal with the Target Undershoot problem and (b) to characterize the perceptual significance of vowel diphthongization. Findings of perceptual studies are summarized that motivate these theoretical developments and a characterization is offered of vowels as dynamic gestures giving rise to temporally distributed acoustic information that perceivers utilize in identifying coarticulated vowels. [Research supported by NINCDS.]

The leisure experience: selected properties.

Abstract: The difficulties inherent in both a clear, unambiguous conceptualization of leisure and its accurate empirical measurement has prevented the development of an adequate science of leisure. Some scho...

The Montgomery bus boycott and the women who started it : the memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson

Abstract: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ignited the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, has always been vitally important in southern and black history With the publication of this book, the boycott becomes a milestone in the history of American women as well ""This autobiographical account of the creation of the boycott is the most important document on that highly significant episode since Martin Luther King's own version, Stride Towards Freedom I feel certain that scholars and students will refer to this unique historical source for generations to come"" --J Mills Thornton, University of Michigan ""This valuable first-hand account of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, written by an important, behind-the-scenes organizer, evokes the emotional intensity of the civil rights struggle It ought to be required reading for all Americans who value their freedom and the contribution of black women to our history"" --Coretta Scott King ""A sharply remembered addition to the literature on what has become an event of mythic proportions, and a sound primer for those interested in community organizing The author is scrupulously honest, modest, and gives unsung heroes much deserved praise"" --Kirkus ""This fascinating memoir provides new evidence on the origins and sustaining force of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56)"" --Anthony O Edmonds, Library Journal ""There's no substitute for this intimate memoir; it provides an immediacy and graphic intensity never before available"" --Marge Frantz, San Jose Mercury News ""This powerful memoir is a milestone in the history of that boycott and in the American Civil Rights Movement"" --American History Illustrated ""This absorbing study may become a minor classic in the literature of the Montgomery bus boycott Garrow correctly states in his Foreword that this book is the most important participant-observer account of the Montgomery protest available to students and scholars of the black freedom movement This straightforward, sensitive memoir is must reading for students of the civil rights movement It is a powerful commentary on how a woman and the group she led rose up to throw off an injustice thrust upon them When Jo Ann Robinson and other Montgomery women decided no longer to play the role of contented black Southerners, they gave blacks everywhere renewed hope, and they helped to create a national leader who took them closer to the promised land"" --Jimmie L Franklin, The Alabama Review ""In an absorbing, first-hand narrative, the dignified and unassuming Robinson focuses on the role of the Women's Political Council (WPC) and details the WPC's plans to engineer a boycott months before the heralded arrest of Rosa Parks The value of this primary source will endure long after many best-selling, secondary accounts of national politics during this period have disappeared"" --Keith D Miller and Elizabeth Vander Lei, Explorations in Sight and Sound

An investigation of age-related factors in the age-job-satisfaction relationship.

Abstract: Most researchers have found a positive linear relation between age and job satisfaction. We attempted to account for this relationship by measuring variables that had been proposed to be causal factors. Subjects were 496 city and county managers working in Florida. Potential explanatory variables were (a) job congruence (the difference between what managers prefer and what they perceive they have in a job), (b) internal-external locus of control, and (c) related demographics-age, salary, organizational tenure, position tenure, and organizational level. Multiple regression analyses found that job congruence and work locus of control accounted for almost all of the variance in the age-satisfaction relationship. This study supports the job change hypothesis, which proposes tha older workers get more of what they want out of work.

A path independent integral for computing stress intensities for V-notched cracks in a bi-material

Abstract: The complex potential method of England is used to formulate the eigenvalue problem for a V-notched crack in a bi-material. The reciprocal work contour integral method of Stern is then extended to yield stress intensities for that configuration. The algorithm was tested on two problems of known solution and was found to be computationally stable and insensitive to finite element idealization error.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the lip.

Abstract: We reviewed 117 consecutive patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lip. The retrospective review includes age, race, location, risk factors, TNM classification, histologic differentiation, treatment methods, recurrent disease, site of recurrence, and follow-up status. Results reveal prognosis is related to original tumor size, location, local recurrence, histologic grade, and presence of cervical metastasis. The presence of cervical lymph node disease reduces the survival from 90 to 50 percent; the survival after recurrent disease to the neck is 10 percent. When a prophylactic suprahyoid neck dissection shows involvement with tumor, 83 percent of patients have metastasis to cervical lymph nodes. The overall recurrence rate is 20 percent. Over 60 percent of the recurrent disease is due to tumors less than 4 cm in diameter. The local recurrence rate is 7 percent, but reexcision of the local recurrence gives a 75 percent cure rate. Aggressive surgical treatment is recommended for identifiably poor prognostic lesions and includes surgical excision, prophylactic suprahyoid neck dissection, and possible radical neck dissection.

Contributions of ascariasis to poor nutritional status in children from Chiriqui Province, Republic of Panama.

Abstract: Relationships between ascariasis and lactose digestion and between ascariasis and food transit time from mouth to caecum were investigated in young children from Chiriqui Province, Republic of Panama. The breath hydrogen method was used in both studies. Ascaris-infected children showed a significantly poorer degree of lactose digestion following a test oral load than uninfected children. Recovery of the capacity of the children to digest lactose was still not fully complete for at least 3 weeks following anthelmintic treatment. On average, the mouth-to-caecum transit time was similar in infected and uninfected children, but among the Ascaris-infected children the transit time tended to be shorter in relation to the intensity of infection. Evidence from a cross-sectional survey indicated that ascariasis was significantly associated with reduced plasma vitamin A and carotenoid concentrations. This relationship remained after controlling for a range of socio-economic variables. Ascaris-infected children were frequently found to have lower haematocrits and blood haemoglobin concentrations than uninfected children, but these relationships could not be attributed to ascariasis alone.

Solution volume and seed number: Often overlooked factors in allelopathic bioassays.

Abstract: Cucumber seeds were germinated under various combinations of solution volume and seed number with a range of ferulic acid concentrations. At each concentration, radicle growth decreased as the relative amount of ferulic acid available per seed increased from χ (25 seeds/5 ml) to 5χ (5 seeds/5 ml) to 19χ (25 seeds/95 ml). With 2.0 mM ferulic acid in buffered solution, radicle lengths after 48 hr ranged from 71 to 47% of control. The amount of ferulic acid remaining in 2.0 mM solution after 48 hr was directly proportional to the amount initially available per seed, and ranged from 9 to 91%. Solution volume and seed number also significantly affected inhibition by vanillic acid, caffeic acid, and juglone. With 0.1 mM juglone, radicle lengths after 48 hr were 88% of control with 25 seeds/5 ml, 68% with 5 seeds/5 ml, and 56% with 25 seeds/90 ml. The data demonstrated that lower phytotoxin concentrations can produce equivalent or greater inhibitory effects than higher concentrations when the amount available per seed for uptake is greater. Equivalent inhibition of radicle growth was observed with 1.0 mM (5 seeds/5 ml) and 2.0 mM (25 seeds/5 ml) ferulic acid. Available literature on herbicides indicates that similar effects occur in greenhouse and field studies.

Selective Fourier transform localization.

Abstract: We have introduced the selective Fourier transform technique for spectral localization. This technique allows the acquisition of a high-resolution spectrum from a selectable location with control over the shape and size of the spatial response function. The shape and size of the spatial response are defined during data acquisition and the location is selectable through processing after the data acquisition is complete. The technique uses pulsed-field-gradient phase encoding to define the spatial coordinates. In this paper the theoretical basis of the selective Fourier transform technique is developed and experimental results are presented, including comparisons of spectral localization using either the selective Fourier transform method or conventional multidimensional Fourier transform chemical-shift imaging. © Academic Press, Inc.