"Yanks" and "Sassenachs"

Abstract

Emigration has never been officially "encouraged" by the British in Ireland as stated by Aschmann (Letters, 3 Feb.). The purpose of 700 years of British tyranny was not to drive the people out, but rather to keep them in Ireland and, of course, in bondage. Emigration from that country was virtually nonexistent until the famines of 1846-1847, at which time the population of all Ireland was approximately 8 million (it is now 3?/2 million).Also, contrary to what Aschmann feels, emigration from Ireland is indeed a blessing in disguise as it exists today. If all of our emigres were to return from even one of the major overseas Irish "settlements" such as London (which has about 1/2 million Irish-born or first-generation Irish), it would be disastrous to an economy now smarting from the results of a badly-planned "economic boom" over the past 6 years. Probably the only unfortunate feature of Irish emigration is the brain drain, since a great segment of our professional men do go abroad to escape institutions which have been unchanged since St. Patrick! If these learned people return, they find themselves looked upon as "returned Yanks" or "Sassenachs" (British) and are never really accepted into the fold (or yoke-depending on your point of view) of home-educated and permanently home-based scientists. Such brave men and women generally suffer in silence for a short while and then inevitably return to America, Britain, Australia, or (strangely enough) Africa where their efforts are much more appreciated and rewarded.Ireland has a very serious braindrain problem-and the general feeling there is that the return of this segment of our emigrants would, in the long run, be greatly beneficial to the country. They will not, of course, return as long as the attitude towards them-and towards change-which exists in Irish universities remains as it has been since the "drain" started in the 1940's. The return of the skilled and unskilled laborers at this time, 17 MARCH 1967

Changes in 65zn and 59fe Metabolism, and Carbonic Anhydrase and Catalase Activity in Animals With Liver-Damaged by Carbon Tetrachloride or Ethionine

“…For example, on lipid metabolism (36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45), on nucleic acid metabo lism (32,46), on nucleotide metabolism (47), on respiratory activity (27,(48)(49)(50), on amino acid metabolism (51-53), on some enzymic activity (53)(54)(55), on metabolism of 14CC1, (56,57). (52) and Kobayashi (53) regarded the damage of endoplasmic reticulum as most important.…”

Reductive metabolism of carbon tetrachloride by human cytochromes P-450 reconstituted in phospholipid vesicles: mass spectral identification of trichloromethyl radical bound to dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine.

“…In 1961 a unique form of reductive metabolism of carbon tetrachloride was described that involved chloroform production via homolytic fission of a carbon-chlorine bond (2). The trichloromethyl free radical was postulated as an intermediate in this reaction and, on the basis ofits potential reactivity, was suggested to be involved in carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity (2)(3)(4)(5). Evidence for the formation of carbon-centered free radicals from metabolism of carbon tetrachloride has also come from electron paramagnetic resonance studies of spin-trap adducts (6,7).…”

“…Products ofthe metabolism ofcarbon tetrachloride are known to be capable of covalent binding to both lipids and proteins (3,4,10). However, the molecular structures of such reactive metabolites have not been determined and there has been no characterization of adducts formed or their mechanism of binding to tissue molecules.…”

Genetic Control of Chloroform Toxicity in Mice

“…In support of this concept, indirect measures of androgen function (12) suggest that males of the C57BL/IOJ strain and, to a lesser degree, the C57BL/6J strain are androgen deficient compared to those of the DBA/ 2J strain. Chloroform and other halogenated hydrocarbons produce pathological effects by localizing in target tissues and binding covalently to cellular macromolecules (13,14). A metabolite, rather than the parent compound, apparently binds to cellular constituents.…”