Working memory deficits following traumatic brain injury in the rat.

This study was designed to examine working memory following fluid-percussion traumatic brain injury (TBI) using the Morris water maze (MWM). Rats were injured (n = 9) at a moderate level of central fluid percussion injury (2.1 atm) or were prepared for injury but did not receive a fluid pulse (sham injury) (n = 10).

Recombinant prespore-specific antigen from Dictyostelium discoideum is a beta-sheet glycoprotein with a spacer peptide modified by O-linked N-acetylglucosamine.

Prespore-specific antigen (PsA) is a putative cell-adhesion molecule of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum, which has a similar molecular architecture to several mammalian cell-surface proteins. It has an N-terminal globular domain presented to the extracellular environment on an O-glycosylated stem (glycopeptide) that is attached to the cell membrane through a glycosyl-PtdIns anchor. The sequence of PsA suggests that PsA may belong to a new family of cell-surface molecules and here we present information on the structure of the N-terminal globular domain and determine the reducing-terminal linkage of the O-glycosylation.

Reduced sensorimotor reactivity following traumatic brain injury in rats.

The present study examined sensorimotor reactivity in rats following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Moderate injury was induced with midline fluid percussion in some of the rats. Others received identical surgery, but were not injured (sham-injured rats), or received neither surgery nor injury (naive rats).

Heterogeneity of B-lymphoid tumors in E mu-myc transgenic mice.

The clinically important issue of tumor heterogeneity was studied in C57BL/6-E mu-myc transgenic mice, which provide a genetically uniform model system in which all animals eventually develop B cell lymphomas after additional genetic changes beyond enforced expression of the transgenic oncogene. Three different approaches were compared for discerning the cellular and genetic homogeneity of these tumors. Analysis of Igh gene rearrangement showed mainly monoclonality and only infrequent oligoclonality in the tumors from a given animal.

Exposure to environmental complexity promotes recovery of cognitive function after traumatic brain injury.

This study was designed to determine whether exposure to a complex environment after traumatic brain injury (TBI) would promote the recovery of cognitive function. Rats were injured at a moderate level of fluid percussion injury (2.1 atm) or were prepared for injury but were not injured (sham injury).

Sporozoites of Toxoplasma gondii lack dense-granule protein GRA3 and form a unique parasitophorous vacuole.

The invasion of host cells by sporozoites of Toxoplasma gondii leads to the formation of parasitophorous vacuoles that are distinctly different from those surrounding tachyzoites. In sporozoite-infected cells, the fluid-filled space surrounding the sporozoite is many times larger in volume than the sporozoite, essentially lacks granular or tubular structures, and has no detectable continuous parasitophorous vacuolar membrane when prepared by conventional electron microscopic methods. Consistent with the ultrastructural differences, dense-granule protein GRA3, which associates with the parasitophorous vacuolar membrane of tachyzoites, was not detected by indirect immunofluorescence in sporozoite-infected cells 2-12 h post-inoculation or by Western blot analysis of sporozoite extracts.

The effect of postinjury kindled seizures on cognitive performance of traumatically brain-injured rats.

The purpose of this experiment was to examine the consequences of postinjury seizures on cognitive performance after experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI). Rats either were injured at a moderate (2.1 atm) level of central fluid percussion TBI (n = 16) or were surgically prepared but did not receive a fluid pulse (sham-injured control, n = 16).

Impaired gustatory neophobia following traumatic brain injury in rats.

To investigate the function of the amygdala following traumatic brain injury (TBI), rats were tested on a gustatory neophobia task that is sensitive to amygdala and hippocampal damage. Rats were either injured at a moderate level of fluid percussion injury (2.1 atm) or surgically prepared but not injured (sham-injury).

The reliability and repeatability of the blood glucose response to prolonged exercise in adolescent boys with IDDM.

Objective: To determine the intrasubject reliability and repeatability of the blood glucose response to prolonged exercise in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) when pre-exercise meal, exercise, and insulin regimens are kept constant.

Research Design And Methods: Nine IDDM adolescent boys with diabetes duration of 9.7 +/- 4.

Alcohol use and contraception in first sexual experiences.

Recent research has suggested that the use of alcohol or drugs in conjunction with sexual intercourse is associated with nonuse of contraception, particularly in first intercourse experiences. This paper reports findings from a nationally representative sample of adolescents and young adults aged 18-30 who were asked a number of questions about the circumstances and characteristics of the first time they had intercourse. Results showed that drinking at the time of first intercourse was more prevalent among those who first had sex prior to 1985; moreover, members of this cohort were less likely to use condoms or other forms of birth control at the time of first intercourse.

The relationship of alcohol use to sexual activity in a U.S. national sample.

Recent reports have indicated that the use of alcohol is related to sexual behavior (such as unprotected intercourse) that is high-risk for HIV infection. However, most of these studies have collected data from convenience samples, using measures of varying specificity. This paper describes a study designed to investigate the relationship of alcohol use to unsafe sexual activity in a representative sample of adults.

Increasing child safety-seat use and proper use among toddlers. Evaluation of an enforcement and education program.

Effective enforcement programs to promote use and proper use of child safety seats can be successfully implemented. This paper describes the evaluation of a combined occupant-restraint enforcement program plus a public-information and -education program conducted in two test sites and one comparison site; all three are suburban communities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program was successful in increasing toddler use of child seats from a baseline of 71.

Sexual behavior of American adolescents: results from a U.S. national survey.

Purpose: This paper reports on data from a 1990 U.S. national survey of the sexual behavior of male and female adolescents aged 12-17.

The sexual behavior of US adults: results from a national survey.

Objectives: One consequence of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic has been to highlight the need for population-based estimates of the number of individuals engaging in sexual behaviors that place them at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This paper describes the prevalence of various sexual behaviors in a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States.

Methods: Data were collected as part of a household probability survey of adults (n = 2058) in the United States.

Patterns of sexuality in a high-risk sample: results from a survey of new intakes at a county jail.

Described the sexual habits and behaviors in a sample of individuals thought to be at high risk for infection with the AIDS virus. The sample is drawn from new arrestees at a county jail in the San Francisco Bay Area. Results indicate that the individuals in this sample are very sexually active: The majority began their sexual activities at a young age; most are currently in a primary relationship; and a large proportion report having had two or more sexual partners in the last 12 months.

Unsafe sexual behavior and alcohol use at the event level: results of a national survey.

In recent years, several researchers have suggested that the use of alcohol in conjunction with sexual activity significantly increases the probability that unsafe or risky sexual behavior will occur. However, the majority of studies examining this relationship have utilized general measures of drinking frequency and sexual behavior, and are therefore unable to establish whether the drinking and risky sex occur on the same occasion. In this study, adult respondents in a national survey were asked about the circumstances of two sexual encounters: their most recent sexual experience and their most recent encounter involving a new sexual partner.

Novel mitochondrial genomes in Brassica napus somatic hybrids.

The mitochondrial genomes of nine male-fertile and two Ogura cytoplasmic male-sterile (cms) Brassica napus somatic hybrids were probed with 46 mitochondrial DNA fragments. The distribution of information obtained from each fusion partner was not random. Several regions, including the coxI gene and a major recombination repeat sequence, were always derived from the Brassica campestris fusion partner, and some regions were always derived from the Ogura mitochondrial genome.

A meta-analysis of depressive symptomatology and alcohol consumption over time.

Meta-analysis (eight general population longitudinal studies) describes the relationships (regressions) between quantity per occasion and depressive symptomatology over time. Quantity and depression are the strongest and most consistent predictors of final levels of themselves in all data sets. Age significantly and consistently predicts quantity for both sexes combined (the general pattern is replicated among males only).

A meta-analysis of change in marital and employment status as predictors of alcohol consumption on a typical occasion.

Meta-analysis is used to combine results of primary data from 12 longitudinal studies to examine the consistency of results with respect to the role of changes on the individual level in marital status and employment status on changes in consumption of alcohol per typical occasion. The analyses control for the effects of Time 1 consumption per occasion and education. Not getting married and becoming unmarried are associated with increased consumption at follow-up and both variables are positively related to increased consumption among older men, but only becoming unmarried was related to increased consumption among older women.

A meta-analysis of life course variation in drinking.

Meta-analysis combines results from multiple longitudinal studies to describe life course variation by age and sex for quantity of drinking per typical occasion (20 studies) and frequency of drinking during one month (27 studies). There is cross-study heterogeneity for the Time 1 means of the drinking variables blocking for age and sex. Age distributions for the Time 1 means are similar by gender within nations; in the aggregate, males exceed females in the magnitude of drinking.

Preliminary results from a meta-analysis of drinking behavior in multiple longitudinal studies.

This paper introduces the scope and rationale of The Collaborative Alcohol-Related Longitudinal Project and describes the individual longitudinal studies which contribute to this large collaborative project, representing studies from 15 countries. It also serves as an introduction to four reports of the preliminary findings from the project. The project is distinguished by (1) its interdisciplinary research approach which has assembled a multidisciplinary group of scholars to direct and interpret analyses, (2) its use of primary data from multiple longitudinal studies, (3) the parallel analyses of primary data from multiple studies, using comparable measures across studies recorded to a standard format and common analytic model, and (4) its use of meta-analysis to combine results across studies.

An integrated approach to meta-analysis in alcohol studies.

The research design and methods utilized by the Collaborative Alcohol-Related Longitudinal Project are described. The project design addresses the critical need to develop procedures to assess the replicability of research results in alcohol studies. Key features of the research plan include: re-analysis of original data from multiple longitudinal studies of drinking behavior in the general population; centralization of all data analyses, developed and implemented by an interdisciplinary core staff; development of the research plan and interpretation of results in co-operation with original investigators of studies included in the project; and use of modeling procedures from meta-analysis to quantify the relative contribution of factors influencing the distribution of effect estimates across studies, including both methodological differences and aggregate level variables.

Long-term outcomes of drinking: a 20-year longitudinal study of men.

This paper examines long-term changes in drinking, with regard to: (a) the degree to which overall patterns of drinking have shifted or remained across a 20-year period; (b) whether these patterns vary on the basis of age; and (c) the degree to which distinct patterns of drinking may be differentially subject to mortality and/or nonresponse. Data for this investigation are from a 20-year prospective follow-up study of two general population surveys. The first of these was originally interviewed in 1964 and consists of interviews with 405 males aged 23 and older; the second, originally interviewed in 1967, consists of interviews with 786 males aged 21-59.