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Biomedical subjects

J James

Publications and source records attributed to J James.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Perceiving and representing both health and the environment: an exploratory investigation.

This article describes an exploratory study that examined the perceptions of both health and environment among men and women in higher and lower status areas in Hamilton, Canada. Situated in the literatures on health perceptions and environmental concerns, it not only describes health and environment perceptions, but also explores their interconnections, arguing that concern for self is more salient than that for any other, including environment, and that this salience is predicated on notions of control and responsibility. The article concludes by speculating on reasons for these findings by suggesting an empirically derived cultural model for representation of health-environment relations and the bases of information processing in this arena.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1999

Physical activity among African American and Latino middle school girls: consistent beliefs, expectations, and experiences across two sites.

Physical inactivity is a major public health concern. Low levels of physical activity are reported in many subgroups of women including adolescent girls. More data are needed to better understand factors related to physical activity participation in adolescent girls. Therefore, we explored adolescent girls' reasons for participating and not participating in physical activity. Two independent samples were taken in California and Texas; the total sample included thirty-four African American and Latino girls. Six focus groups were conducted by trained facilitators. Based on independent qualitative analyses, six replicated themes emerged from the focus groups. Fun, social support, and concern with body image facilitated participation in activity. In contrast, negative experiences in physical education classes, concerns about appearance after activity, and lack of opportunity impeded participation in activity. Overall, the girls showed an interest in physical activity and identified activity motivators and barriers. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Ready for birth--but what about breastfeeding?

This paper examines and discusses a range of influences on the experience of breastfeeding. Primarily, the impact of antenatal education, the experience of labour, birth and postnatal problems on the initiation and duration of breastfeeding are discussed.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1997

Association of a phosphatidylinositol-specific 3-kinase with a human trans-Golgi network resident protein.

The eukaryotic trans-Golgi network (TGN) is a key site for the formation of transport vesicles destined for different intracellular compartments [1]. A key marker for the mammalian TGN is TGN38/46 [2]. This integral membrane glycoprotein cycles between the TGN and the cell surface and is implicated in recruitment of cytosolic factors and regulation of at least one type of vesicle formation at the mammalian TGN [2] [3]. In this study, we have identified a phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns)-specific 3-kinase activity associated with the human orthologue (TGN46), which is sensitive to lipid kinase inhibitors. Treatment of HeLa cells with low levels of these inhibitors reveals subtle morphological changes in TGN46-positive compartments. Our findings suggest a role for PtdIns 3-kinases and presumably for the product, PtdIns 3-phosphate (PtdIns3P), in the formation of secretory transport vesicles by mechanisms conserved in yeast and mammals.

Androstadienes↗
PubMed1997

Role of myelin basic protein and proteolipid protein genes in multiple sclerosis: single strand conformation polymorphism analysis of the human sequences.

Susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) is widely held to have a strong genetic component. While the identities of genes conferring susceptibility are currently unknown, possible candidates include those genes coding for proteins which function in central nervous system (CNS) myelin. Two such genes are the human myelin basic protein (MBP) and proteolipid protein (PLP) genes, whose products make up approximately 80% of the total protein in CNS myelin. The association of a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) 5' to the human MBP gene with MS has been the subject of conflicting reports. Here we test the hypothesis that mutations in the human MBP and PLP genes might be associated with MS by examining the entire expressed sequence of both genes by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, using a panel of 71 MS patients and 71 controls. We have also re-examined the VNTR region in patients and controls. Three base changes were found in the human PLP gene and nine base changes in the human MBP gene; these were essentially equally distributed between patients and controls. No preferential distribution of various alleles of the VNTR between patients and controls was found. Although intronic and regulatory regions have not been examined, it would appear unlikely that mutations in these genes coding for the two major CNS myelin proteins contribute significantly to genetic susceptibility to MS.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Molecular remodeling of cardiac contractile function.

A number of techniques are now available that allow the contractile apparatus of the heart to be altered in a defined manner. This review focuses on those approaches that result in germ-line transmission of the remodeling event(s). Thus the desired modifications can be propagated stably throughout multiple generations and result in the creation of stable, new animal models. Necessarily, such stable changes need to be performed at the level of the genome, and two distinct but complementary approaches have been developed: transgenesis and gene targeting. Each results in the stable modification of the mammalian genome. Via gene targeting or gene ablation of sequences encoding various components of the sarcomere, the contractile apparatus of the heart can be altered dramatically. Ablating a gene may lead to a loss in function, which can help establish a function of the candidate sequence. Gene targeting can also be used to effect changes in the sequences encoding a functional domain of the contractile protein or at a single-amino acid residue, resulting in the establishment of precise structure-function relationships. With the use of transgenesis, the contractile apparatus of the heart can also be significantly remodeled. These approaches are rapidly creating a group of animals in which altered contractile protein complements will lead to a fundamental understanding of the structure-function relationships that underlie the function of the heart at the molecular, biochemical, whole organ, and whole animal levels.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Correlation of clinical and hematologic profiles with bone marrow responses in typhoid fever.

Thirty-six adult patients with typhoid fever were studied. Severe, moderate, and mild typhoid fevers were observed in 17 (47.2%), 17 (47.2%), and two (5.6%) patients, respectively. Twenty-eight (77.8%) had either isolated anemia (i.e., anemia unaccompanied by other blood component cytopenias) or mixed cytopenias. Three patients (8.3%) had pancytopenia. Sixteen patients (44.5%) had either total or partial bone marrow suppression. In five (31.3%) with partial suppression, the effect of bone marrow suppression was not reflected in peripheral blood. Sixteen (48.5%) of 33 had peripheral blood cytopenias that were not accompanied by concurrent bone marrow suppression, suggesting a peripheral mechanism responsible for the blood dyscrasia in those cases. No patient had evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. There was no correlation between clinical severity of disease and bone marrow changes. Bone marrow/peripheral blood changes did not influence the outcome of the disease, since all the patients recovered fully after treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Distinct compartmentalization of TGN46 and beta 1,4-galactosyltransferase in HeLa cells.

The Golgi proteins, TGN46 and GalT, were characterized in human HeLa cells using specific polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. A bacterially expressed soluble recombinant TGN46 protein was used to raise rabbit polyclonal antibodies and used to probe HeLa cell extracts. Human TGN46 had an apparent molecular mass of 100 to 120 kDa which reflects extensive glycosylation. Epifluorescence light microscopy indicated substantial colocalization of TGN46 and GalT. However, confocal laser microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction of double-labeled HeLa cells revealed large areas of colocalization but also specific differences in the distribution of these two proteins within the Golgi apparatus. Importantly, quantitative immunoelectron microscopy showed that there was little overlap between the distribution of GalT and TGN46. Approximately 75% of GalT was in the Golgi stack, whereas 80% of TGN46 was detected in tubules. Distinct GalT-positive regions within the Golgi cisternal stack were not labeled for TGN46.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Results of an office-based training program in clinical breast examination for primary care physicians.

BACKGROUND: This study hypothesized that an office-based training program in clinical breast examination (CBE) would improve the lump-detection skills of primary care physicians. METHODS: A one-group pretest-posttest design was utilized, without outcome measurements taken prior to instruction, immediately afterwards, and six months later. Fifty physicians from 117 practices that had been randomly selected and met program eligibility criteria elected to participate. The intervention was a one-hour office-based CBE training program based on the MammaCare method, a standardized approach to teaching the detection of breast lumps using silicone breast models. RESULTS: There were five lumps in the silicone model. The mean number of correct lump detections increased significantly, from 0.66 before to 3.2 after instruction, and this gain was maintained at six-month follow-up. The mean number of false positives decreased from 2.9 before to 1.16 after instruction, increasing slightly to 1.6 at six-month follow-up. Ninety-six percent of the physicians reported that they had modified their methods of CBE as a result of the training. CONCLUSIONS: This office-based instruction using an academic detailing model improved the participating physicians' abilities to correctly detect lumps in a silicone breast model and was received favorably.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Application of enzymes in food processing.

Enzymes offer potential for many exciting applications for the improvement of foods. There is still, however, a long way to go in realizing this potential. Economic factors such as achievement of optimum yields and efficient recovery of desired protein are the main deterrents in the use of enzymes. Changing values in society with respect to recombinant DNA and protein engineering technologies and the growing need to explore all alternative food sources may in time make enzyme applications more attractive to the food industry. Research is continuing on the commercially viable enzymes in use today to improve various properties such as thermostabilities, specificities, and catalytic efficiencies. New and unique enzymes continue to be developed for use in enzymatic reactions to produce food ingredients by hydrolysis, synthesis, or biocatalysis. An aggressive approach is needed to open new opportunities for enzyme applications that can benefit the food industry.

Amylases↗
PubMed1996

Collagen content in rat liver after experimentally induced cholestasis followed by choledochojejunostomy and X-irradiation.

The right part of the median lobe of the liver of female Wistar rats was irradiated, 12.5 or 25 Gy, at a field size of 15 x 20 mm. The central part of the irradiated liver lobe was fixed and used for the estimation of the collagen protein ratio by means of the Sirius Red-Fast Green extraction method, immediately, 8, 16 or 32 weeks after irradiation. No significant increase in collagen content could be demonstrated in this time range, both after irradiation at 12.5 Gy and at 25 Gy. Partial hepatectomy according to Higgins led to rapid regrowth of the remaining liver lobes. The right lobe grew out rapidly to replace the median lobe. Two days after partial hepatectomy the right lobe was irradiated at the same field size. Measurement of the collagen protein ratio in this experiment did not show a significant increase 8, 16 or 32 weeks after irradiation. However, the 25 Gy group did not survive long enough to obtain data at 16 or 32 weeks. The animals in this latter experiment suffered from ascites before dying. Experimentally induced cholestasis was obtained by ligation and partial resection of the common bile duct. After two weeks of cholestasis the bile flow was restored by Roux-en-Y choledochojejunostomy. The effect of irradiation 2 days after repair surgery was studied. Without irradiation the collagen protein ratio is increased. Irradiation of the right part of the median lobe led to a relatively enhanced collagen content in this lobe. Our results indicate that radiation itself does not lead to a significantly enhanced degree of fibrosis in the liver. However when an increase in collagen content was induced by cholestasis, the partial "dilution" of enhanced fibrosis as a result of proliferation of liver parenchyma cells following repair surgery was inhibited by irradiation.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Teenage smoking.

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Adolescent↗