Prevalence of teaching apical patency and various instrumentation and obturation techniques in United States dental schools

Maintaining an open apex beyond the apical constriction with an endodontic file during canal instrumentation is a concept that has been advocated by several authors and clinicians. To ascertain the prevalence of teaching the patency concept as well as various instrumentation and obturation techniques in the United States dental schools, a survey was conducted. Forty-eight out of a total of 53 dental schools (91%) responded to the survey. Results indicate that 50% of the schools surveyed teach the concept of patency to their undergraduates or graduates or both; 83% teach a step-back instrumentation technique; and 89.6% teach lateral condensation of gutta percha as their primary obturation technique.     

Bioactivation of the proximal food mutagen 2-hydroxyamino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (N-OH-PhIP) to DNA-binding species by human mammary gland enzymes

We have investigated phase II activation of the food-derived mutagen 2-hydroxyamino-1-methyl-6-phenyl[4,5-b]pyridine (N-OH-PhIP) by cytosolic acetyltransferase, sulfotransferase, and tRNA synthetase/kinase enzymes from human breast tissue. Cytosol from homogenates of mammary gland tissue obtained from breast-reduction surgery or mastectomy was incubated with and without enzyme-specific cofactors, and mutagen binding of calf thymus DNA was quantified by 32P-postlabeling. In addition, microsomal fractions of mammary epithelial cells from some individuals were examined for prostaglandin H synthetase activation of N-OH-PhIP. Our results show that all four enzymes can participate in activating N-OH-PhIP, thus inducing PhIP-DNA adduct formation in human mammary cells. However, not all individuals exhibited all these activities; instead each individual showed a combination of one or more activation pathways. The present findings demonstrate that the human mammary gland has the capacity to metabolically activate a dietary mutagen by several enzyme systems, including acetyltransferase, sulfotransferase, tRNA synthetase/kinase, and prostaglandin hydroperoxidase catalysis.     

Identification, characterization, and In situ detection of a fruit-body-specific hydrophobin of Pleurotus ostreatus

Hydrophobins are small (length, about 100 +/- 25 amino acids), cysteine-rich, hydrophobic proteins that are present in large amounts in fungal cell walls, where they form part of the outermost layer (rodlet layer); sometimes, they can also be secreted into the medium. Different hydrophobins are associated with different developmental stages of a fungus, and their biological functions include protection of the hyphae against desiccation and attack by either bacterial or fungal parasites, hyphal adherence, and the lowering of surface tension of the culture medium to permit aerial growth of the hyphae. We identified and isolated a hydrophobin (fruit body hydrophobin 1 [Fbh1]) present in fruit bodies but absent in both monokaryotic and dikaryotic mycelia of the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. In order to study the temporal and spatial expression of the fbh1 gene, we determined the N-terminal amino acid sequence of Fbh1. We also synthesized and cloned the double-stranded cDNA corresponding to the full-length mRNA of Fbh1 to use it as a probe in both Northern blot and in situ hybridization experiments. Fbh1 mRNA is detectable in specific parts of the fruit body, and it is absent in other developmental stages.     

Violence against women: the physician''s role

We have measured by indirect ELISA the binding of neutralizing and non-neutralizing anti-lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to synthetic peptides representing unmodified hydrophilic segments of LDV proteins. Using this method a single neutralization epitope has been shown to be located in the very short (about 30 amino acid long) ectodomain of the primary envelope glycoprotein, VP-3P, encoded by ORF 5. Although the neutralization epitopes of neuropathogenic and non-neuropathogenic LDVs differ slightly in amino acid sequences, the neutralizing antibodies bind strongly to the epitopes of both groups of viruses. However, the neutralization epitopes of neuropathogenic and non-neuropathogenic LDVs are associated with different numbers of polylactosaminoglycan chains (1 and 3, respectively) which may affect the binding of neutralizing antibodies to the virions of these LDVs. The ELISA using synthetic peptides containing the neutralization epitope provides a novel, rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive method for quantitating LDV neutralizing antibodies in infected mice.     

Etomidate in urological outpatient anaesthesia. A clinical evaluation

Induction of anaesthesia with the new short acting agent etomidate has been studied in 200 patients undergoing urological outpatient procedures. These patients exhibited a similar pattern of recovery to those receiving 7 mg/kg propanidid but had greater cardiac and respiratory stability. However, there was a 25% incidence of pain which was reduced to 13-9% by increasing the rate of injection from 30 to 15 seconds. The incidence of involuntary movements was 29-7% which was reduced to 15% by the faster rate of injection. The omission of atropine premedication did not affect cardiac stability. Etomidate appears to have many desirable features as an induction agent except for a high incidence of pain on injection which is reduced by rapid injection.     

Observations on the efficacy and pharmacokinetics of sotalol after oral administration

The effects of sotalol after oral administration were measured on the tachycardia induced by strenuous exercise in normal subjects. Plasma sotalol levels were also determined. The oral administration of sotalol (50, 100, 200 and 400 mg) to 6 subjects produced a progressive reduction in the tachycardia induced by severe exercise. This was similar to the effects of 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg given to different subjects. Each increase in sotalol dose produced a successively greater reduction in exercise tachycardia. This did not appear to be maximum even with 800 mg. Oral sotalol was rapidly absorbed and produced peak blood levels in 2 - 3 hours. The plasma levels of sotalol measured 2 hours after the oral administration of 25 to 800 mg showed never more than a six-fold variation between different subject. The half-life of sotalol in plasma was 12.7 +/- SE 1.6 hours. There was a significant correlation between the logarithm of the plasma sotalol concentration and the percentage reduction of exercise heart rate. It is concluded that the oral administration of sotalol either once or twice daily (depending on dose level) will provide satisfactory 24-hour blockade of beta-adrenoceptors.