Psychosocial factors in sunbathing and sunscreen use.

Interviewed 120 sunbathing and nonsunbathing beachgoers about their health practices, knowledge about skin cancer, moods, and social rewards obtained through sunbathing. Ss also completed personality questionnaires. Data were considered using a theoretical perspective combining aspects of health belief, social influence, social learning, and risk-taking models. Results indicate that sunbathing was related to having a positive attitude toward risk taking, having little knowledge about skin cancer, reporting a relaxed mood, having friends who sunbathe, and engaging in activities related to maintaining a positive physical appearance. Sunscreen use was related to sex, having knowledge about skin cancer, knowing people who have had cancer, and reporting high levels of anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture of first-trimester and full-term human chorionic villus explants: role of human chorionic gonadotropin and human placental lactogen as a viability index

In long-term cultures of human chorionic villus explants, the viability of the tissue must be controlled to ensure the reliability of functional studies. Ionic levels (pH), gas concentrations (pO2, pCO2) and metabolic markers (glucose, lactate) in the culture medium are often utilized. Analyses of hormone, enzyme and protein levels are also frequently used to estimate viability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether in vitro release and immunoreactivity of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and human placental lactogen (hPL) were correlated with the viability of first-trimester and full-term chorionic villus explants as determined by histopathology. Villus explants of first-trimester and full-term pregnancies were incubated in 6-well plates of RPMI medium which was supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. Incubations were performed for 10 days, and the plates were kept at 37 degrees C under a water-saturated atmosphere containing 5% CO2 and 95% O2. The medium was replaced every day and samples of supernatant were frozen for later testing of hCG (first trimester) or hPL (full term), glucose consumption and lactate production. The tissue was also fixed and embedded for light-microscopic examination and immunocytochemistry. The hCG release remained stable during 6-7 days at a high level before decreasing, whereas hPL release decreased during the first 5-6 days then stabilized at a relatively low level. Only hCG kinetics were significantly different between tissue incubated with and without cycloheximide or iodoacetic acid. Both hCG and hPL immunoreactivity were not significantly different between tissue cultures with, and without, addition of cycloheximide or iodoacetic acid and even with morphological evidence of trophoblast and endothelial necrosis. The immunoreactivity for both hormones remains highly positive when the significant release has stopped, and does not reflect the tissue viability.