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Biomedical subjects

C Gray

Publications and source records attributed to C Gray.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Will hospital closures mean physician unemployment in Ontario?

Dr. Duncan Sinclair, the former dean of medicine who heads the commission charged with restructuring Ontario's health care system, said something dramatic was needed to revamp the system. He wasn't kidding. His commission recently called for the closure of 3 hospitals in Ottawa and 10 more in Toronto. In a wideranging interview with Charlotte Gray he talks about the commission's goals and their potential impact on physicians.

Health Facility Closure↗
PubMed1997

Promises, promises.

As the federal election nears, Charlotte Gray looks at the role health care will play during the brief campaign. Reading through the campaign literature, she found that all parties are making similar statements. However, there are striking differences in the way they intend to preserve the health care system.

Canada↗
PubMed1997

Anger over HIV questions cancels blood clinic at Ottawa university.

Ottawa's Carleton University cancelled a February blood-donor clinic after the Red Cross failed to hold sensitivity-training sessions for its volunteers. The sessions were requested after students complained that the organization's screening procedures are insensitive and offend gay students. The Red Cross maintains that rigorous screening, including questions about high-risk sexual behaviour, is essential if the blood supply is to be protected. In March a compromise was announced: the Red Cross will begin sensitivity training for its volunteer workers in April and blood-donor clinics will return to Carleton in the fall.

Anger↗
PubMed1997

Waiting list already 7 months long at Toronto's new Environmental Health Clinic.

Following the head set by Nova Scotia, Ontario now has a clinic devoted to the treatment of patients with "environmental illness." It opened in Toronto last year, and patients must be referred by their family physician and complete a 16-page previsit questionnaire. They receive a 3-hour assessment in which their medical history is explored, plus a full physical examination and blood and urine tests. Dr. Frank Foley, who heads the Toronto clinic, says his patients have seen from 8 to 10 health care professionals in the 2 years before their visit and most have been told the problem is "in your head." He says they need to "have their symptoms validated and their distress acknowledged."

Environmental Health↗
PubMed1997

The National Forum reports: crisis? What crisis?

The National Forum on Health's final report appears to have said what Canadians--and the federal Liberal government wanted to hear about the health care system. It called for preservation of the single-payer model and the 5 principles of the Canada Health Act, and also recommended that medicare be expanded to embrace pharmaceuticals and home care. Edmonton internist Tom Noseworthy, chair of the forum's steering committee, said public anxiety about medicare is caused by the rapid pace of change, not its direction. However, the CMA's Dr. Judith Kazimirski was quick to challenge Noseworthy and his criticism of those who say a crisis exists.

Canada↗
PubMed1997

Ottawa researchers enter home stretch in race to produce artificial heart.

An Ottawa team is in a fierce race to produce an artificial heart. If it wins, the prize will be huge: a worldwide market worth billions of dollars. The team, led by Dr. Tofy Mussivand, brings together scientists and entrepreneurs. The goal is to produce a heart that improves patients' quality of life and doesn't leave them tethered to a machine in hospital. Current plans are to complete clinical tests by 2000 and to have a commercial product ready for market in 2001-2. Several other groups are also racing the clock.

Heart, Artificial↗
PubMed1997

Tobacco wars. The bloody battle between good health and good politics.

A battle to introduce new antitobacco legislation in Canada has caused political battles within the Liberal Party. While one side is worried about the need to protect people's health, another is worried about the potential loss of jobs within the tobacco industry--many of which are located in politically volatile Quebec. Charlotte Gray writes about the machinations that led to the introduction of new smoking legislation in the House of Commons in November.

Advertising↗
PubMed1997

From genome to proteome: protein map of Haemophilus influenzae.

High-resolution two-dimensional (2-D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis allows the separation of complex biological mixtures (i.e., several hundred proteins from a bacterial cell lysate) in a single experiment. In this report proteins from Haemophilus influenzae were separated by 2-D gels and analyzed by peptide mass fingerprinting and/or amino acid analysis. By comparing the peptide mass profiles and the amino acid composition with the Haemophilus influenzae database, 119 protein spots were identified. The combination of amino acid analysis and peptide mass fingerprinting is a powerful tool for a rapid and economical identification of a large number of proteins resolved by 2-D gels. Studies on gene regulation and changes of protein expression upon drug treatment require quick and serial analysis techniques to efficiently identify potential new drug targets.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1997

Two-dimensional map of Haemophilus influenzae following protein enrichment by heparin chromatography.

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis separates several hundred protein molecules in one single experiment and is efficiently used to study the products expressed by different genomes. Low-copy-number gene products are invisible on a stained two-dimensional map and must be enriched such that sufficient amounts are present for visualization and identification. We investigated the enrichment of proteins of the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae by chromatography on immobilized heparin which has affinity for growth and protein biosynthesis factors. Total soluble proteins of the microorganism were fractionated on Heparin-Actigel which resulted in enrichment of approximately 160 proteins. The eluates, representing about 40% of the applied proteins, were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and the protein spots were characterized by amino acid composition analysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry. The proteins enriched by chromatography on the heparin gel were not exclusively low-copy-number gene products and they did not exclusively belong to one single class of proteins. The proteins that bound to the heparin gel are indicated in a two-dimensional protein map which includes more than 110 newly identified proteins.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1997

Structural studies on membrane-embedded influenza hemagglutinin and its fragments.

The mechanism of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA)-mediated membrane fusion has been inferred in part from studies examining pH-induced structural changes in soluble HA derivatives lacking the viral membrane anchor and, sometimes, the fusion peptide (the C- and N-terminal residues of the HA2 chain, respectively). To reconcile structure-based mechanisms of HA-mediated membrane fusion with structural implications of functional studies performed on membrane-embedded HA, we have undertaken attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic analyses of membrane-embedded HA (strain X:31) and its fragments reconstituted into supported lipid bilayers. The fragments correspond to proteolytic products with the majority of the HA1 chain and, in some cases, the fusion peptide removed (THA2 and THA2F-, respectively). In combination with R18 fluorescence dequenching to monitor the functional implications of HA1 subunit removal, we have assessed the influence of pH and target membrane presentation on the secondary structures, orientations relative to the membrane, and dynamics of these molecules. We find that X:31 HA is more tilted towards the plane of the membrane under fusion than under resting conditions, that the fitting of HA depends on the presence of the HA1 chain, that the residues connecting the membrane-inserted fusion peptide with the crystallographically determined coiled coil probably adopt an alpha-helical conformation, and that several changes in the secondary structure and the amide H/D exchange kinetics occur as a result of acidification and target membrane presentation, which can be interpreted as small changes and a release of strain in the static and dynamic structure of membrane-bound HA. THA2 mediatcs fusion, but less efficiently and with less pH-selectivity than HA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Lactobacillus species as emerging pathogens in neutropenic patients.

The intensive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in the context of prolonged and severe neutropenia has contributed to the emergence of unusual pathogens. Four new cases of severe Lactobacillus infections-three of septicemia and one of pneumonia-are reported. They occurred in patients with acute leukemia who had chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. All patients were treated in the same intensive care unit and received the same antimicrobial prophylaxis which included a total bowel decontamination containing vancomycin. The four patients were treated with a combination of intravenous ceftazidime and vancomycin prior to the development of Lactobacillus infection. Improvement in the condition of all patients was obtained with a treatment including penicillin and concurrent recovery of granulopoiesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Use of high dose benzodiazepines in alcohol and sedative withdrawal delirium.

The authors describe two patients who required massive doses of benzodiazepines to treat complicated alcohol and sedative withdrawal delirium. Some of the factors that contribute to difficulties in management are discussed. Finally, we describe the advantages and disadvantages of high dose pharmacologic management and controversies regarding psychopharmacologic management of such complex patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Purinergic transmitters inhibit bone formation by cultured osteoblasts.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and other purinoceptor agonists cause a transient rise in [Ca2+]i in cultured osteoblast-like cells and have a mitogenic effect, as does parathyroid hormone (PTH), and there is evidence that ATP and PTH can act synergistically on osteoblasts. The likelihood that nucleotides, acting through purinoceptors, are important local factors in bone remodeling is therefore considerable. However, their effect on bone formation is unknown. We recently developed a culture system in which appositional bone formation occurs only in narrow grooves cut in a substratum. We have used this as an assay to measure the effects of ATP (50 and 500 mumol/L), ATP gamma S (20 mumol/L), 2-MeSATP (2 and 20 mumol/L), uridine triphosphate (UTP) (0.2, 2, and 20 mumol/L), adenosine (20 mumol/L), bovine PTH (0.25 and 0.5 IU/mL), rat PTH1-34 (10(-8) and 10(-7) mol/L), and rat PTHrP1-40 (10(-9) and 10(-8) mol/L) on bone formation by rat calvarial osteoblasts. The culture medium was renewed 3 times/week (every 2 or 3 days), and the number of bone loci and length and area of Alizarin red-stained mineralized bone formed in the grooves of each specimen in 16-29 days were measured. Compared with controls, ATP gamma S, 2-MeSATP, and ATP reduced the amount of bone formed in a 2-3 week culture period. Adenosine had no effect, and UTP either had no effect or at 2 mumol/L stimulated bone formation. PTH and PTHrP completely abolished bone formation in 4 week cultures. Our findings are consistent with evidence for more than one P2 purinoceptor subtype in bone, and show for the first time that the effect of ATP on appositional bone formation by osteoblasts in vitro is, like PTH and PTHrP, inhibitory.

Adenosine↗