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Biomedical subjects

I Kirsch

Publications and source records attributed to I Kirsch.

94 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Biomarker assays in nipple aspirate fluid.

The noninvasive technique of nipple aspiration as a potential source of biomarkers of breast cancer risk was evaluated. The feasibility of performing mutagenesis assays, amplifying DNA, and performing protein electrophoresis on nipple aspirate fluid was explored. A tool was developed to measure the level of discomfort, if any, from this procedure. Twenty-five healthy women (20 premenopausal and 5 postmenopausal) were enrolled. Fluid was obtained using a modified breast pump. Premenopausal women were scheduled for four to six weekly aspirations, and postmenopausal women were scheduled for one to two weekly aspirations. Mutagenesis assays were performed using the Salmonella (Ames) assay. DNA amplification of several microsatellite regions was carried out using polymerase chain reaction. Protein was quantified, and two-dimensional protein electrophoresis was performed. Overall, fluid was obtained from 80% of the women, and the level of discomfort was minimal. Acid hydrolysis of one sample resulted in mutagenicity; all six nonhydrolyzed samples were not mutagenic. The ability to amplify DNA ranged from 34% to 96%, depending on length of the microsatellite region examined. The average protein concentration was 71 microg/mL. Two-dimensional protein electrophoresis was successfully performed on samples from two subjects. Nipple aspiration is a simple technique and is easily learned and well tolerated, which yields a reagent useful for a variety of investigations. This technique may facilitate the identification and application of biomarkers for future breast cancer risk assessment and chemopreventive protocols.

Adult↗

The response set theory of hypnosis.

The response set theory of hypnosis (Kirsch & Lynn, 1997) is an extension of response expectancy theory (Kirsch, 1985), which is rooted in social cognitive approach to understanding human experience and behavior. Although the idea of a uniquely hypnotic altered state of consciousness is rejected, so too are compliance-based explanations of hypnotic behavior. Suggestions, in or out of the social context of hypnosis, can produce profound alterations in experience, including dissociative experiences, and these can be verified through corresponding changes in brain physiology. Response expectancies play a major, but not exclusive, role in the production of subjective experience in general (Kinsbourne, 1998) and therefore of these suggested experiences as well. Because of widespread cultural beliefs about hypnosis, the hypnotic context intensifies the effects of suggestion for most people, and this is the primary source of its therapeutic effects.

Arousal↗

Detection and quantitation of aflatoxin B1 in orange juice by SOS-Chromotest.

A new method for the detection and quantitation of aflatoxin B1 in liquids is described. The method is based on the SOS Chromotest, in which damage caused by aflatoxin B1 to the DNA of suitably engineered E. coli induces beta-galactosidase. Aflatoxin B1 developing in orange juice inoculated with spores of Aspergillus parasiticus is detectable equally well by TLC as by the SOS-Chromotest.

Aflatoxin B1↗