The translation initiation factor DAP5 promotes IRES-driven translation of p53 mRNA.

Translational regulation of the p53 mRNA can determine the ratio between p53 and its N-terminal truncated isoforms and therefore has a significant role in determining p53-regulated signaling pathways. Although its importance in cell fate decisions has been demonstrated repeatedly, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms that determine this ratio. Two internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) residing within the 5'UTR and the coding sequence of p53 mRNA drive the translation of full-length p53 and Δ40p53 isoform, respectively. Here, we report that DAP5, a translation initiation factor shown to positively regulate the translation of various IRES containing mRNAs, promotes IRES-driven translation of p53 mRNA. Upon DAP5 depletion, p53 and Δ40p53 protein levels were decreased, with a greater effect on the N-terminal truncated isoform. Functional analysis using bicistronic vectors driving the expression of a reporter gene from each of these two IRESs indicated that DAP5 preferentially promotes translation from the second IRES residing in the coding sequence. Furthermore, p53 mRNA expressed from a plasmid carrying this second IRES was selectively shifted to lighter polysomes upon DAP5 knockdown. Consequently, Δ40p53 protein levels and the subsequent transcriptional activation of the 14-3-3σ gene, a known target of Δ40p53, were strongly reduced. In addition, we show here that DAP5 interacts with p53 IRES elements in in vitro and in vivo binding studies, proving for the first time that DAP5 directly binds a target mRNA. Thus, through its ability to regulate IRES-dependent translation of the p53 mRNA, DAP5 may control the ratio between different p53 isoforms encoded by a single mRNA.

A survey of primary care physicians' perceptions of their patients' use of complementary medicine.

PURPOSE: To study the perceptions and attitudes of primary care physicians concerning their patients' use of complementary medicine. METHODS: A questionnaire was distributed to all 165 primary care physicians attending a routine continuing-medicine education program. Items included physicians' estimated rates of patient utilization of complementary medicine or herbal remedies and of patient reportage of such use; physicians' knowledge about side effects and interactions of herbal remedies; and frequency with which physicians questioned their patients on the use of complementary medicine and herbal remedies. RESULTS: The compliance rate was 90.0% (n=150). Sixty-eight percent of physicians estimated that up to 15% of their patients use complementary medicine; 58% always or often asked their patients about it; 50% estimated that 10% of patients report use of complementary medicine, and 60% estimated the same rate for herbal remedies; 51% believed that herbal remedies have no or only mild side effects; more than 70% claimed that they had little or no knowledge about what herbal remedies are; 24% never referred patients for complementary medicine, and 69% did so occasionally. Twenty-five percent had some training in complementary medicine, and 31% practiced some kind of complementary medicine. Most of the physicians believed that people turn to alternative methods when they are dissatisfied with conventional medicine. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians underestimate the rate of complementary medicine use by patients, suggesting that many patients do not report such use to their physician. Since alternative treatments are potentially harmful and may interact with conventional medications, physicians should be encouraged to communicate with patients about complementary medicine in general and herbal remedies in particular, and they should regularly include questions about their use when taking histories. They should also inform themselves about risks of alternative treatments particularly with herbal remedies, and have access to appropriate information systems.

The role of attribution of motivation in producing postsuppressional rebound.

Three studies demonstrated that postsuppressional rebound (PSR) may be both reduced and enhanced by manipulating people's attributions about why they experience difficulty during suppression. Telling participants that suppression failures indicate a high motivation to use the suppressed construct produced more PSR than telling them that suppression failures indicate a low motivation to use the construct (Study 1). Telling participants that an external stimulus would make suppression easy produced more PSR than telling them that it would make suppression difficult (Study 2). Telling participants that suppressing a stereotype is difficult and unindicative of prejudice eliminated PSR (Study 3). These results support the notion that PSR occurs because people infer from the difficulty experienced during suppression and from suppression failures that they are motivated to use the suppressed construct.

Abstract and concrete self-evaluative goals.

Assuming that people often hold the abstract goal of acquiring accurate feedback but recognize that acquiring favorable feedback can make the self-evaluative process more comfortable, the authors posited that low-level construals (of how action is performed) would elicit greater self-enhancement motivation than would high-level construals (of why action is performed). Individuals chronically using low-level construals had greater interest in downward social comparison (DSC) and less interest in negative feedback (NF; Studies 1 and 3). Decreases in temporal distance (which foster low-level construals) also elicited greater interest in DSC and less interest in NF (Studies 2 and 4). The latter effect was explained by participants' aversion to inconvenience (Study 5) and not by approach-avoidance conflict (Study 6). These results suggest that the level of abstraction at which people construe self-evaluative situations can influence their feedback preferences.

Promotion and prevention focus on alternative hypotheses: implications for attributional functions.

Five studies examined hypothesis generation and discounting in causal attribution from the perspective of regulatory focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 1998). According to this theory, a promotion focus is associated with generating more and simultaneously endorsing multiple hypotheses, whereas a prevention focus is associated with generating only a few hypotheses and selecting 1 hypothesis from a given set. Five studies confirmed these predictions for both situationally induced and chronic individual differences in regulatory focus. In Studies 1, 2, and 3, individuals in a promotion focus generated more hypotheses than individuals in a prevention focus. In Studies 4 and 5, individuals in a promotion focus discounted explanations in light of alternatives less than individuals in a prevention focus. Study 5 also found that in a promotion focus, person explanations were generalized across situations less than in a prevention focus.

Expression after suppression: a motivational explanation of postsuppressional rebound.

Five studies examined the effect of expressing a construct after suppressing it on subsequent accessibility. Suppression of color terms (Studies 1, 2, and 5) and of stereotypes (Studies 3 and 4) were examined. Both expression alone and suppression alone enhanced the construct's accessibility relative to the no-suppression/no-expression condition, demonstrating activation by recent construct use and postsuppressional rebound, respectively. However, introducing expression after suppression reduced accessibility relative to both the suppression alone and the expression alone conditions. These results are explained within a motivational theory of rebound, according to which suppressing a construct induces a need to use it, and subsequent expression satisfies this need, thereby instigating an inhibition of the accessibility of need-related constructs.

Temporal construal and time-dependent changes in preference.

Five studies tested the predictions of temporal construal theory and time-discounting theories regarding evaluation of near future and distant future options (outcomes, activities, products). The options had abstract or goal-relevant features (called high-level construal features) as well as more concrete or goal-irrelevant features (called low-level construal features). The studies varied the valence (positive vs. negative) and the type of valence (affective vs. cognitive) of the low-level and high-level construal features. The results show that the weight of high-level construal features, compared with the weight of low-level construal features, is greater in determining distant future preferences than near future preferences. The implications of the results for extant theories of time-dependent changes in preference are discussed.

Promotion and prevention choices between stability and change.

Two situations involving choice between stability and change were examined: task substitution, which deals with choosing between resuming an interrupted activity and doing a substitute activity, and endowment, which deals with choosing between a possessed object and an alternative object. Regulatory focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 1998) predicts that a promotion focus will be associated with openness to change, whereas a prevention focus will be associated with a preference for stability. Five studies confirmed this prediction with both situational induction of and chronic personality differences in regulatory focus. In Studies 1 and 2, individuals in a prevention focus were more inclined than individuals in a promotion focus to resume an interrupted task rather than do a substitute task. In Studies 3-5, individuals in a prevention focus, but not individuals in a promotion focus, exhibited a reluctance to exchange currently possessed objects (i.e., endowment) or previously possessed objects.

Bilateral dislocation of the hip during convulsions: a case report.

Simultaneous bilateral posterior dislocation of the hip is very uncommon and most cases are caused by road accidents. Simultaneous bilateral posterior dislocation of the hip due to convulsions is extremely rare. We report the case of a man who was diagnosed late and operated on 15 weeks after the injury. We discuss the treatment of chronic dislocation of the hip and review the literature.

Avulsion fracture of the medial epicondyle caused by arm wrestling.

Fractures occurring in teenagers during arm wrestling usually involve the distal humerus and appear as a fracture of the medial epicondyle. We studied eight male patients, aged 13 to 15 years, with such fractures. All fractures involved the right hand and occurred while the patients were in the final stages of winning a match in a formal competition. Three fractures occurred during an official competition and the other five occurred during a match between friends. One patient suffered from ulnar nerve paresis that eventually recovered spontaneously. All of the patients were immobilized for 10 to 21 days, and progressed gradually to motion of the elbow. At 1-year followup, clinical and functional results were satisfying. Therefore, we recommend conservative management for fractures of the medial epicondyle sustained during arm wrestling.

Sleeping under the threat of the Scud: war-related environmental insomnia.

The influence of the Scud missile attacks during the Persian Gulf war on the sleep of the Israeli population is described. Our study group comprised a random sample of 200 people (mean age 41.13 +/- 15.32) who were contacted by telephone during the third week of the war and interviewed about their sleep. Overall, 28% of the entire sample complained about sleep: 10% complained about mid-sleep awakenings, 4.5% on difficulties falling asleep, and 13.5% about the combination of the two. People living in the Tel Aviv and Haifa areas complained significantly more than those in the rest of the country. Women complained significantly more than men, and people with lower education complained significantly more than people with higher education. Only 3% of the sample reported using sleeping pills. During the war actigraphic sleep recordings in 19 adults living in the Tel Aviv and Haifa areas did not reveal any measurable decrease in sleep quality in comparison with pre-war recordings. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between the subjective and objective assessments are discussed.

Anxiety-related somatic reactions during missile attacks.

During the Persian Gulf war the Israeli civilian population was the target of missile attacks that could have carried poison gas warheads. During the attacks all civilians were ordered to wear gas masks and move into sealed rooms. Four telephone surveys studied the somatic reactions to this anxiety-arousing situation. The percent of subjects reporting the somatic reactions declined from 38% after the first attack to 20% 12 days later. Somatic reactions were more prevalent among females than males, and among those who completed elementary school only compared to those with an academic education. A complex pattern of relationships between expectancies about chemical warfare attacks and somatic reactions is discussed.

Jaccoud's-type arthropathy: an association with sarcoidosis.

We describe a patient with sarcoidosis involving the lungs, muscles and tendons of the forearms who developed Jaccoud's-type arthropathy of the hands. This is the first reported case to the best of our knowledge of sarcoidosis associated with this type of arthropathy.

Fixation of capitellar fractures with the Herbert screw.

Five fractures of the capitellum were fixed with a Herbert screw. Three patients had a type 1 fracture and two patients had a type 2 fracture. In four patients the fragment was fixed by insertion of the screw from the lateral epicondyle towards the joint line, with good clinical and radiological results. In one patient the fragment was fixed from the joint line. The fragment underwent avascular necrosis with poor clinical result.