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Biomedical subjects

E G Armstrong

Publications and source records attributed to E G Armstrong.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

A comprehensive clerkship in family medicine.

A 6-week family medicine clerkship that is comprehensive in its approach to the academic base of family medicine and in its integration of clinical and didactic experiences is discussed. The goals of the clerkship are to enable students to: acquire knowledge of common illnesses in ambulatory care; integrate compassion, concern and empathy in the delivery of comprehensive and personalized care; and to experience the medical and social issues of family medicine. The curriculum includes 50 hours of didactic preparation in the family life cycle, common illnesses, patient interviewing, problem-oriented medical records, genograms . compliance, and clinical problem-solving. Clinical experiences include placement in a family practice centre, an experience in a drug-abuse treatment centre and a brief rotation in geriatric medicine. Students are evaluated on their performance in clinical settings and in an objective test of primary care concepts. Test performance shows significant growth from student pre- to post-test scores. Student evaluations have been very favourable toward the clerkship, and self-reports reveal growth in knowledge of common illnesses, problems of the elderly, problems of drug abuse and the role of the family doctor.

Clinical Clerkship↗
PubMed1984

Use of a highly sensitive and specific immunoradiometric assay for detection of human chorionic gonadotropin in urine of normal, nonpregnant, and pregnant individuals.

A highly sensitive and specific two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) for hCG has been developed and applied to the detection of the hormone in the urine of normal nonpregnant and pregnant individuals. The IRMA uses a solid phase coupled monoclonal antibody to the hCG beta-subunit for extraction of hormone from urine. The hCG extracted is then directly quantified by the binding of an affinity purified and radiolabeled rabbit antibody that reacts with the unique COOH-terminal peptide region of the hCG beta-subunit. The assay is capable of reliably and accurately measuring as little as 0.01 ng hCG/ml urine without interference from hLH. Assays of urine from normal men and nonpregnant women of reproductive age indicated that most individuals did not have detectable levels of hCG immunoreactivity, although a minority had minute amounts, with a mean value of approximately 0.01 ng hCG/mg creatinine. In contrast, all normal menopausal women studied had easily detectable levels of hCG immunoreactivity in their urine, with a mean value of 0.123 ng hCG/mg creatinine. A study of the excretion of hCG from three men injected with hormone for treatment of infertility indicated that after the first 24 h, hCG was cleared with a single exponential rate and was detectable to a level of 0.01 ng/ml. Application of the IRMA to measurements of hCG in the urine of two artificially inseminated patients indicated that the method was capable of detecting pregnancy as early as 9 days postovulation. The extreme sensitivity and specificity of the IRMA for urinary hCG in conjunction with the simplicity of assay performance and specimen collection should provide a substantial advantage over currently available methods for detection of early pregnancy and tumor monitoring.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Synthesis in vitro of corticosteroid-binding globulin from rat liver messenger ribonucleic acid.

To show that corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), a plasma glycoprotein, is synthesized in the liver as well as to develop a tool with which to study the hormonal factors which control its synthesis, we undertook to translate rat CBG mRNA in vitro. Rat liver mRNA was translated in the presence of [35S]methionine in both a rabbit reticulocyte lysate (cell-free) System and a Xenopus laevis oocyte (whole cell) system. A monospecific antibody against highly purified rat CBG was used to precipitate a single 35S-labeled product from the mixture of newly synthesized hepatic proteins in the two systems. In the rabbit reticulocyte lysate system, the protein migrated with an apparent molecular weight of 41,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis; CBG isolated from rat serum migrated as a doublet with apparent molecular weights of 56,000 and 62,500. Since proteins synthesized by a cell-free system are not glycosylated, the difference in molecular weight can probably be accounted for by the carbohydrate content of plasma CBG. Translation of rat liver mRNA in a Xenopus laevis oocyte system again resulted in immunoprecipitation of a single 35S-labeled protein, but this time with an apparent molecular weight of 53,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis; this probably represents glycosylated CBG and corresponds to the apparent molecular weight of one of the species isolated from rat plasma.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Effects of hypophysectomy and triiodothyronine on de novo biosynthesis, catalytic activity, and estrogen induction of rat liver histidase.

Synthesis of rat liver histidase is under multihormonal control; estrogen, glucocorticoid, and glucagon, via cAMP, induce this enzyme. By means of in vivo [3H]leucine incorporation into immunoprecipitated histidase, relative to that incorporated into total soluble protein, we have now demonstrated that de novo hepatic histidase synthesis, as well as catalytic activity, is selectively increased following hypophysectomy. Treatment of hypophysectomized rats with physiological levels of triiodothyronine (T3) diminished histidase synthetic rates and catalytic activities to normal levels, despite concomitant elevation in total soluble protein synthesis. Thyrotoxic doses of T3 further reduced histidase synthesis to barely measurable rates. Since thyroid hormone is under pituitary regulation, this hormone may be primary in the hypophyseal suppression of histidase. Estrogen does not induce hepatic histidase in the hypophysectomized rat. However, administration of the histidase suppressor, T3, or prolactin, which in itself has no effect on this enzyme, was ineffective in reinstating estrogen inducibility of histidase in the hypophysectomized animal. Thus, some as yet unknown hypophyseal agent is required for estrogenic inducibility of this liver enzyme.

Ammonia-Lyases↗
PubMed1978

Massage parlors and their customers.

Journalistic and sociological studies of massage parlors and massage parlor customers do not serve the development of scientifically sound generalizations. They begin with the assumptions that massage parlors are brothels renamed and that the customers are problematic individuals seeking impersonal sexual exchanges. This standard view of the parlors and customers is here challenged and an alternative approach suggested. The results of an empirical examination of the customers of a West Coast massage parlor are summarized. Data were obtained by a massage parlor worker--an unnamed coauthor--who recorded information about every personal customer during her initial period of work. Both demographic and voluntaristic factors are specified. Included are ethnic origin and occupation, the proposition, the offer of financial reward, the sexual activity desired, and the sexual activity that resulted. A comparison of two views on the nature of the customer demonstrates the limitations the standard view imposes on the potential examination of massage parlors in general. Massage parlors are not brothels renamed and the massage parlor customers are not sex-seeking problematic individuals. Given the results of the empirical examination, the basic complexity of the parlors and their customers is seen as the key aspect on which scientifically sound generalization may be built.

Humans↗
PubMed1977

Changes in estrogen receptor levels during deciduomata development in the pseudopregnant rat.

The presence of a cytoplasmic estradiol receptor with an affinity constant of 10(10)M-1 has been demonstrated in the differentiated fibroblasts comprising the deciduomata in pseudopregnant rats. The receptor had a sedimentation coefficient of 6S in sucrose density gradients containing a physiological concentration of salt, and estradiol binding was completely abolished by a hundred-fold excess of unlabeled estradiol. During the early stages of decidualization (days 2 and 3), the decidualized uterine horn or isolated deciduomal tissue contained a concentration of receptor comparable to that in non-gravid uteri from rats ovariectomized at estrus. By day 5 of decidualization, the concentration of estradiol binding in deciduomal tissue decreased to about one-half the concentration measurable at days 2 and 3 of decidualization despite continued tissue growth until day 7. By day 7 of decidualization, estradiol binding had decreased to about 20% of the concentration on days 2 and 3 of decidualization. Cytosol from untreated uterine horns of rats bearing deciduomata bound the same amount of estradiol through day 7 as that in uteri of rats ovariectomized at estrus. These observations are discussed in terms of steroid hormone involved in deciduomal growth and regression.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Changes in progesterone receptor levels during deciduomata development in the pseudopregnant rat.

A specific cytoplasmic progesterone receptor has been identified and quantified in the deciduomata of the pseudopregnant rat. The receptor had a sedimentation coefficient of 6-7S on sucrose density gradients and was inactivated by proteolytic enzymes, sulfhydryl blocking agents and elevated temperature. The equilibrium association constant for the binding of progesterone by the deciduomal receptor was determined to be approximately 10(9)M-1. The concentrations of progesterone receptor sites in cytosols prepared from deciduomata on day 3 and 5 of decidualization were 3.4 +/- 0.3 X 10(-10)M and 3.6 +/- 0.4 X 10(10)M, respectively, when normalized to a protein concentration of 1 mg/ml. These concentrations of progesterone receptor sites were similar to that measured in the uterine cytosol of estrous rats or in the contralateral untreated uterine horn of rats undergoing decidualization. Following day 5 of decidualization the concentrations of progesterone receptor sites decreased linearly so that by day 7 the concentration was approximately one-half that at days 3 and 5. The physiological significance of the progesterone receptor and the decrease in its concentration with time are discussed with regard to their influence on the decidualization reaction.

Animals↗