Search

The application of criminal justice sanctions is often misguided by a failure to recognize the need for a comprehensive approach in the transformation of offenders into law-abiding citizens. Restorative justice is a growing movement within criminal justice that recognizes the disconnect between offender rehabilitative measures and the social dynamics within which offender reentry takes place. By using restorative approaches to justice, what one hopes of these alternative processes is that the offenders become reconnected to the community and its values, something rarely seen in retributive models in which punishment is imposed and offenders can often experience further alienation from society. In this study, the authors wish to examine factors that contribute to failed prisoner reentry and reintegration and explore how restorative reintegration processes can address these factors as well as the needs, attitudes, and perceptions that help construct and maintain many of the obstacles and barriers returning inmates face when attempting to reintegrate into society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Porphyromonas gingivalis has been shown to attack host defense systems through proteolytic cleavage of a wide variety of members of the systems. In this study, we examined the ability of P. gingivalis culture supernatant to alter the expression of human T cell surface proteins. As judged by flow cytometric analysis, detection of CD4 expression was completely eliminated by the supernatant, but CD8 was less sensitive. When the culture supernatant was added with reducing agents, proteolytic activity was enhanced, resulting in the cleavage of CD8. Mitogenic response of T cells to phytohemagglutinin or concanavatin A was decreased by the treatment of the cells with the culture supernatant of P. gingivalis. The three forms of gingipains (high molecular mass arginine-specific gingipain, arginine-specific gingipain 2 and lysine-specific gingipain) purified from the culture supernatant of P. gingivalis actively cleaved CD4 and CD8 on human T cells, indicating that proteolytic activity of the culture supernatant was due to gingipains. These results suggest that cysteine proteinases like gingipains released from P. gingivalis cleave T cell surface proteins and impede T cell function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have reported that a cell population obtained from fetal rat mandible with neutral protease (Pro I) has a unique differentiation sequence in which the elevation of alkaline phosphatase (ALPase), calcium accumulation, and collagen synthesis occurs simultaneously. In this report, we further characterized Pro I-released population of cells by studying the effect of dexamethasone (Dex) or beta-glycerophosphate (beta-GP) on the formation of bone nodules. The formation of bone nodules in Pro I-released population of cells (ProIRPC) was augmented by the addition of Dex (10(-7) M) from days 3 to 14, suggesting that Pro IRPC contained osteoprogenitor (OP) cells. A 24-hour pulse treatment of ProIRPC released population of cells with Dex on days 9 and 12 resulted in an increase in the number of nodules but treatment on days 3, 6, or 15 did not. The number of bone nodules formed in Pro IRPC pulse treated with Dex on day 9 was comparable with that in Pro IRPC treated with Dex from days 3 to 14. Dex caused an earlier elevation of ALPase, in which maximal expression was observed on day 10. beta-GP caused a prolonged elevation of ALPase, but did not affect the formation of bone nodules. Unlike Pro I-released population of cells, rat calvarial cells did not form mineralized nodules without beta-GP, and showed that a Dex-responsive period on bone nodule formation in rat calvarial cells was at preconfluency (days 0 and 1). Thus, it appeared that the Dex-induced differentiation of early OP cells in Pro IRPCs occurred during the limited period from day 9 to day 12. Pro IRPC was found to have an unique characteristic that bone nodule formation was not affected by beta-GP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) was studied immunohistochemically, using a specific monoclonal antibody, in surgically resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and noncancerous tissues from 47 patients (2 with well-differentiated HCC, 36 with moderately differentiated HCC, 8 with poorly differentiated HCC, and 1 with undifferentiated carcinoma). Cancer cells in 44 patients (93.6%) were positive for Mn-SOD. The staining pattern of cancer cells was mostly homogeneous in well-differentiated HCC, whereas it was heterogeneous in poorly differentiated HCC. Moreover, strongly positive immunoreactivity was observed in noncancerous liver tissues in all patients, especially in normal hepatocytes surrounding HCC, regenerative small hepatocytes in the tumor boundary, and mononuclear inflammatory cells in the necroinflammatory lesions. The positive immunoreactivity for Mn-SOD in patients with HCC appears to reflect increased production of the enzyme protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of mineralization in cells prepared either by neutral protease digestion (Pro I) or by collagenase digestion (fifth cycle, Col V) from fetal rat mandible was studied in vitro. Alkaline phosphatase (ALPase) activity of cells in Pro I was low on day 3, increased rapidly from day 8, and reached a maximum on day 16, whereas that in Col V was high on day 2, then declined and thereafter elevated to reach a maximum on day 13. Both cell populations synthesized type I collagen in cell matrix and medium. Type III collagen was observed in cell matrix of Pro I on day 14 and 21. There was alpha 2 band of type V collagen in cell matrix of Pro I on day 21. Calcium deposition could be detected from day 14 in Pro I and from day 19 in Col V. The von Kossa-positive nodules were found on day 17 in Pro I and day 21 in Col V, respectively. The extracellular matrix in Pro I electron-microscopically consisted of well-banded collagen fibrils with a large number of calcified spherules. An elevation of ALPase activity, collagen synthesis, and mineral deposition occurred sequentially with a time lapse in Col V, and almost simultaneously in Pro I. The number of mineralized nodules was correlated with the density of plated cells in Pro I, but not in Col V. Dexamethasone caused an increase in the number of mineralized nodules in Pro I, but not in Col V, suggesting that Pro I contained osteoprogenitor cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant regeneration was achieved through anther culture of three wild species of Hordeum (H. murinum, H. rnarinum and H. bulbosum). Calli or embryoids were formed from microspores in anthers cultured on a medium containing 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and ficoll. These calli or embryoids regenerated green or albino shoots and roots after transfer to regeneration media. Green plantlets which developed on regeneration media were transferred to soil where they showed further growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gelatin-starch syrup (food grade) microcapsulation was applied for toxicology studies of bromodichloromethane (BDCM). BDCM concentrations were stable for 120 days in the microcapsules and for 9 months when incorporated in the powder diet. BDCM concentration in the blood following the administration of microcapsules in olive oil suspension was retained at higher levels than when BDCM was administered as olive oil solution. Subsequently, the microcapsules were mixed in powder diet and were given at concentrations of microcapsulated BDCM of 0, 0.024, 0.072, and 0.215% to groups of 7 male Wistar rats for 1 month. For comparison, BDCM dissolved in olive oil was administered by gavage to groups of 7 male rats for 1 month at dosage levels adjusted to those in the feeding study (0, 20, 60, and 180 mg/kg body weight). Suppression of body weight gain was seen in the high-dosage groups in both the feeding and the gavage studies and was more severe in the former. Similar histopathologic lesions in the liver were shown in both studies, including vacuolization, swelling, and single necrosis of liver cells. Hepatic cord irregularity and bile duct proliferation were observed in the feeding study but not the gavage study. Serum biochemical changes, such as decreases in glucose, triglyceride, and cholinesterase levels, which reflected the histopathologic findings in the liver, were also observed in both studies. Accordingly, the microcapsulation process was proved to pose no qualitative toxic effects on toxicity of BDCM in short-term toxicity studies. It is concluded that the application of microcapsulation is useful for toxicity tests of volatile chemicals when incorporated into food. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Guinea-pig macrophages were pretreated with soluble immune complexes (1 hr, at 37°). By this procedure, the capacity of the cells to produce superoxide anions (O2-) upon stimulation with wheatgerm agglutinin (WGA) was inhibited by as much as 80% (desensitization). However, the receptors for WGA were still available on the cell surfaces as determined by the binding of 125I-labelled WGA to both the pretreated and control cells. This inhibition of O2- generation was also observed when opsonized zymosan (Op-zymosan) was used as the stimulus for O2- generation. In contrast, the inhibition by soluble immune complexes was less than 25% of the control levels when the desensitized cells were stimulated with N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl- L-phenylalanine (fMLP) or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). The same procedure was also used to desensitize guinea-pig polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMA). In this case, the O2- generation of the PMN was suppressed to 50-55% of the control level when WGA or fMLP was used as stimulus. However, the PMA- induced O2- generation was far less affected by this treatment, as was the case with the macrophages. The activity of the densensitized macrophages for O2- generation recovered gradually to a normal level 24 hr after removal of the immune complexes from the medium. These results suggest that (i) some regulatory mechanisms which suppress the activation of NADPH oxidase are accentuated by prolonged exposure of guinea-pig macrophages and PMN with soluble immune complexes; (ii) the mechanism for O2- generation mediated by WGA or Op-zymosan may be different from that for O2- generation mediated by PMA, and (iii) the mechanism for Or generation mediated by fMLP differs between macrophages and PMN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferative response of guinea-pig thymocytes to co-mitogenic stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin and the guinea-pig interleukin I (IL-I )-like lymphocyte-activating monokine was lost by removing the cells that adhere to a Sephadex G-10 (G-10) column or the cells of low density in a Ficoll-Conray gradient. The diminished response in the G-10 non-adherent thymocyte or high-density thymocyte fraction was restored by the addition of a macrophage depleted G-10) adherent thymocyte fraction or a low-density. Ia-positive thymocyte fraction but not by the addition of peritoneal macrophages. These results suggest that the accessory cells which mediate the Increased responsiveness of thymocytes to the IL-1-like monokine existed in G-10 adherent cell fractions and the cells with this accessory function were not macrophages. The accessory cells were shown to be of low density, glass-non-adherent, G-l0-adherent, Fc receptor-negative, and Ia-positive. These results also suggest that the G-10-non-adherent and high-density thymocyte subpopulation, which is unresponsive or responds very little to the IL-1-like monokine by itself, acquires responsiveness to the monokine and proliferates by stimulation with the IL-1-like monokine and lectin in the presence of the accessory cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]