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Biomedical subjects

B Wells

Publications and source records attributed to B Wells.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Structural and genetic analysis of epidermal cell differentiation in Arabidopsis primary roots.

In a screen designed to identify genes in the specification of epidermal cell fate in Arabidopsis primary roots we have isolated 8 new mutants that fall into 6 complementation groups corresponding to the 'root hairless' genes RHL1, RHL2 and RHL3 and the 'ectopic root hair' genes ERH1, ERH2 and ERH3. The erh2 mutant is allelic to pom1, a conditional root expansion mutant, and reveals a possible link between epidermal root hair initiation and radial cell expansion. Apart from erh1 the mutants also show defects in shoot development, indicating a complex role for the affected genes. Mutant phenotypes in the patterning and shape of leaf trichomes in rhl1, rhl2, rhl3 and erh3 were particularly obvious. The root hairless mutants are only partly responsive to increased ethylene concentrations, while the ectopic root hair mutants are fully responsive to reduced concentrations of ethylene, a permissive regulator of root hair initiation. This result and the analysis of double mutants suggest a complex pathway leading to root hair initiation that requires the RHL and ERH genes for correct differentiation.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed1996

The context of ethics in the health care industry.

Examines ethics in the health care industry from the perspectives of investors, employees, patients, competitors and the environment. Ethical behaviour in the health care industry is essential and desirable; however, determining which behavioural actions are ethical and which are unethical is difficult. Although never will everyone agree on specific ethical standards, everyone should agree that setting ethical standards is vital. Therefore, administrators of health care institutions and health care providers should work together to establish codes of ethics which define boundaries for ethical behaviours in the health care industry.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1995

Methods of and attitudes toward screening obstetrics and gynecology patients for domestic violence.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to define screening behaviors of obstetrician-gynecologists and barriers to screening their patients for domestic violence. STUDY DESIGN: A questionnaire was developed to collect information on current practices and attitudes regarding screening for domestic violence. A randomly selected sample of obstetrician-gynecologists was surveyed. Respondents were also asked to rank a series of 19 potential barriers that may affect screening. RESULTS: Of 6568 physicians sampled, 962 (14.6%) returned questionnaires. Of the respondents, 77.6% were male and 22.4% were female. Male physicians were less likely to screen for domestic violence (25.9% vs. 18.9%). Thirty-four percent said that they had no training in abuse. Physicians indicating they had received training in abuse were more likely to screen for domestic violence. The lack of education was identified as the most common barrier physicians have to screening. The feeling that abuse was not a problem in their patients (46%), lack of time to deal with abuse (39.2%), and frustration that the physician cannot help the victim (34.2%) were other common barriers. CONCLUSION: The majority of obstetrician-gynecologists do not screen their patients for current or past domestic violence. If universal screening is to become a reality, educational tools and training materials are needed to overcome physician barriers.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Chemical compatibility of inotropic and vasoactive agents delivered via a multiple line infusion system.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the chemical compatibility of three different triple drug admixtures diluted with either 5% dextrose in water or 0.9% NaCl solution when administered via a multiple line infusion system (Omni-Flow 4000, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL). The triple drug admixtures were: a) dobutamine, dopamine, and norepinephrine; b) nitroglycerin, sodium nitroprusside, and dobutamine; and c) nitroglycerin, dopamine, and dobutamine. DESIGN: Two phase in vitro compatibility study. SETTING: Pharmaceutical laboratory. SUBJECTS: None. INTERVENTIONS: Phase I assessed chemical stability when the triple drug admixture was placed in a single container. In phase II, individual drug components of the admixtures were infused via the multiple line infusion system. Samples were collected at time 0, 1 hr, 2 hrs, 4 hrs, 12 hrs, and 24 hrs. All samples were frozen and stored at -70 degrees C until assayed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Samples were assayed using stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatography. The triple drug admixtures were considered to be chemically stable if there was < or = 10% loss of stated potency over 24 hrs. In phase I, chemical stability was observed for all triple drug admixtures at 24 hrs. In phase II, dobutamine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and sodium nitroprusside showed chemical stability at 24 hrs. Nitroglycerin showed a two-fold increase in concentration at 24 hrs compared with the initial concentration through the test infusion system; however, this amount was still one third lower than originally anticipated. CONCLUSIONS: All triple drug admixtures were chemically stable when placed in single containers. Dobutamine, norepinephrine, and sodium nitroprusside showed chemical stability when delivered via a multiple line infusion system. The reduced recovery of nitroglycerin from the test infusion system may result from adsorption of the nitroglycerin to the polyvinyl chloride plastic cassette and tubing during infusion.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
PubMed1994

Correlates of bone mineral density in the postmenopausal estrogen/progestin interventions trial.

We assessed the cross-sectional relationship of age, menopausal years, body mass, previous estrogen use, and ethnic background to bone mineral status in a sample of 875 healthy postmenopausal women at the time they were recruited from the community to participate in a multicenter clinical trial. The women were 1-10 years postmenopause, 45-64 years of age, and had not received estrogen replacement therapy within 3 months of enrollment. Of the participants, 89% were white, 69% had a spontaneous menopause, and 53% had a history of previous estrogen replacement therapy. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine (L2-4) and proximal femur was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Results were consistent with a significant negative linear regression of BMD on age or years from menopause. Body mass index (BMI) correlated significantly with BMD at all sites (L 2-4 r = 0.28; femoral neck r = 0.34, p < 0.0001). BMD adjusted for age and BMI were higher at both sites in women who had taken estrogen versus those who had not (L2-4 0.976 +/- 0.009 versus 0.932 +/- 0.01; femoral neck 0.740 +/- 0.006 versus 0.708 +/- 0.008, p < 0.05). Adjusted BMD also increased with duration of ERT. Parity was negatively associated with L2-4 BMD (p = 0.03) but did not correlate significantly with BMD at the femoral neck. Black women had the highest L2-4 BMD, and Hispanic women had the highest femoral neck BMD, even when results were adjusted for age and BMI. When data were corrected for differences in bone size, these interethnic differences were no longer significant. We conclude that increased body mass is positively correlated with BMD, and this may confer a degree of skeletal protection to heavier postmenopausal women. Exposure for 5 years to exogenous estrogen is associated with significantly increased age- and BMI-adjusted BMD.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1994

Plasmodesmata of maize root tips: structure and composition.

A procedure is described for obtaining clean maize cell wall preparations that contain embedded plasmodesmata. Negative staining and rotary shadowing have been used with transmission electron microscopy to visualise the plasmodesmata in these isolated walls, and to assess the effects of simple biochemical treatments on plasmodesmal components. Light protease treatment removes material from the exposed ends of plasmodesmata but does not extract the plasmodesmal core, which lies within the cell wall. However, heavy proteolysis occasionally removes the complete plasmodesma, including its enclosing collar structure, from the wall. Extraction with urea has a similar effect. The collar itself appears not to be proteinaceous in composition, although protein may bind it into the wall. Callose is localised in the wall around plasmodesmata, but does not appear to be a constituent of the collar. The membrane components of the plasmodesma (plasma membrane and desmotubule) can be extracted with membrane-solubilising detergents. This treatment releases from the wall a small number of proteins that are regarded as being potentially of plasmodesmal origin. These results show that plasmodesmata from maize can be dissected biochemically and suggest a strategy for the characterisation of individual molecular components.

Cell Fractionation↗
PubMed1994

Vanadium air pollution: a cause of malabsorption and immunosuppression in cattle.

An epidemiological investigation into an "illthrift" problem occurring on a dairy farm adjacent to an alloy-processing unit, established that the probable cause of the problem was chronic vanadium poisoning. The disease manifested initially in animals 4-18 months old which showed emaciation, chronic diarrhoea and, in some cases, rhinitis, conjunctivitis and recumbency followed by death. Post-mortem (n = 17) and clinical-pathology findings (n = 60) indicated that malabsorption and immunosuppression were the basis of the pathogenesis in affected animals. Eight months after the commencement of the investigation, adult cows began showing evidence of emaciation, reduced milk production and an apparent increase in the number of abortions, stillbirths and dystocias. Over a 2-year period, 134 surface-soil samples, 134 subsoil samples and 134 grass samples from the farm were analysed for various fractions of vanadium. Thirty-four of each of these samples were collected at different time intervals (autumn 1990, summer 1991 and winter 1991) and at varying distances and directions from the processing unit, in order to gauge the magnitude of the problem, and the distribution pattern of vanadium, and to identify possible seasonal trends. The remaining 100 of each of these samples were taken at 100-m intervals over an area of approximately 1,140,000 m2 directly adjacent to the processing unit so that concentration isolines for vanadium could be drawn and the source more conclusively identified. The levels of vanadium were found to be highest closest to the mine, and surface-soil levels were consistently higher than subsoil levels, suggesting aerial pollution, which was confirmed by air sampling.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1993

Psycholinguistic assessment of developmental speech disorders.

Although various psycholinguistic models of speech and language processing have been developed to account for levels of breakdown in developmental speech disorders, it is not obvious how they are to be applied in clinical practice. At the same time, speech and language therapists have routinely been using a wide range of procedures, including published tests, that tap different levels of phonological processing in the child. When analysed and classified appropriately, these procedures can form the basis for a comprehensive psycholinguistic investigation of developmental speech disorders. The aim of this paper is to present a clinically usable, needs-driven but theoretically motivated framework for investigation. The framework is organised in terms of a series of questions that the clinician can pose about the levels of deficit in processing that may be giving rise to the child's speech problems. It is illustrated by means of a case study of a child with a severe developmental speech disorder, which reveals a complex pattern of deficits within the speech processing chain. As the main purpose of the framework is to provide a useful clinical tool to facilitate the planning of appropriate therapy for the individual child, some therapy objectives deriving from the assessment are outlined.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1991

The tobacco mosaic virus 30K movement protein in transgenic tobacco plants is localized to plasmodesmata.

Transgenic tobacco plants expressing a gene encoding the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) movement protein (30K) were studied using immunocytochemical techniques. The movement protein was shown to be localized within or on most of the plasmodesmata observed in the transformed plant. These results are consistent with the idea that the movement protein interacts with the plasmodesmata to facilitate the cell-to-cell spread of TMV.

Capsid Proteins↗
PubMed1990

Solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography of torsemide and metabolites from plasma and urine.

Torsemide is a new diuretic drug with a profile of action similar to that of furosemide. The high potency of torsemide results in low dose therapy and causes problems for the pharmacokinetic study of the drug due to low plasma levels. Described here are methods for the analysis of torsemide and two metabolites in plasma and urine using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography. The limits of quantitation are 10 ng/mL for plasma and 20 ng/mL for urine. The relative standard deviations for precision are less than 10% for most analytes at most concentrations in the calibration range. The recoveries from plasma were 94.3, 92.9, and 95.6%, and from urine were 77.5, 66.6, and 76.5% for torsemide and metabolites M1 and M5, respectively. The method was suitable for pharmacokinetic studies. Data from a normal volunteer are presented.

Chromatography, Liquid↗
PubMed1986

Nodulation inhibition by Rhizobium leguminosarum multicopy nodABC genes and analysis of early stages of plant infection.

During analysis of early events in the infection and nodulation of Vicia hirsuta roots inoculated with normal and mutant strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum and strains containing cloned nodulation (nod) genes, a number of novel observations were made. (i) Alternating zones of curled and straight root hairs were seen on roots of V. hirsuta inoculated with the wild-type strain of R. leguminosarum. This phasing of root hair curling was not seen if plants were grown under continuous light or continuous dark conditions. (ii) Reduced nodulation and delayed nodule initiation was observed with a strain carrying a Tn5 mutation in the nodE gene. In addition the phased root hair curling was absent, and root hair curling was observed along the length of the root. (iii) The nodABC genes cloned on a multicopy plasmid in a wild-type strain inhibited nodulation but induced a continuous root hair curling response. Those few nodules that eventually formed were found to contain bacteria which had lost the plasmid carrying the nodABC genes. (iv) With a strain of Rhizobium cured of its indigenous symbiotic plasmid, but containing the cloned nodABCDEF genes, continuous root hair curling on V. hirsuta was observed. However, no infection threads were observed, and surprisingly, it did appear that initial stages of nodule development occurred. Observations of thin sections of these early developing nodules indicated that early nodule meristematic divisions may have occurred but that no bacteria were found within the nodules and no infection threads were observed either within the nodule bumps or within any of the root hairs. It was concluded that for normal infections to occur, precise regulation of the nod genes is required and that overexpression of the root hair curling genes inhibits the normal infection process.

Bacterial Proteins↗