Tracing fineware production in the Neo-Assyrian empire: Neutron activation analysis of common and Palace Ware in the upper Tigris River Valley, Turkey.

In the Iron Age, the Neo-Assyrian empire (c. 900-600 BC) conquered territory across southwest Asia and established regional capitals along its borders to secure its gains. Governors at these centers oversaw resource extraction and craft production for shipment to the imperial heartland in modern-day northern Iraq.

Degradation and inactivation of antitumor drugs.

Chemical methods for the degradation of 11 antineoplastic drugs [etoposide, teniposide, bleomycin, mitomycin C, cisplatin, cis-dichloro-trans-dihydroxy-bis(isopropylamine) platinum IV (CHIP), cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, carmustine, lomustine, and methotrexate] were investigated. The success of the degradation procedures was assessed by HPLC and degree of biological inactivation by mutagenicity assays. The most widely applicable procedure was oxidation with potassium permanganate or 5.

Assessment of diphenylcyclopropenone for photochemically induced mutagenicity in the Ames assay.

The photochemical conversion of diphenylcyclopropenone to diphenylacetylene has recently been reported. Diphenylcyclopropenone is used in the treatment of alopecia areata and is nonmutagenic in a limited Ames assay. We examined diphenylcyclopropenone and diphenylacetylene, as well as synthetic precursors of diphenylcyclopropenone--dibenzylketone and alpha,alpha'-dibromodibenzylketone--for mutagenicity against TA100, TA98, TA102, UTH8413, and UTH8414.

Induction of mutations in bacteria by a fragment of DNA from herpes simplex virus type 1.

A bacterial assay was developed for the study of mutagenesis by DNA of herpes simplex viruses. The histidine mutations from two of the Ames mutagenesis tester strains were recombined into the Salmonella histidine operon of the F'8 plasmid and each was transferred to a derivative strain of E. coli C from which the resident histidine operon had been deleted.

Genotoxic evaluation of the offgassing products of particle board.

It has been recognized that people are spending more time indoors and that pollutants are being found in elevated concentrations in this environment. Because the constituents of indoor air pollution can vary relative to a large number of factors, the nature of the indoor environment is extremely difficult to study. Of the materials used in construction of buildings which can elute complex mixtures of organic compounds, products such as particle board, plywood and insulation are known to release formaldehyde into the indoor environment.

Permeability of four disposable protective-clothing materials to seven antineoplastic drugs.

The permeability of four types of protective-clothing material to seven injectable antineoplastic drugs was studied. The protective materials tested were Saranex-laminated Tyvek, polyethylene-coated Tyvek, nonporous Tyvek, and Kaycel. Circles 6 cm in diameter were cut from a single garment of each material and exposed to each drug.

Genotoxicity of organic chemicals frequently found in the air of mobile homes.

The 19 chemicals most commonly detected in a study of mobile homes in Texas were tested for mutagenicity using a battery of bacterial test strains; the literature was searched to obtain additional information concerning the mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of these chemicals. Formaldehyde was found to be present in 100% of the mobile homes and at the highest mean concentration (167 ppb). The remaining organic chemicals were all present at much lower mean concentrations (less than 10 ppb) and at varying frequencies (2-95%).

Genotoxic classification of anticancer drugs.

The effects of bacterial DNA excision repair on the mutagenic and lethal actions of 17 injectable anticancer drugs have been used to classify them into three levels of potential risk to medical personnel who are involved in their preparation and administration.

Permeability of latex and polyvinyl chloride gloves to 20 antineoplastic drugs.

Permeability of latex and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gloves to 20 injectable antineoplastic drugs was studied. Four types of gloves were evaluated: latex surgical gloves, latex examination gloves, and PVC gloves in two thicknesses. Each glove material was exposed to each drug for 90 minutes, and permeation was tested using a mutagenicity assay.

Permeability of latex and polyvinyl chloride gloves to carmustine.

Permeability of latex and polyvinyl chloride gloves to the antineoplastic agent carmustine was studied. The latex gloves were of two types: sterile surgical gloves and disposable utility gloves. Polyvinyl chloride gloves of two thicknesses (0.

Mutagenic and cytogenetic analyses of organic extracts of simulated runoffs from model coal piles.

The use of coal as a fuel in utility and other industries in the United States is increasing. Typically, these utilities store their coal outdoors in large piles, and rainfall on the piles produces a runoff containing hazardous inorganic and organic materials. Four coals of varying sulfur contents, all used for fuel in the United States, were tested.

The effects of excision repair and the plasmid pKM101 on the induction of his+ revertants by chemical agents in Salmonella typhimurium.

Expansion of the Ames Salmonella/microsome mutagenesis test to include plasmid pKM101-bearing, excision repair-proficient derivatives permits 1) the identification of mutagens that require both factors for activity; 2) the identification of genotoxins through the enhancement of survival by excision repair; and 3) the classification of substances according to the effects of excision repair on their mutagenesis. Class I includes substances that require excision repair to effect mutagenesis. Class II contains substances whose mutagenesis is not affected by excision repair.

Risk of handling injectable antineoplastic agents.

Uptake of mutagenic substances by persons handling injectable antineoplastic agents was studied, and various methods of preventing such exposure were evaluated. Six persons who prepared i.v.

Exposure of pharmacy personnel to mutagenic antineoplastic drugs.

The Salmonella reversion test was used to measure the mutagenic activities of urine concentrates from individuals preparing cancer chemotherapy agents for i.v. administration.

Comparative structure-genotoxicity study of three aminoanthraquinone drugs and doxorubicin.

Two aminoanthraquinone analogs 1,4-bis(2-[(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethylamino)-9,10-anthracenedione (HAQ) and 1,4-dihydroxy-5,8-bis(2-[(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethylamino]-9,10-anthracenedione (DHAQ) have been shown to possess similar therapeutic activities against experimental tumors but different toxicities to the animals. In this study, the genotoxic effects of these two drugs and a new analog, 1,4-dihydroxy-5,8-bis(2-[(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethylamino]-9,10-anthracenedione diacetate, were analyzed by using mammalian cell cytogenetic assays (chromosome breakage and sister chromatid exchanges) as well as bacterial mutagenesis assays. The experimental therapeutic activities of these drugs in vivo correlated well with their in vitro genetic toxicities as revealed by cytogenetic assays; i.

A synergistic increase in Bacillus subtilis 168 transformation produced by the presence of heterologous W23 DNA.

Transformations utilizing a 168-like recipient and mixtures of homologous and heterologous DNA lead to an unexpected increase in the number of transformants when the two DNAs are in equal concentration. The absolute requirement for native heterologous DNA to produce the effect was demonstrated. The increase may be due to a helping effect analogous to that found in Streptococcus.

Requirement of a partially diploid donor for the chemical induction of mutations in transforming DNA.

In the Bacillus subtilis transformation system, in vitro chemical mutagenesis may depend upon the use of a DNA donor carrying two copies of the region of interest. Transformations involving this region of the donor DNA which has been chemically treated may lead to the recovery of new mutations or segregant products by some as yet undetermined mechanism.

Genetic effects of hydralazine.

Hydralazine and its acetone condensation product (ACP) were found to induce base-pair substitution mutations in the Salmonella/microsomal activation test system and to display genetic toxicity in the PolA+/A- test system. Incubation with a rat-liver microsomal fraction did not affect the genetic toxicity of either compound. Other derivatives of hydralazine, including the major metabolite, 3-hydroxy-methyl-s-triazolo-[3,4a]phthalazine, did not yield any evidence of genetic toxicity nor were they metabolically convertible to a toxic product.

Further study of the genetic toxicity of gentian violet.

The genetic toxicity of gentian violet was studied with the Ames and the Rosenkranz bacterial assays as well as the cytogenetic assays (Chinese hamster ovary cells in vitro in the presence of rat-liver S-9 fractions, the chicken-embryo and mouse-bone-marrow cells in vivo). Gentian violet was found to be toxic but not mutagenic in the Ames assay. However, it was active in the Rosenkranz assay causing reparable DNA damage.

Inhibitory effects of selenium of the mutagenicity of 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) and AAF derivatives.

Selenium (Se) decreased the mutagenicity of 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF), N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene (N-OH-AAF) and N-hydroxyaminofluorene (N-OH-AF) in the Salmonella typhimurium TA 1538 bacterial tester system. Metabolism of AAF and N-OH-AFF to the active mutagen, N-OH-AF, was accomplished by rat liver extracts. Graded decreases in mutagenicity with increasing Se concentrations were observed for each of the three mutagens.

N'-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene: the principal mutagen produced from N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene by a mammalian supernatant enzyme preparation.

A Salmonella typhimurium TA 1538 culture system wasused to monitor the production of mutagen from N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene by soluble liver enzymes. When benzene was used to extract the mutagen, no mutagenic activity remained in the liver enzyme preparation. The benzene extract contained approximately two-thirds of the total mutagenic activity produced by the liver enzyme preparation.

Chromosomal location of mutations affecting the electrophoretic mobility of malate dehydrogenase in Escherichia coli K-12.

The structural locus for a soluble malate dehydrogenase (l-malate:NAD oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.