Heterocyclic amines in some Swedish cooked foods industrially prepared or from fast food outlets and restaurants

Accurate assessment of human intake of mutagenic/carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HAs) is necessary for epidemiological studies and future risk assessment. Using questionnaires, the frequency of consumption of specific dishes can be obtained at an individual level and linked to analyzed concentrations of different compounds in corresponding dishes. Some typical Swedish cooked meat dishes, hamburgers and kebab, industrially prepared or from fast food outlets and restaurants, were analyzed regarding their content of 11 different HAs. The amount of each of these compounds was below 0.1 ng/g cooked weight in most of the industrially prepared products. The total amount of HAs was highest in the kebab samples. The intake of HAs from 200 g of the dishes was estimated to range from not detectable levels to 0.6 microg. The results of the present study indicate that the content of HAs in a specific dish may vary with origin, and that the concentrations of HAs in commercial fried meat products are generally low, although some of these food items may contain elevated amounts.     

Volume of resection in patients treated with breast conservation for ductal carcinoma in situ

The N-terminal domain (1-318 amino acids) of mouse NFkappaB (p65) has been purified to homogeneity from the soluble fraction of Escherichia coli cells expressing this protein. Its complex with a full-length ikappaB-alpha (MAD3, 1-317 amino acids) molecule was generated by binding the E. coli-derived ikappaB-alpha to the purified NFkappaB and purifying the complex by sequential chromatography. The stoichiometry of NFkappaB to ikappaB in the complex was determined to be 2 to 1 by light scattering and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The secondary structure of the NFkappaB (p65) determined by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is in good agreement with that of the p50 in the crystal structure of the p50/DNA complex, indicating that no significant structural change in NFkappaB occurs upon binding of DNA. The FTIR spectrum of the NFkappaB/ikappaB complex indicates that its secondary structure is composed of 17% alpha-helix, 39% beta-strand, 18% irregular structures, and 26% beta-turns and loops. By comparing these data to the FTIR data for NFkappaB alone, it is concluded that the ikappaB (MAD3) in the complex contains 35% alpha-helix, 27% beta-strand, 22% irregular structures, and 16% beta-turns and loops. Circular dichroism (CD) analysis of a shorter form of ikappaB (pp40) indicates that it contains at least 20% alpha-helix and that the ikappaB subunit accounts for nearly all of the alpha-helix present in the NFkappaB/ikappaB complex, consistent with the FTIR results. The stabilities of NFkappaB, ikappaB, and their complex against heat-induced denaturation were investigated by following changes in CD signal. The results indicate that the thermal stability of ikappaB is enhanced upon the formation of the NFkappaB/ikappaB complex.     

VanA-type vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) remain prevalent in poultry carcasses 3 years after avoparcin was banned

Avoparcin was used as a growth promoting feed additive in Norwegian broiler and turkey production from 1986 until it was banned in 1995, when an association between vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and avoparcin use became apparent. A recent study regarding faecal samples documented a continuing high prevalence of VRE among Norwegian poultry 3 years after avoparcin was banned. In the present study, carcasses of broilers and turkeys from farms where avoparcin had previously been in use and carcasses of layer chickens from farms where avoparcin had never been used were examined for the presence of VRE. One carcass from each of 150 different farms was included. By a direct plating method, VRE were isolated from 30 of 100 samples of broilers and turkeys, but not from any samples of layer chickens. When an enrichment step was included, VRE were isolated from a total of 81 of the 100 samples of broilers and turkeys and from nine of the 50 samples of layer chickens. All VRE isolated were highly resistant to vancomycin (MIC > or = 256 microg/ml) and possessed the vanA gene. These results correspond to the prevalence of VRE recently documented in faecal samples from Norwegian poultry. The present study reveals a high prevalence of VRE in broiler and turkey carcasses. Consequently, consumers are exposed to VRE when handling raw poultry meat, although the public health significance of such exposure is unclear.     

Radiation effects on lead silicate glass surfaces

Radiation-induced changes in the microstructure of lead silicate glass were investigated in situ under Mg K irradiation in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environment by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Lead-oxygen bond breaking resulting in the formation of pure lead was observed. The segregation, growth kinetics and the structural relaxation of the lead, with corresponding changes in the oxygen and silicon on the glass surfaces were studied by measuring the time-dependent changes in concentration, binding energy shifts, and the full width at half maximum. A bimodal distribution of the oxygen XPS signal, caused by bridging and non-bridging oxygens, was found during the relaxation process. All experimental data indicate a reduction of the oxygen concentration, a phase separation of the lead from the glass matrix, and the metallization of the lead occurred during and after the X-ray irradiation.     

Discriminating among educational majors and career aspirations in Taiwanese undergraduates: The contribution of personality and self-efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Big Five personality factors, measured by the NEO Personality Inventory Five-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and vocational confidence across Holland's hexagon, measured by the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI; Betz, Borgen, & Harmon, 2005), were useful in discriminating among educational majors and career aspirations for 312 Taiwanese university students. The Big Five and confidence, in combination, significantly differentiated among 4 college majors and 7 career aspirations in a Taiwanese university sample. Big Five Agreeableness and SCI Realistic, Investigative, and Conventional confidence emerged as most salient in the discrimination. Differences by sex, major, and career aspiration were mostly consistent with social cognitive career theory, Holland's theory, and prior U.S. research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are there necessary linkages between research practices and the philosophy of science?

Describes articles by D. E. Polkinghorne (see record 1985-07630-001), G. S. Howard (see record 1985-07626-001), and M. J. Patton (see record 1985-07629-001), as representing healthy trends in a liberalizing of approaches to counseling psychology research. All 3 share the implicit position that narrow positivist dogma can be transcended in practice to address core issues of the person as active agent. They suggest that successful research practice does not need a direct infrastructure from the philosophy of science. Eclectic, diverse ways of knowing may be most useful. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressed and inventoried interests revisited: Perspicacity in the person.

Studied the relative validities of expressed choice vs inventoried interests for predicting college major and career choice outcomes. A total of 795 male National Merit Scholars in 16 college major categories and 609 male Scholars in 10 career fields provided data before college and 3 yrs later. The total percentage of accurate expressed choice predictions was over 50% for both outcomes, while the SVIB Men's Form (SVIB-M) was accurate for 30.8% of all college major predictions and 40.2% of all career field forecasts. When expressed choice and the SVIB agreed in prediction of outcome, the hit rate rose to over 70%. However, when expressed choice and SVIB predictions were not the same for a given person, expressed choice was found to be 2–3 times more accurate than the SVIB-M. These results highlight the importance of expressed interests in predicting vocational behavior and suggest ways in which expressed and inventoried interests might best be used in counseling. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian counselling psychologists' contributions to applied psychology.

The goal of this paper is to draw attention to the contributions of Canadian counselling psychologists in three key areas central to the discipline: (a) multiculturalism, social justice, and advocacy; (b) health, wellness, and prevention, and (c) career psychology. Accordingly, we have situated our discussion within a historical framework of the discipline followed by a discussion of the Canadian context, definitions, and specific contributions. Finally, we offer a summary of the strengths and current challenges faced by Canadian counselling psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elevated levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in fish from Lake Mjøsa, Norway

Surprisingly high levels of PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in fish from Lake Mj?sa watercourse initialized a more detailed study of PBDE contamination in the Lake Mj?sa region as well as fish from other lakes in southeast Norway. With exception of the fish from Lake Mj?sa, the sum concentration of PBDEs in trout was, on a wet weight (ww) basis, in the range of 0.3-40 ng/g (21-1215 ng/g lipid weight (lw)) in fish fillet and 39-446 ng/g (125-915 ng/g lw) in burbot liver. The PBDE levels in fish from Lake Mj?sa, was found in the range of 72-1120 ng/g ww (2348-16,753 ng/g lw) in trout and 156-2265 ng/g ww (4201-45,144 ng/g lw) in burbot. It was later confirmed that the elevated levels in Lake Mj?sa were mainly caused by the release of PBDEs to the water from a textile manufacturer in the town of Lillehammer. In addition to PBDE levels in fish we also present information on the spatial distribution of PBDEs in air around the Mj?sa watercourse, based on the complementary use of passive air samples and analysis of moss, including data on measured air concentrations. The results confirm the presence of an active source of atmospheric PBDEs in the region of Lillehammer. Although this source appears to have a limited impact on atmospheric levels towards the southern reaches of the lake, it could still be a significant source of PBDEs to the lake as a whole. However, more research is needed to better understand and quantify the relative importance of various sources and pathways for which PBDEs enter Lake Mj?sa in order to support the development of future control strategies.