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Reports of increased numbers of IgE-containing plasma cells in rectal biopsy specimens from patients with ulcerative colitis and non-specific proctitis have not been confirmed by others. All of these studies used conventional anti-IgE sera in immunocytochemical techniques and it is possible that the discrepancies are due to a lack of specificity of some of these reagents. A monoclonal antibody specific for human IgE was applied in this study of 23 patients. Positively stained cells were rarely found in the biopsy specimens of both the disease and normal control groups.

Conducted a survey to determine how aware drinkers are of the situational determinants of alcohol (N = 64). Findings showed that social drinkers were well aware of the effects of different settings on the quantity consumed and the effects experienced. These findings suggest the need for caution in generalizing laboratory findings conducted under "non-natural" conditions to practical applications.

From a telephone survey of 1,673 Montreal women, all consenting psychotrope users and randomly selected controls (N = 179) then were interviewed in their homes as to psychotropic drug and alcohol use. The results presented are based on these in-depth interviews. In the first phase of the analysis, the respondents were grouped according to whether they abstained from both alcohol and psychotropes, used alcohol alone, psychotropes alone, or both. The variables that distinguished these groups were determined by use of one-way analysis of variance. Some of these factors included age, level of education, anxiety, nervous tension, depression, subjective ratings of health, and responses to emotional upset. The second series of results involved correlation procedures to determine the covariates of alcohol and psychotrope use. Most significant of these findings were that psychotrope use was associated with anxiety, depression, and nervous tension, while alcohol use was not. Further, unlike alcohol use, psychotrope use was associated with a variety of coping techniques for dealing with emotional upset. The findings were interpreted to mean that there are two distinct populations.

The object of regulatory toxicology is to determine "safe" levels of human exposure to toxicants present in the environment. The traditional safety factor approach is compared to more recent mathematical modeling techniques, outlining the underlying assumptions and statistical properties of each procedure. Several linear extrapolation procedures are examined in detail using computer simulation, along with the impact of nonlinear kinetics on the extrapolation process.

Forty-four volunteer male subjects participated in groups of four along with two experimental confederates in a group interaction after consuming either 1.32 mg/kg of 95% USP alcohol or placebo. According to a balanced-placebo design, subjects were told they were either consuming alcohol or placebo. The task of one confederate was to initiate conversation and distract subjects from monitoring their state of intoxication while the second confederate's role was to antagonize subjects at a prescribed time. Sessions were videotaped and rated for frequency of positive and negative interactions and subjects completed rating scales evaluating each other. The results failed to show an expectancy effect on any measures; however, there was an alcohol effect seen in an increase in negative interactions as well as positive interactions and a significant expectancy X alcohol interaction for negative ratings of the provocative confederate. In those groups where the manipulation matched the expectation, alcohol-told alcohol and placebo-told placebo the confederate was seen more negatively than in the mixed groups. An attributional explanation for the results is offered and the generality of the alcohol-expectancy phenomenon questioned.

For the past 13 years the Commonwealth Department of Health has operated a computerized monitoring system which records the movements throughout Australia of selected legal drugs with abuse potential. The Drugs of Dependence Monitoring System is designed to prevent diversion to the illicit market. From the moment of import or manufacture, every movement of the selected drug is monitored until the drug reaches the final distributor, in most cases a pharmacy, a veterinarian or a hospital. Approximately 300,000 movements are checked each year. All drugs used in Australia, which are covered by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances are included in the system. Reports are generated on quantities imported, exported, locally produced, used in manufacture and distributed. The result is that the risk of diversion has been reduced to a minimum. Information obtained from the system has proved of considerable assistance in fulfilling Australia's international treaty obligations.

The preformed (constitutive) enzyme profiles of 30 type strains and reference strains of gram-positive anaerobic cocci were determined with two commercial systems, RapID ANA and a prototype system from API. Both systems identified Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Ps. asaccharolyticus, Ps. indolicus, Ps. magnus and Ps. micros accurately, except for one strain of Ps. magnus misidentified as Ps. micros by the RapID ANA system. The indole-negative, butyrate-producing cocci (classified at present as Ps. prevotii and Ps. tetradius) produced several different, unique patterns with the prototype API system, but the results with RapID ANA were often misleading. Eight strains of Hare group cocci produced previously described profiles. Four strains of streptococci produced profiles easily distinguished from those of the gram-positive anaerobic cocci. We conclude that most gram-positive anaerobic cocci can be identified rapidly and reliably to the species level by their preformed enzyme profiles, providing that their underlying classification is sound. Problems were encountered with the butyrate-producing cocci, which appear to be a more heterogeneous group of organisms than is currently acknowledged; further taxonomic studies on these organisms are required.

Previous applications of carcinogenic risk assessment using mathematical models of carcinogenesis have focused largely on the case where the level of exposure remains constant over time. In many situations, however, the dose of the carcinogen varies with time. In this paper, we discuss both the classical Armitage-Doll multistage model and the Moolgavkar-Venzon-Knudson two-stage birth-death-mutation model with time-dependent dosing regimens. Bounds on the degree of underestimation of risk that can occur through the use of a simple time-weighted average dose are derived by means of comparison with an equivalent constant dose corresponding to the actual risk under the time-dependent dosing regimen.

The tissue distribution, metabolism and excretion of 14C-2,2',4,4',5-pentachlorodiphenyl ether (PCDE) were studied in the rat. Radioactivity was distributed in all tissues examined, with the highest concentrations being found in the fat followed by the skin, liver, kidney and muscle. Most of the radioactivity found in the tissues was due to unchanged PCDE. Decay of PCDE in the blood was fitted to a four-compartment pharmacokinetic model, and the last compartment had a half-life of 5.8 days. A total of 55% and 1.3% of an orally administered dose was excreted in feces and urine, respectively, in 7 days. More than 64% of the fecal radioactivity was due to unchanged PCDE, while hydroxylated PCDE accounted for 23%.

This field study is an investigation of the influence of dose, type of beverage, and the sex of the confederate on female verbal aggression. The results showed no consistent effects attributable to dose; drinking liquor resulted in less aggressive responses but only when subjects interacted with a female confederate. The results show that studies of alcohol and aggression that use only male subjects do not generalize to females in natural settings and suggest that nonpharmacological factors need more attention in this area.

Twice-daily captopril (25 mg) and placebo were compared in ten hypertensive patients who were already receiving bendrofluazide. After six weeks therapy, captopril produced significant antihypertensive effects one to six hours after dosing but these did not persist at eleven to twelve hours. Plasma renin concentration was increased for twelve hours after captopril but inhibition of angiotensin II activity was lost by twelve hours. During the period when captopril reduced blood pressure significantly, effective renal plasma flow and hepatic blood flow were unchanged although renal vascular resistance was reduced. There was no evidence that captopril altered plasma sodium, potassium or magnesium concentrations following bendrofluazide. Thus, in thiazide-treated patients, captopril 25 mg produces significant blood pressure reduction for at least six hours after dosing, without impairing renal or hepatic blood flow. However, twice-daily low-dose captopril does not adequately control blood pressure throughout the dosage interval.

The tissue distribution and excretion of three trichlorobenzene isomers (TCB) were investigated in the rat. Single doses of TCBs were administered orally to groups of 5 fasted rats at 10 mg/kg body weight. Serial sacrifices were carried out and the radioactivity contents were determined in tissues and blood. For all three TCB isomers, radioactivity appeared in the blood and tissues at 0.5 h, and peaked around 2-4 h after dosing. Fat, skin, and liver had high concentrations of the parent compound while kidney and muscle had high levels of metabolites. Elimination of TCB from tissues and blood can best be described by a two-compartmental open pharmacokinetic model. The terminal half-lives were 145, 93 and 68 h for 1,2,3-, 1,2,4 and 1,3,5-TCB isomer respectively. Ninety-five percent of the administered 1,2,3- and 89% of the 1,3,5-isomers were eliminated within 48 h in the urine and feces with the former being the major route.