Generation of LexA enhancer-trap lines in Drosophila by an international scholastic network

Conditional gene regulation in Drosophila through binary expression systems like the LexA-LexAop system provides a superb tool for investigating gene and tissue function. To increase the availability of defined LexA enhancer trap insertions, we present molecular, genetic, and tissue expression studies of 301 novel Stan-X LexA enhancer traps derived from mobilization of the index SX4 line. This includes insertions into distinct loci on the X, II, and III chromosomes that were not previously associated with enhancer traps or targeted LexA constructs, an insertion into ptc, and seventeen insertions into natural transposons. A subset of enhancer traps was expressed in CNS neurons known to produce and secrete insulin, an essential regulator of growth, development, and metabolism. Fly lines described here were generated and characterized through studies by students and teachers in an international network of genetics classes at public, independent high schools, and universities serving a diversity of students, including those underrepresented in science. Thus, a unique partnership between secondary schools and university-based programs has produced and characterized novel resources in Drosophila, establishing instructional paradigms devoted to unscripted experimental science.

Bedside safety rails: assessment of strength requirements and the appropriateness of current designs

Bedside safety rails are used extensively throughout hospitals and residential care environments as a safety device to protect people against the risk of falling out of bed. However, several adverse incidents involving body entrapment have been linked to their use, which have resulted in serious injury to the bed occupants and, in more extreme cases, fatalities. Internationally agreed standards (i.e. European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) standards) for the design and testing of bed rails have recently been developed and are targeted at improved safety requirements (European Committee for Standardisation 19972000). The purpose of the present study was to: 1) determine whether the CEN test procedure for assessing bed rail strength and rigidity requirements is consistent with human force exertions to which bed rails may be exposed; 2) carry out loading tests on bed rails currently in use throughout the UK to determine whether they comply with the current safety recommendations proposed by the CEN standards.A laboratory study was conducted to determine the force exertions of 20 participants performing seven tasks (including activities of both bed occupants and care providers), which were considered representative of the forces to which bed rails could be exposed during normal use. Forces exerted by participants were measured using a force platform and distortions of the bed rails leading to potential entrapment zones were measured using linear displacement transducers. Static load tests were then conducted, in which incremental point loading was applied at the most adverse points on each of nine different bed rails (commonly used in UK nursing and residential care homes) in accordance with the test procedure detailed in the current CEN standards. Maximum static forces exerted by participants were found to range between 250 N and 350 N, which were within the 500 N force tolerance requirements set by the standards. Dynamic tasks involving 'rolling aggressively' against the bed rail produced the highest peak force of 722 N. None of the bed rails included in this study met the requirements of the CEN test procedures, principally due to horizontal lateral displacements being in excess of 50 mm for a 500 N applied force and/or the bed rails' inability to withstand inward horizontal forces of 500 N. Bed rails used with divan beds were often unable to withstand forces greater than 300 N due to turning moments exceeding the bed rail's restraining mechanism. Current CEN standards for assessing the strength and rigidity of bedside safety rails appear to be consistent with the human forces that might arise as a consequence of the normal movement and activities of a bed occupant or care provider. Although compliance with existing standards is not compulsory, findings from the tests carried out on the selection of bed rails in current use throughout the UK highlight the need for improvements in the design and manufacture of bed rails.

The incidence of other primary tumours in patients with oral cancer in Scotland

OBJECTIVE

To find out the incidence of second or multiple primary malignant tumours in patients with oral cancer in Scotland and identify the sites at most risk.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study of data from the Cancer Registry.

SUBJECTS

1891 patients registered with oral cancer in Scotland between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1986.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Relative risks of subsequent cancers in patients with oral cancer. Identification of the sites at most risk of second cancers.

RESULTS

Of the 1891 patients, 228 (12%) developed a second primary cancer. The mean follow-up period was 3.2 years. Fourteen patients had 3, and 2 patients had 4 primary cancers. The overall risk of second primary cancers was 2.03 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.77 to 2.39) times greater than expected in the general population. The relative risk for male patients was 1.95 (95% CI 1.65 to 2.24) and for female patients 2.29 (95% CI 1.7 to 2.9).

CONCLUSIONS

Men with cancer of the lip in Scotland have an increased risk of developing second cancers of the lip and skin (excluding melanoma), whilst women with cancer of the lip have an increased risk of developing skin cancer only. Both men and women with intra-oral cancers have increased risks of developing second cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, and trachea, bronchus, and lung, while men alone have an increased risk of developing second cancers in the oesophagus.

A controlled trial of misonidazole in the curative treatment of infiltrating bladder cancer

Between 1980 and 1983 a total of 89 patients with infiltrating transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder were entered in a multi centre randomised controlled clinical trial with either misonidazole or placebo added to the first 40.00 Gy of radiotherapy. Depending on their referring clinican, patients then completed treatment with either further radiotherapy to a radical dose, or surgery four weeks later. All patients have been followed up for a minimum of three years, and no significant difference has been found in local control, survival, or pathological downstaging of the tumour. The neurotoxicity was considerable, with 43% of patients receiving misonidazole developing a peripheral neuropathy, starting five weeks on average after beginning treatment, and with a mean duration of 27 months. Eighty per cent of patients affected still had peripheral neuropathy at three years or their prior death. There is a suggestion that alcohol may predispose to the neuropathy. This study failed to show any benefit of misonidazole in tumour control and produced unacceptably high levels of toxicity.