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Biomedical subjects

C West

Publications and source records attributed to C West.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Youth dating violence.

Adolescents' responses to the Youth Dating Violence Survey have previously been documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1996). The present study on dating violence examined the responses of thirty-seven adolescents enrolled in an alternative high school program. Many reported psychological victimization in a dating relationship: their partners did something to make them feel jealous, damaged their possessions, said things to hurt their feelings, insulted them in front of others, tried to control them, threatened them, blamed them for bad things the dating partners did, and brought up something from the past to hurt them. In terms of perpetrating psychological abuse in a dating relationship, over half of the adolescents reported that they hurt their dating partners' feelings, insulted them in front of others, did something just to make them jealous, tried to control them, and damaged their possessions. Many of the adolescents had also been victims of physical violence in their dating relationships; they reported being scratched, slapped, slammed or held against a wall, kicked, bitten, forced to have sex, choked, and pushed, grabbed, or shoved, as well as having their arms twisted and fingers bent. Some perpetrated physical violence in dating situations, such as scratching their dating partners, hitting them with a fist or something hard, throwing something that hit their dating partners, kicking them, slapping them, physically twisting their arms, slamming or holding them against a wall, bending their fingers, biting them, choking them, and pushing, grabbing, or shoving them. The findings confirm that dating violence among adolescents is a serious health problem that needs to be addressed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Candida antigen and antibody kinetics during antifungal therapy in non-neutropenic intensive care patients].

The present study aimed at determining Candida antigen and antibody kinetics during antifungal therapy. 115 non-neutropenic patients with a stay of more than 5 days in an interdisciplinary intensive care unit during a period of 2 years were reviewed. Routinely measured Candida antigen and antibody titers were evaluated at the beginning and during antifungal therapy. In 67 patients serological data were evaluable in defined time slots. Under fluconazole therapy (FT) the median of Candida antigen (Ramco) was 1:4 and did not change significantly. Candida antibody level increased from 1:80 to 1:320. Initial titers between FT and amphotericin B/5-fluorocytosine therapy (AT) showed a significant difference. During AT antigen titers decreased from 1:8 to 1:4 while antibody titers kept constant at a level of 1:160.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1999

The immunohistochemical expression of DNA-PKCS and Ku (p70/p80) in head and neck cancers: relationships with radiosensitivity.

PURPOSE: The DNA-PK complex is one of the major pathways by which mammalian cells respond to DNA double-strand breaks induced by ionizing radiation. This study evaluated the relationship between the immunohistochemical expression of the individual components of DNA-PK and cellular radiosensitivity in head and neck cancers. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Biopsies from patients with previously untreated squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck were assessed for inherent tumor radiosensitivity measured as the surviving fraction at 2 Gy (SF2) using a soft agar clonogenic assay. Paraffin-embedded tumor material from 64 successfully grown specimens was immunohistochemically stained for expression of DNA-PKcs and Ku (p70/p80). The same tumor material was previously analyzed for the immunohistochemical expression of p53. RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between the degree of expression of DNA-PKcs and Ku (p70/p80) (r = 0.55, p<0.001). There were no overall significant differences in the levels of expression of DNA-PKcs and Ku (p70/p80) in tumors from patients of either sex, different sites, histologies, and stages. No relationship was found between SF2 and the expression of either DNA-PKcs (r = 0.22, p = 0.081) or Ku (p70/p80) (r = 0.064, p = 0.62). Comparison with previous immunohistochemical characterization showed no significant correlations between the expression levels of p53 and either DNA-PKcs (r = 0.093, p = 0.46) or Ku (p70/p80) (r = -0.17, p = 0.17). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that determining the immunohistochemical expression of DNA-PK in head and neck cancers from multiple sites does not have a role as a predictive assay of tumor in vitro radiosensitivity.

Antigens, Nuclear↗
PubMed1999

A comparison of four approaches for measuring clinician time use.

Concern about rapid growth in demand for reproductive health services in developing countries has created interest in productivity and costs of existing programmes. Staff costs usually constitute the largest share of total service costs, meriting special effort to ensure that they are measured accurately. Several techniques have been used in the literature to analyze staff activity, but these techniques have not been validated. This paper reports on a study conducted in three Ecuadoran clinics. The study uses an observational time-motion (TM) technique as a benchmark, and compares results from three other techniques to those obtained using TM. None of the alternative techniques produces estimates that agreed with TM estimates; deviations from TM are particularly large for non-contact time, defined as clinician activities carried out when clients are not present. Implications of these findings for productivity and cost studies are discussed, and possible avenues for future research are proposed.

Ecuador↗
PubMed1998

Discrimination of human tumor radioresponsiveness using low-dose rate irradiation.

PURPOSE: Evaluation of the theoretical and practical value of using low-dose rate (LDR) irradiation to increase the resolution of radiosensitivity testing of primary human tumors using clonogenic assays. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Fourteen human tumor cell lines were assessed for surviving fraction at 2-8 Gy (SF2-SF8) using low-dose rate irradiation and a clonogenic assay. Further data were collected from the literature for 64 low-dose rate irradiation survival curves from human tumor cell lines. The data were grouped into five different radioresponsiveness categories (A-E). An analysis was made of the ability of the graded survival levels to discriminate between the different radioresponse groups and compared with previous analyses for high-dose rate SF2. Fifteen human cervical carcinoma specimens were analysed for SF2 and SF3.5 following high- and low-dose rate irradiation. RESULTS: Low-dose rate irradiation increased the spread of tumor cell line radiosensitivity data and the ability to discriminate between radioresponse groups was greater at low than at high-dose rates. Using low-dose rate irradiation on primary tumor specimens and a soft agar clonogenic assay decreased the success rate in obtaining data. The latter dropped from 70% for high-dose rate SF2 to 51% for low-dose rate SF3.5. CONCLUSIONS: The work on cell lines illustrates that low-dose rate irradiation does improve the ability of clonogenic radiosensitivity measurements to discriminate between tumors of different radioresponsiveness groups. However, using low-dose rate irradiation on primary human tumors with a soft agar clonogenic assay was not practical because of reducing the success rate for obtaining data for radiosensitivity measurements.

Cell Survival↗
PubMed1998

The human Nramp2 gene: characterization of the gene structure, alternative splicing, promoter region and polymorphisms.

Nramp2 is a gene encoding a transmembrane protein that is important in metal transport, in particular iron. Mutations in nramp2 have been shown to be associated with microcytic anemia in mk/mk mice and defective iron transport in Belgrade rats. Nramp2 contains a classical iron responsive element in the 3' untranslated region that confers iron dependent mRNA stabilization. In this report, we describe a splice variant form of human nramp2 that has the carboxyl terminal 18 amino acids substituted with 25 novel amino acids and has a new 3' untranslated region lacking a classical iron-responsive element. This splice form of nramp2, nramp2 non-IRE, was found to be derived from splicing of an additional exon into the terminal coding exon. The nramp2 gene is comprised of 17 exons and spans more than 36 kb. It contains an additional 5' exon and intron (exon and intron 1) and an additional 3' exon (exon 17) and intron (intron 16) as compared to nramp1, a homologous gene. The additional exons and introns account for much of the difference in length between nramp2 (> 36 kb) and nramp1 (12 kb). The exon-intron borders of nramp2 exons 3-15 are homologous to nramp1 exons 2-14. The nramp2 5' regulatory region contains two CCAAT boxes but lacks a TATA box. The 5' regulatory region of nramp2 also contains five potential metal response elements (MRE's) that are similar to the MRE's found in the metallothionein-IIA gene, three potential SP1 binding sites and a single gamma-interferon regulatory element. Five single nucleotide mutations or polymorphisms were identified within the nramp2 gene. One of these, 1303C-->A, occurs in the coding region of nramp2 and results in an amino acid change from leucine to isolecine. A polymorphism, 1254T/C, also occurs in the coding region of nramp2 but does not cause an amino acid change. The other 3 polymorphisms are within introns (IVS2 + 11A/G, IVS4 + 44C/A, and IVS6 + 538G/Gdel). In addition, a polymorphic microsatellite TATATCTATATATC (TA)6-7 (CA)10-11 CCCCCTATA (TATC)3 (TCTG)5 TCCG (TCTA)6 was identified in intron 3. Analysis of cDNA derived by direct amplification of reversed transcribed RNA or cDNA clones isolated from a library provide evidence of skipping of exons 10 and 12 of nramp2. Deletion of either of these exons would result in a sequence that remains in frame yet would generate a protein that would lack transmembrane spanning region 7 or 8 respectively. The deletion of a single transmembrane domain would have severe topological consequences. The coding region of the nramp2 gene of hemochromatosis patients with or without mutations in the hemochromatosis gene, HFE, were examined and found to be normal. One hemochromatosis patient, with a normal HFE genotype, was heterozygous for the 1303C-->A mutation. Furthermore, in an examination of hemochromatosis patients with mutant HFE and normal HFE genes, we did not observe a linkage disequilibrium of either group with a particular nramp2 haplotype. These data suggest that mutations in nramp2 are not commonly associated with hemochromatosis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Indoor biofuel air pollution and respiratory health: the role of confounding factors among women in highland Guatemala.

BACKGROUND: A number of studies have reported associations between indoor biofuel air pollution in developing countries and chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) in adults and acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in children. Most of these studies have used indirect measures of exposure and generally dealt inadequately with confounding. More reliable, quantified information about this presumed effect is an important pre-requisite for prevention, not least because of the technical, economic and cultural barriers to achieving substantial exposure reductions in the world's poorest households, where ambient pollution levels are typically between ten and a hundred times higher than recommended standards. This study was carried out as part of a programme of research designed to inform the development of intervention studies capable of providing quantified estimates of health benefits. METHODS: The association between respiratory symptoms and the use of open fires and chimney woodstoves ('planchas'), and the distribution of confounding factors, were examined in a cross-sectional study of 340 women aged 15-45 years, living in a poor rural area in the western highlands of Guatemala. RESULTS: The prevalence of reported cough and phlegm was significantly higher for three of six symptom measures among women using open fires. Although this finding is consistent with a number of other studies, none has systematically examined the extent to which strong associations with confounding variables in these settings limit the ability of observational studies to define the effect of indoor air pollution adequately. Very strong associations (P < 0.0001) were found between the type of fire and a number of household and socioeconomic factors including the arrangement of rooms, floor type, and possession of a radio and television. The spouse's economic activity type was also significantly associated (P < 0.05). Thus, while 82% of open fire users had dirt floors and only 18% cement or tile floors, the situation was reversed for plancha users, only 16% of whom had dirt floors. CONCLUSIONS: Confounding presents a substantial problem for observational studies of indoor air pollution and health, although there is a reasonable case for believing that the observed association is causal. Intervention studies are required for stronger evidence of this association, and more importantly, to determine the size of health benefit achievable through feasible exposure reductions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Three genes encoding zinc finger proteins on human chromosome 6p21.3: members of a new subclass of the Kruppel gene family containing the conserved SCAN box domain.

Five genes encoding zinc finger proteins of the Cys2His2 (or Krüppel) family were identified by direct cDNA hybridization to YACs 753H12 and 638D7, which encompass a region of human chromosome 6p21.3 extending from just centromeric of the microsatellite marker D6S306 to telomeric of D6S1260. The genes span a distance of approximately 1750 kb. The complete cDNA sequence, genomic structure, and tissue distribution of three of the zinc finger proteins, LD65/ZNF165, ZNF192 (previously called LD5-1), and ZNF193, are described. The three zinc finger proteins do not contain either Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) A or KRAB B domain, present in about one-third of all Krüppel-type zinc finger proteins (E. J. Bellefroid et al., 1991, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88: 3608-3612). The three zinc finger proteins do contain the conserved SCAN box domain (A. J. Williams et al., 1995, J. Biol. Chem. 270: 22143-22152). SCAN boxes are found in eight other genes in the GenBank database, five of which are also in the Kruppel family of zinc finger proteins lacking KRAB A and B domains and thereby define a new subclass of zinc finger proteins. In addition, three polymorphisms were identified in ZNF192, one of the zinc finger proteins. One of the three polymorphisms, Pro163Leu, is the second proline in a proline cluster (PEPP) in a region separating the SCAN box from the zinc finger motifs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Commentary

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Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

New diallelic markers in the HLA region of chromosome 6.

Diallelic polymorphisms have been identified in the HLA-H gene and the ZNF192 gene located about 2 megabases centromeric to HLA-H. The three polymorphic sites in HLA-H together with the two hemochromatosis mutations in this gene give rise to 8 different haplotypes. The three polymorphic sites in ZNF192 give rise to 4 different haplotypes. The haplotypes in HLA-H are in complete linkage disequilibrium with the two common mutations in that gene, 845A (C282Y) and 187G (H63D). The 845A mutation is in weak linkage disequilibrium with the ZNF192 polymorphisms and the 187G mutation appears to be in equilibrium with this polymorphism. The 187G mutation therefore appears to be the older of the two HLA-H mutations.

Alleles↗
PubMed1997

Glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI) deficiency mutations associated with hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia (HNSHA).

Five unrelated patients with hereditary glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI) deficiency resulting in nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia were studied. Three new mutations were found in the coding region of the GPI gene: two patients were heterozygous for 223 A-->G (R75G) and 898 G-->C(R300P), respectively and one was homozygous for 1415G-->A(R472H). Surprisingly, 2 previously reported mutations, 286 C-->T and 1039 C-->T, were found in 2 and 3 patients respectively. Until now only 4 of 18 GPI mutations had been found more than once in unrelated patients and these 4 in only 2 patients each. Eleven of the 20 known point mutations have occurred at CpG "hot spots" and the 286 C-->T and 1039 C-->T are among these. The 489 G/A polymorphism in the GPI coding region was used to demonstrate unequivocally that the 1039 C-->T mutation occurred in both haplotypes and therefore probably originated more than once. Because no common GPI mutation has been found we suggest that heterozygosity for GPI confers little if any selective advantage.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Allelic association between D2 but not D1 dopamine receptor gene and alcoholism in Finland.

We studied the relationship of D2 and D1 receptor gene polymorphisms and alcoholism in male Finnish alcoholics and assessed male controls. Seventy alcoholics entering a detoxification programme and 50 control individuals were recruited. Forty-three per cent of the alcoholic patients, but only 22% of controls, had the D2 receptor gene TaqI A restriction fragment length polymorphism A1 allele. The frequency of the A1 allele was significantly higher in alcoholics (p = 0.039). In comparison, no association between alcoholism and the D1 receptor gene EcoRI restriction fragment length polymorphism alleles was found. A logistic regression analysis of the alcoholic population failed to support the idea that the presence of the A1 allele would be linked to estimates of alcohol dependence severity rated with the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire or the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. In conclusion, allelic association between the D2 but not D1 receptor gene and alcoholism in a genetically relatively homogenous population of male Finns was found. The results are in agreement with the view that the D2 receptor locus is involved in genetic susceptibility to alcoholism but does not give support to a special association of severe alcohol dependence and the A1 allele of the D2 receptor gene.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1997

Trigeminal neo-neurotization of the paralyzed face.

Sporadic reports throughout the literature have documented the spontaneous return of facial function following deliberate intraoperative sacrifice of the facial nerve. Trigeminal reinnervation of the facial muscles has been suggested as one possible mechanism for this occurrence. Evidence for the phenomenon of trigeminal neo-neurotization has been documented experimentally. The case of a 62-year-old woman who underwent total left parotidectomy with transection of a large facial nerve segment is presented in order to provide further clinical evidence supporting trigeminal neo-neurotization of the facial nerve. Despite the lack of any efforts to reinnervate the patient or graft the facial nerve defect, the patient spontaneously developed return of facial function. Postoperative clinical and electrical testing in this case supports trigeminal-facial reinnervation as the cause for return of facial function. The case report is summarized with a brief discussion, and the relevant literature is thoroughly reviewed.

Electromyography↗