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J A Wiggins

Publications and source records attributed to J A Wiggins.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Specification of the association between sociability and drinking level among college students.

A substantial literature on the association between sociability and drinking level exists, but it has produced inconsistent and unremarkable results. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence for the multidimensionality of sociability and to test the hypothesis that the various dimensions are differentially related to drinking level. Measures of six dimensions of sociability were derived from the items of existing measures of sociability and were correlated with the drinking levels of college students, both male and female. Although some weak associations were found, none of the six dimensions of sociability examined had better explanatory power than more traditional measures of sociability.

Achievement↗

Photometric assays for FcRI-dependent binding, phagocytosis, and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity mediated by monomeric IgG gamma 2a in murine peritoneal macrophages.

Mouse peritoneal macrophages possess distinct Fc receptors (FcR) for binding the various murine IgG isotypes. FcRI binds monomeric IgG gamma 2a, but not monomeric IgG gamma 2b or IgG gamma 1 with high affinity at 4 degrees C and is sensitive to trypsin degradation. We have assessed the functional consequences of the cytophilic binding at 4 degrees C of monomeric IgG gamma 2a to FcRI of mouse peritoneal macrophages using newly developed photometric microassays for quantification of binding, phagocytosis, and antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) of post-opsonized sheep red blood cell (SRBC) targets. Dose-dependent binding specificity of monomeric IgG gamma 2a, but not IgG gamma 2b or IgG gamma 1 to FcRI of oil-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages at 4 degrees C for 2 h was confirmed to display typical saturation kinetics both by the photometric assay and by a cellular enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CELISA). Binding of monomeric IgG gamma 2a to macrophage FcRI promoted highly efficient phagocytosis of opsonized SRBC in that most cells that were bound were also rapidly internalized by the phagocytic process during a 1 h incubation at 37 degrees C. Upregulation of FcRI-dependent binding and phagocytosis occurred during 24-48 h in vitro culture of macrophages as shown both by the photometric assays and CELISA. Trypsin treatment of macrophages abrogated FcRI-dependent binding and phagocytosis by monomeric IgG gamma 2a, but had little effect on FcRII-dependent functions. Cytophilic binding of monomeric IgG gamma 2a to FcRI failed to trigger ADCC activation. Thus functional characterization of macrophage FcRI-dependent effector functions confirmed the fidelity of binding specificity of monomeric IgG gamma 2a to a trypsin degradable receptor which mediates highly efficient phagocytosis but fails to initiate the signal for ADCC activation. It appears that passively bound immune monomeric IgG gamma 2a could provide an efficient mechanism by macrophages in vivo for FcRI-dependent immune clearance of soluble or particulate cellular antigens without elicitation of potentially harmful cytolytic factors associated with ADCC activation.

Animals↗

Drinking at a southern university: its description and correlates.

A sample of 100 undergraduate students at a southern college campus were employed to answer computer-administered questions once a week for 20 weeks. This facility was used to collect both intensive and comprehensive data to describe respondents' drinking and its correlates. Although women were somewhat less likely to be abstainers than were men, women were disproportionately represented among moderate-only drinkers and men were overrepresented among heavy drinkers. The data indicate that the change in respondents' reported drinking was quite volatile in the transition from high school to college. Heavy-drinking college students reported that they drank in bars accompanied by friends. Different types of drinkers (e.g., moderate, infrequent, heavy) attributed different motives to drinking as well as to sometimes abstaining, but they held similar antialcohol beliefs. The drinking-related variables of friends explained more of the variance in respondents' drinking than did those of their parents. However, the variance explained by the parents' drinking-related variables was increased when statistical interactions involving family cohesion and control were included. The variance explained by the friends' drinking-related variables was also greater when interactions with respondents' spending money were included. There was a small positive correlation between socioeconomic status and drinking. The only variables to decrease this relationship when statistically controlled were the drinking-related variables of significant others.

Adolescent↗