Parameters of teenage alcohol use: A path analytic conceptual model.

Alcohol use and abuse among adolescents is a serious and complex social problem. Previous research in this area has usually consisted of correlational studies that identified individual factors predictive of teenage drinking. Such simple analytic methods, however, did not allow investigation of interrelations among those parameters that may affect adolescent alcohol use. Also, the lack of comprehensive theoretical models of teenage drinking has handicapped the development of effective intervention strategies. In this study, a large sample of high school students was surveyed to evaluate a theoretical model of teenage drinking with latent-variable path analysis. The results suggested may intricate direct and indirect relations among several classes of variables that powerfully predicted teenage drinking. Implications of these results for future research and for treatment and prevention of teenage alcohol abuse are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dose Imaging Detectors for Radiotherapy Based on Gas Electron Multipliers

New techniques in charged particle therapy and widespread use of modern dynamic beam delivery systems demand new beam monitoring devices as well as accurate 2D dosimetry systems to verify the delivered dose distribution. We are developing dose imaging detectors based on gas electron multipliers (GEM) with the goal of improving dose measurement linearity, position and timing resolution, and to ultimately allow pre-treatment verification of dose distributions and dose delivery monitoring employing scanning beam technology. A prototype 10×10 cm(2) double-GEM detector has been tested in the 205 MeV proton beam using electronic and optical readout modes. Preliminary results with electronic cross-strip readout demonstrate fast response and single-pixel (4 mm) position resolution. In optical readout mode, the line spread function of the detector was found to have σ=0.7 mm. In both readout modes, the detector response was linear up to dose rates of 50 Gy/min, with adequate representation of the Bragg peak in depth-dose profile measurements.     

Timecourse of development of the wallaby trigeminal pathway. I. Periphery to brainstem

The development of the vibrissae and their innervation and the maturation of the brainstem trigeminal sensory nuclei have been studied in the wallaby, Macropus eugenii, from birth to adulthood. At birth, developing vibrissal follicles consist of solid epidermal pegs surrounded by dermal condensations. The developing follicles and adjacent skin are innervated by trigeminal afferents. Ten days after birth the follicle contains a dermal papilla and the deep vibrissal nerve can be recognised. A hair cone is present at postnatal day (P) 30 and hairs are apparent on the skin surface by P35. By P63 the deep vibrissal nerve can be seen innervating Merkel cells in the outer root sheath; in addition, the first signs of the blood sinus can be recognised. Innervation of the inner conical body and lanceolate and lamellated receptors supplying the mesenchymal sheath and waist region are not seen until P119, when the follicle resembles that seen in the adult. At birth, central processes of the trigeminal ganglion cells have entered the trigeminal tract and extend from the rostral pons to the upper cervical cord. Labelling with a carbocyanine dye at P0 shows afferents extending medially from the tract into the trigeminal subnuclei at all levels. At this stage the trigeminal nuclei appear as areas of increased cell density in the lateral brainstem. By P30-40 the four subnuclei can be distinguished on the basis of shape, cytoarchitecture, and succinic dehydrogenase reactivity. Adult morphology is not fully established until P210. In mature animals, nucleus principalis contains closely packed, polymorphic cells, frequently aligned parallel to thick fibre bundles that traverse the nucleus obliquely. Subnuclei oralis and interpolaris contain sparsely distributed, medium to large cells, randomly oriented, as well as prominent rostrocaudally directed fibre bundles. Subnucleus caudalis consists of the marginal layer, substantia gelatinosa, and magnocellular layers as described in other species. Patches of increased succinic dehydrogenase or cytochrome oxidase reactivity, presumably corresponding to the vibrissae, are present in subnuclei principalis, interpolaris, and caudalis in developing and adult animals, although the pattern is less clear than in rats. The brainstem patches are first seen at P40, approximately 6 weeks before the corresponding vibrissal-related pattern develops in the cortex. This suggests that the onset of patch formation may be regulated independently at different levels of the pathway.     

The interaction of alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis C

The following article reviews available data of the interaction of alcohol related liver disease and hepatitis C viral infection as well as special considerations for the treatment of these patients. Alcohol worsens the degree and accelerates the progression of hepatic injury, enhances the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma and decreases response to interferon therapy. Patients with hepatitis C should avoid alcohol ingestion.     

Cell activation mediated by glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored or transmembrane forms of CD14

CD14 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored membrane glycoprotein which functions as a receptor on myeloid cells for ligands derived from microbial pathogens such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We have studied the importance of the GPI tail of CD14 in signalling with the promonocytic cell line THP-1 expressing recombinant CD14 in a GPI-anchored form (THP1-wtCD14 cells) or in a transmembrane form (THP1-tmCD14). We found that, like other GPI-anchored molecules, GPI-anchored CD14 was recovered mainly from a Triton X-100-insoluble fraction, whereas transmembrane CD14 was fully soluble in Triton X-100. LPS induced cell activation of THP1-wtCD14 and of THP1-tmCD14 (protein tyrosine kinase phosphorylation, NF-kappaB activation, and cytokine production) in a very similar manner. However, anti-CD14 antibody-induced cross-linking caused a rapid calcium mobilization signal only in GPI-anchored CD14 cells. Studies with pharmacologic inhibitors of intracellular signalling events implicate phospholipase C and protein tyrosine kinases in the genesis of this antibody-induced calcium signal. Our results suggest that GPI anchoring and CD14 targeting to glycolipid-rich membrane microdomains are not required for LPS-mediated myeloid cell activation. GPI anchoring may however be important for other signalling functions, such as those events reflected by antibody cross-linking.