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D W Bauer

Publications and source records attributed to D W Bauer.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Results from the use of a 3-year computer competency curriculum in a family practice residency.

BACKGROUND: Computer competency is becoming essential to practicing family physicians. However, no published computer curricula exist for family practice residents. METHODS: A computer competency curriculum was designed, implemented, and evaluated. Computer software was divided into four categories: patient care, education, practice management, and hospital resources. Competency was measured and recorded by faculty. The residents evaluated the adequacy and relevance of the curriculum to their current and future needs using a questionnaire. RESULTS: Competency testing revealed that residents uniformly achieved competency but at different rates. Residents rated the quality and quantity of instruction in patient care programs highest and in practice management lowest. The usefulness of patient care programs was perceived as high during residency but was expected to be less useful after residency. In contrast, the usefulness of practice management programs was rated as low during residency but expected to be high after graduation. Education and hospital programs were intermediate. Self-assessment indicated that computer use increased during residency; 90% of residents characterized themselves as frequent users. CONCLUSIONS: Despite logistical problems, teaching computer literacy is a responsibility of physician educators. A curriculum must be continually evaluated to ensure that it remains current and relevant to the needs of the residents.

Computer User Training

In vitro assembly of coiled bodies in Xenopus egg extract.

When demembranated sperm nuclei are placed in a Xenopus egg extract, they become surrounded by a nuclear envelope and then swell to form morphologically typical pronuclei. Granules ranging from < 1.0 to approximately 3.0 microns in diameter appear within such nuclei. Bell et al. identified four nucleolar proteins in these "prenucleolar bodies" by immunofluorescent staining (fibrillarin, nucleolin, B23/NO38, 180-kDa nucleolar protein). By in situ hybridization we show that these bodies also contain U3 and U8 small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), known to be involved in pre-rRNA processing. Moreover, they contain all the snRNAs involved in pre-mRNA splicing (U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6), as well as U7, which is required for histone pre-mRNA 3' end formation. In addition to the nucleolar antigens previously identified, we demonstrated staining with antibodies against the Sm epitope, trimethylguanosine, and coilin. Because the composition of these prenucleolar bodies is closer to that of coiled bodies than to nucleoli, we propose that they be referred to as coiled bodies. The existence of large coiled bodies in transcriptionally inactive pronuclei suggests that they may play a role in the import, assembly, and storage of RNA processing components but are not themselves sites of processing. In transcriptionally active nuclei coiled bodies could serve as sites for initial preassembly and distribution of snRNP complexes for the three major RNA processing pathways: pre-mRNA splicing, pre-rRNA processing, and histone pre-mRNA 3' end formation.

Amino Acid Sequence

Harpin, elicitor of the hypersensitive response produced by the plant pathogen Erwinia amylovora.

A proteinaceous elicitor of the plant defense reaction known as the hypersensitive response was isolated from Erwinia amylovora, the bacterium that causes fire blight of pear, apple, and other rosaceous plants. The elicitor, named harpin, is an acidic, heat-stable, cell-envelope-associated protein with an apparent molecular weight of 44 kilodaltons. Harpin caused tobacco leaf lamina to collapse and caused an increase in the pH of bathing solutions of suspension-cultured tobacco cells. The gene encoding harpin (hrpN) was located in the 40-kilobase hrp gene cluster of E. amylovora, sequenced, and mutated with Tn5tac1. The hrpN mutants were not pathogenic to pear, did not elicit the hypersensitive response, and did not produce harpin.

Amino Acid Sequence

The Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae 61 hrpH product, an envelope protein required for elicitation of the hypersensitive response in plants.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae 61 contains a 25-kb cluster of hrp genes that are required for elicitation of the hypersensitive response (HR) in tobacco. TnphoA mutagenesis of cosmid pHIR11, which contains the hrp cluster, revealed two genes encoding exported or inner-membrane-spanning proteins (H.-C. Huang, S. W. Hutcheson, and A. Collmer, Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 4:469-476, 1991). The gene in complementation group X, designated hrpH, was subcloned on a 3.1-kb SalI fragment into pCPP30, a broad-host-range, mobilizable vector. The subclone restored the ability of hrpH mutant P. syringae pv. syringae 61-2089 to elicit the HR in tobacco. DNA sequence analysis of the 3.1-kb SalI fragment revealed a single open reading frame encoding an 81,956-Da preprotein with a typical amino-terminal signal peptide and no likely inner-membrane-spanning hydrophobic regions. hrpH was expressed in the presence of [35S]methionine by using the T7 RNA polymerase-promoter system and vector pT7-3 in Escherichia coli and was shown to encode a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 83,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The HrpH protein in E. coli was located in the membrane fraction and was absent from the periplasm and cytoplasm. The HrpH protein possessed similarity with several outer membrane proteins that are known to be involved in protein or phage secretion, including the Klebsiella oxytoca PulD protein, the Yersinia enterocolitica YscC protein, and the pIV protein of filamentous coliphages. All of these proteins possess a possible secretion motif, GG(X)12VP(L/F)LXXIPXIGXL(F/L), near the carboxyl terminus, and they lack a carboxyl-terminal phenylalanine, in contrast to other outer membrane proteins with no known secretion function. These results suggest that the P. syringae pv. syringae HrpH protein is involved in the secretion of a proteinaceous HR elicitor.

Amino Acid Sequence

Irrelevant differences in the "same"--"different" task.

This article examines the effects of irrelevant information on the multidimensional "same"--"different" task. Subjects were instructed to compare two geometric figures with respect to certain attributes but to ignore other attributes in making the "same"--"different" decision. The irrelevant attributes were chosen in such a way that they could not easily be ignored to see how the existence of irrelevant differences would affect the comparison process. As expected, the overall latencies were longer than is usually found in tasks with no irrelevant differences. However, the nature of the comparison process appeared unchanged. The usual finding of a "fast-same" phenomenon persisted even when irrelevant information was present. The similarity of the results in this task to results in the "same"--"different" task with no irrelevant features supports the idea that the same comparison mechanism is used whether or not irrelevant differences are present in the stimulus pairs. The results suggest a more general-purpose comparison mechanism than is usually included in models of this task. Two-process models of visual comparisons are thus ruled out entirely. A modified version of Krueger's noisy-operator theory does appear consistent with the results.

Discrimination Learning

Erwinia chrysanthemi hrp genes and their involvement in soft rot pathogenesis and elicitation of the hypersensitive response.

Unlike the bacterial pathogens that typically cause the hypersensitive response (HR) in plants, Erwinia chrysanthemi has a wide host range, rapidly kills and macerates host tissues, and secretes several isozymes of the macerating enzyme pectate lyase (Pel). PelABCE- and Out- (secretion-deficient) mutants were observed to produce a rapid necrosis in tobacco leaves that was indistinguishable from the HR elicited by the narrow-host-range pathogens E. amylovora Ea321 and Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae 61. E. amylovora Ea321 hrp genes were used to identify hybridizing cosmids in a cosmid library of E. chrysanthemi EC16 DNA in Escherichia coli. A 16-kb BamHI fragment in one of these cosmids, pCPP2030, hybridized with E. amylovora hrp genes and was mutagenized with Tn10mini-kan. The mutations were introduced into the PelABCE- mutant CUCPB5006 by marker exchange. Two of the resultant hrp::Tn10mini-kan mutations were found to abolish the ability of CUCPB5006 to cause any necrosis in tobacco leaves unless complemented with pCPP2030. These two mutations were also marker-exchanged into the genome of wild-type strain AC4150. Analysis of DNA sequences flanking the hrp-2::Tn10mini-kan insertion revealed the mutated gene to be similar to a gene in E. amylovora Ea321 hrp complementation group VIII and to P. s. pv. syringae 61 hrpX. Neither of the hrp::Tn10mini-kan mutations affected the production or secretion of pectic enzymes by AC4150 or CUCPB5006. However, the hrp mutations reduced the ability of both AC4150 and CUCPB5006 to incite successful infections in witloof chicory leaves.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Base Sequence

Reimbursement issues in diabetes.

Third-party reimbursement for outpatient education services and for new health care technologies in diabetes is an issue of concern to educators, administrators, and others in the diabetes health care system. Reimbursement for outpatient education has been obtained from 11 Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans in nine states, six commercial insurance companies in four states, Medicare in five states, and Medicaid in one state. Despite these successes, third-party payers still must be approached on an individual basis. We review approaches taken by different states and diabetes control programs and make recommendations on how to request third-party reimbursement for outpatient education services. Third-party reimbursement of diabetes-related technologies/services and equipment is found to be dependent on the type of coverage the individual has, the state in which he or she is located, and the item or procedure covered. Many third-party payers do not have stated policies on reimbursement of a particular piece of equipment such as the insulin pump, or they do not have consistent, well-communicated standards for determining coverage.

Ambulatory Care