Childhood victimization and risk for alcohol and drug arrests.

Using data from a prospective cohorts design study, this paper examines the relationship between early childhood victimization and subsequent arrest for alcohol- and/or drug-related offenses. Complete official criminal histories are compared for cases of childhood physical and sexual abuse and neglect (n = 908) and a control sample (n = 667). After controlling for relevant demographic characteristics, logistic regression analyses indicate that childhood maltreatment is a significant predictor of adult, but not juvenile, arrests for alcohol- and/or drug-related offenses.

Photoresponsive pacemaker neurons from the dissociated retina of Aplysia.

Isolated retinal pacemaker neurons of Aplysia devoid of any morphologically specialized photoreceptive processes responded to illumination. Neurons were dissociated from other retinal cells and maintained in primary culture for whole cell recording. The membrane potential was depolarized and action potentials were evoked by illumination.

Expression of interleukin-1 alpha and beta in early passage fibroblasts from aging individuals.

Human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs) from newborn foreskin constitutively express interleukin-1 (IL-1) mRNA and protein after completing at least 70% (approximately 40 population doublings) of their in vitro life span. This IL-1 in turn induces the synthesis of specific proteins in aging HDFs. To determine whether IL-1 expression may be promoted by in vivo aging, we analyzed the expression of IL-1 and of inducible mRNAs in HDFs from two normal individuals 55 and 92 years old and in HDFs from a patient with premature aging caused by Werner's syndrome.

The Rox1 repressor of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae hypoxic genes is a specific DNA-binding protein with a high-mobility-group motif.

The ROX1 gene encodes a repressor of the hypoxic functions of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The DNA sequence of the gene was determined and found to encode a protein of 368 amino acids. The amino-terminal third of the protein contains a high-mobility-group motif characteristic of DNA-binding proteins.

Opioidergic manipulations affect intake of 3% NaCl in sodium-deficient rats.

On six weekly occasions, a 3% NaCl solution was presented along with water to rats for 2 h 1 day after being treated with furosemide, a diuretic/natriuretic drug that causes a strong hunger for 3% NaCl. On some of the days, the sodium-hungry rats were injected with morphine in doses ranging from 0.3 to 10.

The effects of fludrocortisone acetate and deoxycorticosterone acetate on salt appetite in mice.

Three genotypes of mice were shown to increase their intake of 3% sodium chloride (NaCl) following administration of fludrocortisone acetate (25 mg/kg), a synthetic steroid having strong mineralocorticoid/glucocorticoid activity. However, treatment with deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) (10 mg/kg), a corticosteroid with predominantly mineralocorticoid activity, did not increase 3% NaCl consumption by the stock tested. In contrast, both fludrocortisone and DOCA have been shown to be effective activators of sodium appetite in rats.

Meningeal arterial patterns in great apes: implications for hominid vascular evolution.

Arterial meningeal patterns were observed for 100 hemispheres from great ape endocasts (Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, and Pongo pygmaeus). Eight patterns emerged based on the relative contributions to the walls and dura mater of the middle part of the braincase of meningeal arteries that stem from two sources. These arteries enter the braincase through either the orbit (delivering blood from the internal carotid artery) or through the base of the middle cranial fossa (via the middle meningeal artery whose blood comes from the external carotid artery).

The ontogeny of SCH 23390-induced catalepsy in male and female rats exposed to ethanol in utero.

The maturation of sensitivity to the cataleptic actions of selective D1 dopamine receptor blockade was assessed in rats exposed prenatally to ethanol. Pregnant rats received an average of 12.68 g/kg body weight of ethanol per day through a liquid diet.

Commissural size in neonatal rats: effects of sex and prenatal alcohol exposure.

Sex differences have been reported in the size of the adult corpus callosum in both humans and rodents. This experiment investigated whether sex and/or different prenatal treatment conditions would influence commissural size at birth. Male and female 3-day-old Long Evans rats were selected from one of three prenatal treatment histories: prenatal alcohol-exposed (35% ethanol-derived calories, 35% EDC), nutritional control (0% ethanol-derived calories, 0% EDC) or standard control (lab chow).

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters behavioral laterality of adult offspring in rats.

The effects of prenatal exposure to ethanol on side preference behavior were examined in adult Long Evans rats from three prenatal treatment groups: prenatal alcohol exposed (35% ethanol-derived calories, 35% EDC), nutritional control (0% ethanol-derived calories, 0% EDC) or standard control (lab chow, LC). Rats prenatally exposed to alcohol exhibited less side preference in a two-lever operant chamber while responding for food reward and alternated between the left and right levers more than either control group, which did not differ from each other. Although side preference increased over days of testing in the control groups, the 35% EDC subjects' side preference did not change with increased experience.

An electron nuclear double resonance investigation of redox-induced electronic structural change at CuA2+ in cytochrome c oxidase.

We measured an electronic change at cysteine ligand(s) of the CuA2+ center brought on by reduction of other metal centers within cytochrome c oxidase, notably cytochrome a. This change specifically manifested itself as a modification in magnetic hyperfine coupling to the beta-protons of the beta-carbons adjacent to the cysteine sulfur in the CuA2+ coordination sphere. The electron nuclear double resonance ENDOR signals of these beta-protons had previously been assigned through study of selectively deuterated yeast oxidase.

Structural conservation among three homologous introns of bacteriophage T4 and the group I introns of eukaryotes.

Three group I introns of bacteriophage T4 have been compared with respect to their sequence and structural properties. The introns include the td intervening sequence, as well as the two newly described introns in the nrdB and sunY genes of T4. The T4 introns are very closely related, containing phylogenetically conserved sequence elements that allow them to be folded into a core structure that is characteristic of eukaryotic group IA introns.

Evidence for a novel voltage-activated channel in the outer mitochondrial membrane.

Patch-clamp studies of the outer mitochondrial membrane indicate a voltage-dependent increase in conductance for potentials positive relative to the exterior of the mitochondrion. The time course of the conductance changes is consistent with an activation of channels. Voltage pulse experiments suggest that the activation phenomenon corresponds to assembly of the channels from subunits with disassembly occurring after recovery of the original conductance.

DNA hairpin structures in solution: 500-MHz two-dimensional 1H NMR studies on d(CGCCGCAGC) and d(CGCCGTAGC).

A hairpin structure contains two conformationally distinct domains: a double-helical stem with Watson-Crick base pairs and a single-stranded loop that connects the two arms of the stem. By extensive 1D and 2D 500-MHz 1H NMR studies in H2O and D2O, it has been demonstrated that the DNA oligomers d(CGCCGCAGC) and d(CGCCGTAGC) form hairpin structures under conditions of low concentration, 0.5 mM in DNA strand, and low salt (20 mM NaCl, pH 7).

DNA structure in which an adenine-cytosine mismatch pair forms an integral part of the double helix.

Extensive studies using one- and two-dimensional 1H NMR at 500 MHz revealed that the oligonucleotide d(CGCCGCAGC) in solution at 5 degrees C forms a double helix under conditions of high salt (500 mM in NaCl, 1 mM sodium phosphate), low pH (pH 4.5), and high DNA concentration (4 mM in duplex). The presence of very strong nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) from base H8/H6 to sugar H2',H2" and the absence of NOE from base H8/H6 to sugar H3' suggested that the oligomer under these solution conditions forms a right-handed B-DNA double helix.

Sequences required for transcriptional initiation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CYC7 genes.

A series of BAL 31 deletions were constructed in the upstream region of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CYC7 gene to determine sequences required for transcriptional initiation. These deletions identified the TATA box as an alternating A-T sequence at -160 and the initiation sequences as well as the spatial relationship between them. The TATA box was necessary for wild-type levels of expression of the CYC7 gene.

Prenatal alcohol exposure and thermotaxic behavior in neonatal rats.

The effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on thermotaxic behavior was investigated in 5-day-old rat pups. Pregnant dams were administered a liquid diet which contained 35% ethanol-derived calories (35% EDC) on days 6 to 20 of gestation. Two control groups were included: a liquid diet control which was pair-fed and had sucrose substituted for ethanol (0% EDC), and a group fed standard lab chow (LC) throughout pregnancy.

Prenatal alcohol exposure: recent work on behavioral dysfunctions in pre-weanling rats.

This article reviews recent data collected in our laboratory examining the behavioral effects of prenatal alcohol exposure in pre-weanling rats. The behavioral alterations which are discussed include suckling dysfunctions, overactivity, and early learning deficits. Similar behavioral dysfunctions have also been reported in children exposed to alcohol during prenatal development.

Movement of sea urchin sperm flagella.

The motion of the sea urchin sperm flagellum was analyzed from high-speed cinemicrographs. At all locations on the flagellum the transversal motion and the curvature were found to vary sinusoidally in time. The curvatures of the flagella increase strongly near the proximal junction.