Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Hudson

Publications and source records attributed to A Hudson.

79 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

The revised Sign and Symptom Check-List for HIV (SSC-HIVrev).

Symptom management for persons living with HIV/AIDS is recognized as an extremely important component of care management. This article reports on the continuing validation of the revised Sign and Symptom Check-List for Persons With HIV Disease (SSC-HIVrev). The initial validation study used a combined sample of 933 HIV-positive persons and concluded that the validity and reliability of the instrument were adequate to measure patients' self-report of HIV-related signs and symptoms. The revised scale includes items to measure gynecological-related symptoms and the impact of lipodystrophy (body fat redistribution) due to antiretroviral therapy on patients' symptom experience. The scale structure (factor analysis) and reliability estimates were recalculated in a new sample of 372 HIV-positive persons. Based on reviewing the clusters of items, factor loadings, reliability estimates, and clinical interpretability, an 11-factor solution was determined that explained 73.3% of the variance. Of the retained factors, 4 had eigenvalues less than 1, yet they explained significant amounts of variance in the rotated sums of squares loading (5.0%, 4.3%, 4.3%, and 3.6%, respectively), the reliability estimates were good, and the factors had clinical meaning. The revised scale (SSC-HIVrev) has three parts: Part 1 consists of 45 items that clustered into 11 factor scores along with a total score, with reliability estimates ranging from .76 to .91; Part 2 consists of 19 HIV-related symptoms that do not cluster into factor scores but may be of interest from a clinical perspective; and Part 3 consists of 8 items related to gynecological symptoms for women. These 8 items were submitted to a principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation (n = 118 HIV-positive women), and a 1-factor solution explained 71.8% of the variance, with a reliability estimate of .94. The psychometric properties of the SSC-HIVrev are presented.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Asymmetric leaves1 mediates leaf patterning and stem cell function in Arabidopsis.

Meristem function in plants requires both the maintenance of stem cells and the specification of founder cells from which lateral organs arise. Lateral organs are patterned along proximodistal, dorsoventral and mediolateral axes. Here we show that the Arabidopsis mutant asymmetric leaves1 (as1) disrupts this process. AS1 encodes a myb domain protein, closely related to PHANTASTICA in Antirrhinum and ROUGH SHEATH2 in maize, both of which negatively regulate knotted-class homeobox genes. AS1 negatively regulates the homeobox genes KNAT1 and KNAT2 and is, in turn, negatively regulated by the meristematic homeobox gene SHOOT MERISTEMLESS. This genetic pathway defines a mechanism for differentiating between stem cells and organ founder cells within the shoot apical meristem and demonstrates that genes expressed in organ primordia interact with meristematic genes to regulate shoot morphogenesis.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interface skin pressures on four pressure-relieving devices.

Nurses employed in acute care hospitals frequently encounter patients who require a pressure-relieving device. It is often difficult for nurses to decide which support surface should be used to best meet a patient's need for a pressure-reducing device because of the multiplicity of products available. One of the variables studied was found not to statistically influence the effectiveness of the various pressure-relieving devices. Body build is not a consideration when determining which support surface is effective in a healthy population of subjects. The two air-flotation low air-loss beds would be defined as effective pressure-relieving devices. The interface pressure readings vary from individual to individual on various bony prominences. The population studied was that of healthy volunteers. Healthy subjects have an increased fat pad in their sacral area compared with the critically ill patient. The heel had the highest interface pressure of the five that were studied. This is a bony prominence that requires additional attention if skin integrity is to be maintained.

Beds↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An outbreak of cryptosporidiosis from fresh-pressed apple cider.

BACKGROUND: Recent waterborne outbreaks have established Cryptosporidium as an emerging enteric pathogen, but foodborne transmission has rarely been reported. In October 1993, an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis occurred among students and staff attending a 1-day school agricultural fair in central Maine. DESIGN: Environmental/laboratory investigation and cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Attendees of the fair and their household members. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical or laboratory-confirmed cryptosporidiosis. Clinical cryptosporidiosis was defined as 3 days of either diarrhea (three loose stools in a 24-hour period) or vomiting. RESULTS: Surveys were completed for 611 (81%) of the estimated 759 fair attendees. Among attendees who completed the survey, there were 160 (26%) primary cases. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in the stools of 50 (89%) of 56 primary and secondary case patients tested. The median incubation period was 6 days (range, 10 hours to 13 days); the median duration of illness was 6 days (range, 1 to 16 days). Eighty-four percent of primary case patients had diarrhea and 82% had vomiting. Persons drinking apple cider that was hand pressed in the afternoon were at increased risk for cryptosporidiosis (154 [54%] of 284 exposed vs six [2%] of 292 unexposed; relative risk, 26; 95% confidence interval, 12 to 59). Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in the apple cider, on the cider press, and in the stool specimen of a calf on the farm that supplied the apples. The secondary household transmission rate was 15% (53/353). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large cryptosporidiosis outbreak in which foodborne transmission has been documented. It underscores the need for agricultural producers to take measures to avoid contamination of foodstuffs with infectious agents common to the farm environment.

Agriculture↗