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Biomedical subjects

E Strauss

Publications and source records attributed to E Strauss.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Microbiology. Simple hosts may help reveal how bacteria infect cells.

Important human pathogens invade and harm simple organisms. What's more, these infections require many of the same bacterial genes needed to make mammals sick. These observations suggest that even though simple organisms aren't perfect models for complex hosts such as mammals, the basic mechanisms by which bacteria establish infections in the various organisms may be similar. As a result, the work may help microbiologists identify the host proteins involved in infections, thereby providing potential new targets for antibacterial drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Academic research. California sets up three new institutes.

Three University of California campuses were chosen last week as sites for a new $900 million program designed to keep the state a world leader in research and to bolster its economy. Each of the three schools will receive $25 million a year for 4 years from the state, with companies and other sources putting up at least twice that amount.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMed2000

Molecular biology. New way found to study closely related proteins.

Rather than designing specific inhibitors for closely related proteins, researchers are remodeling the proteins to make them uniquely susceptible to inhibition. As described in the 21 September issue of Nature, the technique involves enlarging the active site of an enzyme so that it can bind an inhibitor that won't fit into the active sites of related--but unaltered--enzymes. Researchers can then insert the gene that encodes the modified enzyme into cells or living animals and turn off that enzyme by feeding them the inhibitor--without affecting other, very similar, enzymes. The technique may have some advantages over other approaches to studying the functions of individual proteins, such as mutating or knocking out the genes that encode them, which may disrupt embryonic development, producing abnormal animals or no animals at all.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed2000

Molecular biology. Targeting intron insertion into DNA.

In work reported on page 452, researchers have found a way to coax certain introns, bits of genetic debris that litter the DNA and interrupt the coding sequences of many genes, to hop into the exact sequences where the researchers want them. The method could enhance all sorts of genetic manipulations, from studying basic gene function to combating viral infections to delivering genes for gene therapy.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed2000

Theory of mind and executive functions in normal human aging and Parkinson's disease.

Although the majority of research in theory of mind (TOM) has focused on young children or individuals with autism, recent investigations have begun to look at TOM throughout the lifespan and in other neurological and psychiatric populations. Some have suggested that TOM may represent a dissociable, modular brain system that is related to, but separable, from other brain functions including executive functions (EF). Recently, studies have shown that TOM performance can be compromised following an acquired brain insult (e.g., damage to the right hemisphere). However, the relationship of such impaired TOM performance to other brain functions in these cases has not been explored. This study investigated the effects of both normal human aging and Parkinson's disease on TOM. The relationship of TOM performance and EF in these groups was also examined. The results suggested that although TOM performance appeared compromised in the group of individuals with Parkinson's disease, the elderly control participants were relatively unimpaired relative to younger individuals. Significant relationships between several measures of TOM and EF were also found. The implications of these findings, and also the finding that failure on one measure of TOM did not necessarily predict failure on all measures of TOM, are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Intraindividual variability in cognitive performance in older adults: comparison of adults with mild dementia, adults with arthritis, and healthy adults.

Intraindividual variability in latency and accuracy of cognitive performance across both trials and occasions was examined in 3 groups of older adults: healthy adults, adults with arthritis, and adults diagnosed with mild dementia. Participants completed 2 reaction-time and 2 episodic-memory tasks on 4 occasions. Results indicated that intraindividual variability in latency was greater in individuals diagnosed with mild dementia than in adults who were neurologically intact, regardless of their health status. Individual differences in variability were stable over time and across cognitive domains. Intraindividual variability was also related to level of performance and was uniquely predictive of neurological status, independent of level of performance. Results suggest that intraindividual variability may be a behavioral indicator of compromised neurological mechanisms.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Implications of test revisions for research.

Test revisions are increasingly common in psychology and neuropsychology in particular. However, such revisions may alter in complex ways the kind of information obtained, and they may assess traits, abilities, and conditions in ways different from earlier versions. This article outlines some of the problems associated with the revision of tests facing clinicians and researchers. Three broad classes of revision are considered. Part 1 considers the aging of tests, part 2 concerns the aging of participants, and part 3 considers changes in test format. Although the article focuses largely on measures of intelligence and personality, the issues addressed in the article apply to other tests and assessment domains as well.

Aging↗
PubMed2000

Effect of depression on neuropsychological functioning in head injury: measurable but minimal.

The goals of the study were to determine how neuropsychological functioning is related to depressive status in persons with head injury, and to quantify this relationship from a clinically relevant standpoint. Participants were 175 adults involved in litigation, referred for evaluation of suspected head injury. Depression status was measured using the Depression Content (Dep) scale of the MMPI-2. Depression status was related to measures of visual attention and psychomotor skills, but not to other neuropsychological domains such as verbal ability, visual-spatial reasoning, or encoding/organization. However, differences between low Dep and high Dep groups were minimal from a clinical standpoint. Depression appeared to contribute to an increased risk of impaired neuropsychological performance across domains, but only in persons not severely compromised by neuropsychological deficits. Overall, the results indicated a small effect of depression on neuropsychological functioning that is likely only detectable in persons whose neuropsychological compromise is relatively minimal.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Lack of hypoxic stimulation of VEGF secretion from neutrophils and platelets.

Low oxygen (O(2)) is the key stimulus for expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in several adherent cells. Whether hypoxia also directs the release of VEGF protein from neutrophils (polymorphonuclear neutrophils; PMN) and platelets has not been investigated. We therefore compared VEGF release of platelets, PMN, and human vascular smooth muscle cells (HSMC) in response to hypoxia with that to activators of cellular degranulation. In contrast to HSMC, VEGF release from PMN and platelets or VEGF mRNA expression in PMN was not stimulated under hypoxic conditions (1% O(2)). Hypo- or hyperthermia and acidosis, other conditions potentially associated with ischemic and inflammatory tissue injury, also did not stimulate VEGF secretion from PMN. However, stimulation of platelets with thrombin and of PMN with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate induced a time-dependent release of VEGF, peaking after 30 and 60 min, respectively. This was blocked by the degranulation inhibitor pentoxifylline but not by the protein-synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. We conclude that rapid release of VEGF from platelets and PMN may occur independently of oxygenation during inflammation and hemostasis.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Temporal lobectomy in children: cognitive outcome.

OBJECT: The authors sought to determine the impact of early temporal lobectomy (in patients younger than age 17 years) on intellectual functioning. The efficacy of temporal lobectomy for treating seizures is well established and the procedure is becoming more acceptable as a treatment for children whose seizures are intractable. However, cognitive outcomes of temporal lobectomy in children and adolescents are largely unreported. The present study takes advantage of a unique multicenter collaboration to examine retrospectively intellectual functioning in a large sample of children who underwent temporal lobectomy. METHODS: Intellectual functioning was assessed before and after temporal lobectomy for treatment of medication-resistant seizures in 82 patients at eight centers of epilepsy surgery. All children underwent standard presurgical examinations, including electroencephalography-video monitoring, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and neuropsychological testing, at their respective centers. Forty-three children underwent left temporal lobectomy and 39 underwent right temporal lobectomy. For the entire sample, there were no significant declines in intelligence quotient (IQ) following surgery. Children who underwent left temporal lobectomy demonstrated no significant loss in verbal intellectual functioning and improved significantly in nonverbal intellectual functioning. Children who underwent right temporal lobectomy did not demonstrate significant changes in intellectual functioning. Although group scores showed no change in overall IQ values, an analysis of individual changes revealed that approximately 10% of the sample experienced a significant decline and 9% experienced significant improvement in verbal functioning. Significant improvement in nonverbal cognitive function was observed in 16% of the sample and only 2% of the sample showed significant declines. Risk factors for significant decline included older patient age at the time of surgery and the presence of a structural lesion other than mesial temporal sclerosis on MR imaging. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides preliminary data for establishing the risk of cognitive morbidity posed by temporal lobectomy performed during childhood. With respect to global intellectual functioning, a slight improvement was significantly more likely to occur than a decline. However, there were several patients in whom significant declines did occur. It will be necessary to study further the factors associated with such declines. In addition, further study of more specific cognitive functions, particularly memory, is needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Note on the use of the Postconcussion Syndrome Checklist.

Symptoms of the Postconcussion Syndrome (PCS) were evaluated in a university sample, using the Postconcussion Syndrome Checklist (PCSC). Three hundred twenty-six participants completed a questionnaire regarding history of head injury, cognitive or psychosocial difficulties, and demographic data. Scores on the PCSC did not vary by self-report of head injury. Females, however, endorsed more frequent, intense, and prolonged symptomatology, regardless of history or severity of head injury. Only 5% of the sample endorsed more than 6 symptoms on the PCSC, suggesting a potentially useful cutoff for abnormality. The PCSC was significantly correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory, suggesting that general level of psychological distress is a key factor in evaluating symptoms of PCS.

Journal Article↗