A look at the facts.
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Attitude of Health Personnel↗
Biomedical subjects
B Cooper
Publications and source records attributed to B Cooper.
A review of the measurement of caregiver and family burden in palliative care.
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Caregivers↗
Attachment representations and sexual behavior in humans.
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Adult↗
The development of strains, forces and nociceptor activity in retrodiscal tissues of the temporomandibular joint of male and female goats.
Chronic pain in the temporomandibular (TM) joint is predominantly manifested in women. We examined biomechanical and neural factors that could contribute to this differential representation. Relationships between jaw rotation, soft tissue strains and soft tissue forces were examined in the goat TM joint. Strains were minimal until the jaw was rotated beyond the normal range of motion (7.25 deg). There were no significant differences in rotation-strain patterns in males and females. Stress developed as strains were introduced by jaw rotation. Gender differences were observed. Males manifested higher failure loads (15.94 +/- 1.98 and 11.37 +/- 2.02 N, for males and females respectively) and higher elastic stiffness than females (5.62 +/- 1.19 N/mm and 1.64 +/- 0.31 N/mm, for males and females respectively). Recordings were made from cell bodies in the trigeminal ganglion whose distal processes innervated the retrodiscal tissue of the temporomandibular joint of the goat (n = 48). Nociceptor reactivity was characterized with respect to the capacity to transduce mandibular rotation (rotation-interval functions; n = 29). On the basis of established relationships between rotation, strain and tissue forces, rotation-interval functions were transformed into strain-interval and force-interval functions. Comparisons were made between nociceptor properties grouped by gender. No differences in properties were observed when nociceptors were characterized with respect to jaw rotation; however, gender differences were obtained when nociceptor reactivity was characterized with respect to retrodiscal strains or forces. Consistent with smaller failure loads, nociceptors of retrodiscal tissues of females manifested a smaller range (1.12 vs 4.33 N), force to average (1.51 vs 4.64 N), force to minimum (0.95 vs 2.48 N) and force to asymptotic discharge (2.07 vs 6.81 N). Consistent with lower elastic stiffness, nociceptors of female tissues manifested higher average strain (54.4% vs 41.9%) and peak strain (74.0% vs 58.1%) to asymptotic discharge relative to those sampled from male tissues. The implications of these findings for TM joint injury and chronic pain are considered.
Animals↗
The comorbidity of anxiety and depression.
OBJECTIVE: This study explored the effect of comorbid anxiety disorders in patients admitted to an inpatient specialist Mood Disorders Unit for the treatment of a primary major depressive episode. METHOD: Subjects were assessed on admission and discharge. DSM-III-R diagnoses for major depression and anxiety disorders were established using CIDI-Auto; comorbid anxiety disorders were coexistent in time with the major depression, with both conditions meeting diagnostic criteria at the time of assessment. Severity of illness was assessed using the Hamilton Depression/Melancholia Scale, the revised Hamilton Anxiety Scale and the revised Beck Depression Inventory. RESULTS: For the analysis, the study cohort was divided into three groups: depression alone (n = 33), one comorbid anxiety disorder (n = 15), and two or more comorbid anxiety disorders (n = 24). No particular anxiety disorder predominated. Interestingly, the presence or absence of comorbid anxiety with severe major depression made no significant difference to treatment choice or outcome results. Specifically, there was no significant difference between the three groups in the utilisation of electroconvulsive therapy and pharmacotherapy (including antidepressants, benzodiazepines and neuroleptics); all subjects improved significantly on both depression and anxiety ratings, and length of inpatient stay did not vary significantly between the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: The existence of comorbid anxiety disorders in those patients who presented for treatment of a primary major depressive episode did not significantly effect choice of treatment or treatment outcome, suggesting that there is a close interrelationship between the two conditions.
Adult↗
Autoradiographic studies indicate regional variations in the characteristics of L-glutamate transporters in the rat brain.
Quantitative autoradiography of [3H]L-aspartate binding in thaw-mounted sections of rat brain has shown that L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate and D-threo-3-hydroxyaspartate but not DL-2 aminoadipate strongly interacted with the binding sites while dihydrokainate, kainate and beta-aminoadipate produced only weak effects. The potency of inhibitors did not vary from one region to another in the telencephalon (neocortex, hippocampus and neostriatum) but, D-threo-3-hydroxyaspartate, L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate, kainate and dihydrokainate inhibited [3H]L-aspartate binding in the cerebellar cortex less potently than that in the forebrain. Characteristics of the known excitatory amino acid transporters can, in part, explain the present results but contributions from additional transporter molecules to the heterogeneity of [3H]L-aspartate binding sites cannot be ruled out.
ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
Gibbs-Thomson formula for small island sizes: Corrections for high vapor densities.
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Journal Article↗
Cell-to-cell transport of movement-defective cucumber mosaic and tobacco mosaic viruses in transgenic plants expressing heterologous movement protein genes.
To determine if the movement proteins (MPs) of cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) and tobacco mosaic tobamovirus (TMV) are complementary in function, transgenic plants expressing genes encoding TMV or CMV MP were inoculated with movement-defective mutants of TMV and CMV. Transgenic plants expressing the MP gene of CMV strain S (subgroup II) complemented the cell-to-cell and systemic spread of a movement-defective mutant of CMV strain Fny (subgroup I) but not the local or systemic spread of a movement-defective mutant of TMV. Plants that contained the MP gene from CMV-S were not resistant to wild-type TMV infection. When inoculated with a movement-defective mutant of TMV that produced beta-glucuronidase, transgenic plants with the CMV MP gene supported only subliminal infection. Conversely, immunodetection and in situ localization techniques revealed that transgenic plants accumulating the TMV MP supported cell-to-cell spread, but not systemic transport, of a movement-defective CMV. These studies suggest that the transgenic TMV MP shares some of the functions with the CMV MP required to transport CMV, whereas the transgenic CMV MP is deficient in functions that are needed to mobilize the spread of TMV infection.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Multicentric epithelioid angiosarcoma of the bone. Pitfalls in clinical and morphological diagnosis.
Epithelioid angiosarcoma of the bone represents a challenging diagnosis by bone marrow biopsy. We present a case of a multicentric high grade angiosarcoma of the bone with epithelioid features. On the basis of the clinical presentation, the radiological findings, and the appearance of loosely clustered tumor cells detected in the initial bone marrow biopsy, the main differential diagnoses considered were a poorly differentiated non-secretory multiple myeloma and metastatic carcinoma. Subsequent morphologic, immunohistochemical and electron microscopic examination of tissue samples clarified the nature of the tumor as epithelioid angiosarcoma. We discuss potential pitfalls in clinical and morphological diagnosis. The strong reactivity of the tumor cells with the nonspecific but ubiquitous mesenchymal marker vimentin in similar cases should direct early attention to the rare malignant bone tumor, epithelioid angiosarcoma, with subsequent confirmation of this diagnosis with specific immunohistochemical endothelial cell markers and/or electron microscopy.
Aged↗
Hormone-binding and solubility properties of fusion proteins containing the ligand-binding domain of the human androgen receptor.
The ligand-binding properties of the human androgen receptor (AR) reside in the carboxy terminus of the receptor and are retained in fusion proteins encoding this domain. Despite a wealth of information pertaining to the importance of specific amino acid residues in the binding of ligands, the precise amino terminal boundary of this domain has not been determined for the androgen receptor. The current studies focused on the expression of a series of AR fusion proteins in bacteria. These experiments demonstrate that specific androgen binding is detected in a fusion protein encoding amino acid residues 675-917, although this binding is of lower affinity than that observed for the native AR. Inclusion of an additional segment (residues 622-675) restores the capacity of the hormone-binding domain to bind mibolerone with high affinity. Detailed studies of the ligand-binding properties and solubility of one AR fusion protein (625-917) indicate that although the levels of ligand binding and soluble receptor fusion protein usually vary in parallel, this is not true at all time points and the proportion of soluble AR fusion that is able to bind hormone is highest when the levels of soluble AR fusion protein are lowest. This observation, coupled with the changes in the quantity of soluble and insoluble fusion protein occurring at different times following induction at 12 degrees C, 22 degrees C, and 37 degrees C, suggests that the saturation of one or more steps is required for folding of the AR hormone-binding domain to a conformation that is both soluble and competent to bind hormone under conditions of high-level expression. Analysis of the solubility of six different fusion proteins containing different portions of the AR hormone-binding domain suggests that a discrete segment of this domain is not responsible for its synthesis as predominantly insoluble aggregates in bacteria when expressed at high levels.
Base Sequence↗
Early development and progression of dementing illness in the elderly: a general-practice based study.
In a study carried out in 21 general practices in Mannheim, Germany, a stratified random sample (N = 507) of patients over the age of 65 years was drawn from the total of nearly 4000 who were medically documented. Eighty per cent of the sample were examined, using the Hierarchic Dementia Scale to test cognitive functioning and the CAMDEX criteria to assess global clinical severity. Repeat assessment after a mean interval of 27 months showed that all new cases of clinical dementia had arisen in persons with mild deficits initially and represented one-fifth of this group. The first-assessment ratings of cognitive function proved to be strongly predictive of risks for age-corrected mortality, admission to long-term care and dependency at follow-up, as well as of further progressive cognitive decline.
Activities of Daily Living↗
Cross-national interrater reliability of dementia diagnosis in the elderly and factors associated with disagreement.
Thirteen researchers from five centers in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States applied DSM-III-R and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) syndrome-level dementia criteria to written vignettes of 100 elderly people identified in clinics or community surveys. Subjects ranged in type from cognitively intact to severely demented and many were also frail, partially sighted, or deaf. This paper concerns reliability within and between centers, and the relationship between reliability and factors such as diagnostic criteria, dementia severity, and respondents' clinical characteristics. Within-center interrater reliability was high, more so for "yes-no" DSM-III-R diagnoses than the multi-level CDR. Between-center rates were lower but still moderate to good. Concordance was lower for intermediate dementia levels than for no dementia and severe dementia. Physical disability made an additional contribution to uncertainty but deafness, poor vision, anxiety, and depression had no discernible effects. Reliability levels are likely to be lower in representative aged populations than in carefully selected clinical groups.
Aged↗
A defective movement protein of TMV in transgenic plants confers resistance to multiple viruses whereas the functional analog increases susceptibility.
Transgenic tobacco plants that express a gene encoding a defective mutant of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) movement protein which are known to be resistant to several tobamoviruses were inoculated with viruses from different taxonomic groups to determine the breadth of resistance. There were significant delays in the time of appearance of disease symptoms and/or there was reduced systemic accumulation of virus in upper leaves of plants inoculated with tobacco rattle tobravirus, tobacco ringspot nepovirus, alfalfa mosaic alfamovirus, peanut chlorotic streak caulimovirus, and cucumber mosaic cucumovirus. Conversely, tobacco plants that express a gene encoding the functional tobacco mosaic virus wild-type movement protein accelerated symptom development, enhanced the severity of symptom formation, and/or increased the accumulation of these viruses and, additionally, TMV. Our results indicate that there are similar functions among the movement proteins of a number of plant viruses despite the apparent lack of sequence similarity between them.
Mosaic Viruses↗
The epidemiology of stroke and transient ischaemia in Brisbane, Australia.
This study presents the crude and age-adjusted annual incidence rates and diagnostic classifications of acute strokes and identified transient ischaemia cases in persons 25 years and over in an urban population slightly over one million. Ot the total of 2676 hospital admissions 1244 were stroke patients (the other 89 were unsubstantiated, 144 were resident outside the incidence area, 555 were asymptomatic lesions and 644 were TIA admissions); 139 patients were in chronic care facilities; 134 were managed in their own homes by their medical practitioners, with 84 certified community and 455 medical practitioners' reported deaths giving a total of 2056 strokes. Including the TIAs treated at home and admissions to hospitals there were 1877 TIAs (population at risk 660,598). The overall age-adjusted incidence rate for stroke was 1.22 or 40 percent of the crude rate per 1000 persons at risk, while the overall TIA age-adjusted rate was 1.20 or 43 percent. Aetiological classifications revealed thrombosis 0.46, embolism 0.09, intracerebral haemorrhage 0.19, subaracnoid 0.14, and acute but ill-defined events were 0.34 per 1000 persons. Early mortality was 32 percent with a significant winter peak with incidence unrelated to mean ambient temperature.
Adult↗
In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of glycopeptide-resistant enterococci.
The results of susceptibility testing of 48 phenotyped strains of glycopeptide antibiotic-resistant enterococci are reported. Minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MICs and MBCs) were determined for 27 vanA, 17 vanB, and 4 vanC strains. Antibiotics exhibiting the greatest activity included novobiocin (MIC90 = 8 micrograms/ml and MBC90 = 32 micrograms/ml), ramoplanin (MIC90 = 2 micrograms/ml and MBC90 = 4 micrograms/ml), and the streptogramin RP59500 (MIC90 = 4 micrograms/ml and MBC90 = 32 micrograms/ml). These antibiotics warrant further investigation as potentially useful agents, either alone or in combination, for treating enterococcal infections.
Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
Factors determining reopening of the ductus arteriosus after successful clinical closure with indomethacin.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of ductus arteriosus (DA) constriction and loss of luminal blood flow in producing permanent closure of the DA in human infants. METHODS: We studied 77 newborn infants (gestational age, 23 to 33 weeks) with asymptomatic patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), who had "complete clinical closure" (defined as the disappearance of all PDA signs) after treatment with indomethacin (three doses within 36 hours). All infants had an echocardiogram 24 to 36 hours after the last dose of indomethacin. They were then followed for the development of ductus reopening. RESULTS: Despite the absence of clinical signs, 18 (23%) of 77 infants still had some residual luminal blood flow according to their echocardiograms. The failure to obliterate luminal blood flow completely was directly related to the infant's postnatal age when treatment was begun and to the amount of fluid administered before treatment. Subsequently the DA reopened in 16 (21%) of 77 infants. As predicted, infants with residual luminal blood flow after indomethacin treatment had a higher rate of subsequent clinical reopening than did those with no luminal flow. In addition, immature infants had a significantly higher reopening rate than did more mature infants. The increased risk of reopening in immature infants was seen even when indomethacin caused complete obliteration of ductus luminal blood flow. CONCLUSION: The DA of immature infants is resistant to the constriction-induced ischemic damage that is necessary for subsequent permanent closure of the vessel.
Ductus Arteriosus↗
Differences in the subcellular localization of tobacco mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus movement proteins in infected and transgenic plants.
Our study reveals differences in the way that tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) movement proteins (MPs) partition with cellular components separated into four fractions from different aged leaves of infected and transgenic plants. Immunoblot analyses showed that TMV and CMV MPs associated predominantly with components in the cell wall fractions from leaves of transgenic plants. In infected tissue, highest levels of TMV MP were found in the organelle fractions from young and middle-aged leaves whereas most of the CMV MP was found in the detergent wash of the cell wall fraction. These results remained consistent even when plants were doubly infected with TMV and CMV. These results imply that MPs of plant viruses from different taxonomic groups differentially associate with subcellular components and that MP produced by a viral infection is targeted to additional subcellular destinations than MP produced in transgenic plants.
Cell Fractionation↗
Pharmacological properties of 403U76, a new chemical class of 5-hydroxytryptamine- and noradrenaline-reuptake inhibitor.
403U76 (5-chloro-[[2-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenyl]thio]benzene- methanol hydrochloride) is a potent, competitive, inhibitor of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and noradenaline reuptake into rat brain synaptosomes. Inhibition of 5-HT uptake in-vivo by 403U76 was demonstrated by potentiation of the behavioural effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan in rats and mice and blockade of p-induced depletion of 5-HT in rats. The firing of 5-HT-ergic dorsal raphe neurons in rats was decreased after intravenous administration of low doses of 403U76 as would be predicted for a 5-HT uptake inhibitor. 403U76 antagonized tetrabenazine-induced sedation, an effect associated with inhibitors of noradrenaline uptake, but not with inhibitors of 5-HT uptake. Thus 403U76 affects noradrenergic as well as 5-HT-ergic neurotransmission in-vivo. Potential anxiolytic activity was indicated by reductions in isolation-induced vocalizations in neonates after 403U76 treatment. Low intravenous doses of 403U76 were well tolerated and had no sustained cardiovascular effects. There were no deleterious behavioural side-effects at active doses. Effects observed on isolated tissues or transmitter receptors occurred only at very high concentrations and were pharmacologically unimportant. Thus 403U76 can be considered a potential antidepressant/anxiolytic agent that is a potent, selective inhibitor of 5-HT and noradrenaline reuptake.
5-Hydroxytryptophan↗