Effect of medical audit on prescription of palliative radiotherapy.
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Bone Neoplasms↗
Biomedical subjects
J Owens
Publications and source records attributed to J Owens.
Deficits in iodine-labelled 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate binding in relation to cerebral blood flow in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
A loss of acetylcholine is one of the most consistent neurochemical findings in Alzheimer's disease (AD) post-mortem, but the debate concerning receptor abnormalities is unresolved. The aim of this investigation was to measure the density of acetylcholine muscarinic receptors in AD patients at various stages in the disease (N = 8) by synthesising a radio-iodinated version of quinuclidinyl benzilate QNB, a potent muscarinic antagonist. Deficits were identified by comparison with a control data set obtained from four elderly volunteers and then compared to the deficit in total functional activity in the same brain regions measured using the cerebral perfusion tracer technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime. Iodine-123 (R,R)quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) was synthesised using a CuI assisted nucleophilic aromatic exchange reaction. 160 MBq of the radioligand (specific activity 400 Ci/mmol: dose 90 ng/kg) was administered to each subject. Diagnosis of AD was made using the CAMDEX and DSMIIIR criteria with a physical examination, full blood screen, CT and chest X-ray. All subjects were scanned at 21 h post injection on an SME810 emission tomograph. 123I(R,R)QNB activity in the controls was found to be consistent with the known distribution of muscarinic receptors with no activity in the cerebellum and low activity in the thalamus. In the AD patients deficits in 123I-QNB binding which exceeded the corresponding total functional regional perfusion deficit were not found in six of the patients and were observed only in the two most severely affected patients, both of whom were untestable on the cognitive battery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Aged↗
The effects of freshly prepared cell culture medium vs stored cell culture medium on high-density cell culture.
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Cell Division↗
Contributions of the gamma and epsilon subunit family to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor function.
Hybrid acetylcholine (ACh) receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes were used to study the role of the gamma/epsilon subunit family in determining channel function. The receptors were composed of either a mouse gamma, Torpedo gamma, Xenopus gamma or mouse epsilon subunit in combination with mouse alpha, beta and delta subunits. The effects of different gamma and epsilon subunits on channel conductance and open time were paralleled by their structural relatedness. Of the four subunits studied, mouse gamma and mouse epsilon are the most divergent in structure and the receptors containing these subunits were also the most divergent in function. Torpedo and Xenopus gamma subunits have structural features intermediate to both mouse epsilon and gamma and correspondingly imparted intermediate functional properties. Of particular interest, ACh receptors formed in combination with a Torpedo gamma subunit had a significantly lower conductance than those containing a mouse epsilon subunit, despite the presence of identical amino acids in all charge positions previously shown to affect conductance.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Self poisoning: admission to intensive care over a one year period.
The charts of all cases of self-poisoning admitted to an intensive care unit over one year are reviewed Two distinct groups are seen, according to the substances ingested The group who took prescription medications tended to be younger, and had a better outcome Those poisoned with household or industrial products were older, had a longer stay in intensive care, needed more intensive therapy and organ support and had a higher mortality.
Adolescent↗
Restriction endonuclease and genetic mapping studies indicate that the vegetative genome of the temperate, Salmonella-specific bacteriophage, epsilon 15, is circularly-permuted.
Data from physical and genetic mapping studies show that the vegetative genome of the temperate, Group E 1 Salmonella bacteriophage, epsilon 15, is circularly-permuted. Preliminary evidence suggests that the circular permutation of the epsilon 15 genome is non-random.
DNA Restriction Enzymes↗
Alcohol and attempted suicide.
This study investigates the prevalence of excessive drinking and alcohol-related problems amongst suicide attempts. It also compares the characteristics of attempted suicide by alcohol consumption group. Drinking histories were taken on 250 consecutive attempted suicides admitted to the West Midlands Poisons Unit. Fifty-one per cent of the men and 31% of the women drank more than the weekly limits recommended by the Health Education Council. Of the men, 22.5% drank more than 50 units of alcohol a week and 9.5% of the women drank more than 35 units of alcohol a week. Alcohol-related problems (social problems, alcohol dependence or physical illness) were present in 34% of men and 15.5% of women. These results show a greater incidence of alcohol misuse than previous studies on attempted suicide. This is probably because detailed alcohol histories were taken on all patients. Alcohol misuse is best treated before major alcohol-related problems develop. Those responsible for assessing cases of attempted suicide should be adept at detecting alcohol misuse and instituting appropriate management.
Adult↗
Macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) is essential for osteoclast formation in vitro.
The op/op mouse, in which the M-CSF gene is mutated, has greatly reduced numbers of macrophages and osteoclasts. We assessed the ability of M-CSF to induce osteoclast and macrophage formation in op/op hemopoietic cells in vitro. Osteoclast production was undetectable in op/op cell cultures, but was restored by M-CSF at concentrations approximately an order of magnitude higher than those that induced macrophages. In normal hemopoietic tissue M-CSF similarly increased macrophage numbers, but inhibited osteoclast formation. Despite cure of the macrophage defect, neither interleukin 3 nor granulocyte-macrophage CSF were able to induce osteoclastic differentiation in op/op cells. The results suggest that M-CSF induces osteoclastic differentiation but that macrophages, which are also induced by M-CSF, suppress osteoclast differentiation. Macrophages induced by other cytokines seem unable to contribute to osteoclast-formation.
Animals↗
Intraoperative radiation therapy of pancreatic carcinoma: a report of RTOG-8505. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group.
The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group in 1985 began a study of IORT plus external beam radiation therapy for patients with locally unresected, non-metastatic pancreatic cancer. Patients were treated with a combination of 2000 cGy of IORT and postoperative external beam radiation therapy to 5040 cGy in combination with IV 5-FU (500 mg/m2/day on the first 3 days of the external beam treatment). As patients were registered on study prior to exploration, it was expected that a number of patients would be excluded from further analysis at the time of surgery. Eighty-six patients were entered on study through 6/1/88 and analyzed through 4/90. Fifty-one patients were fully analyzable. Median survival time of the 51 patients was 9 months with an 18-month actuarial survival rate of 9%. Local control could not be adequately evaluated in this multi-institutional study. Major postoperative complications were not excessive and occurred in 12% of patients. Two patients had major late morbidity leading to death, one from duodenal bleeding and the second from biliary obstruction. Although this study does demonstrate the feasibility of IORT in a multi-institutional setting, it does not demonstrate any advantage of IORT over conventional therapy for this disease.
Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating↗
Quality assurance for a nutritional support service.
Quality assurance programs may significantly influence patient care by providing a systematic mechanism of self-assessment. An effective program should improve the level of care and have a positive effect on the fiscal base of a health care institution. The design of a useful quality assurance program is not a trivial matter. This report describes the details of a functioning quality assurance program developed for a multidisciplinary nutrition support service. The effect that such a program may have on patient care is also illustrated.
Dietary Services↗
PNA's relationship with Nursing Foundation examined.
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Fellowships and Scholarships↗
Word-to-word variation in ERP component latencies: spoken words.
Data were collected shedding light on the brain electrical activity underlying word recognition. Subjects listened to a list of 48 spoken words in six random orders under two instructional sets: first to "think about the meanings of the words," and second, to learn the list. The scalp EEG associated with hearing and identifying the words was recorded at F3, F4, Cz, P3, P4, Pz, and Oz. Standard within-subjects time-locked averaging across words showed a late negative-positive complex with N2-P3 topography, the negative component peaking around 480 msec, the positive component peaking around 830 msec. Averaging within words across subjects uncovered considerable latency variability in both components. Within-word N2 and P3 component latencies covaried with word durations and with the "recognition points" predicted for the words by the "cohort theory" of word recognition. N2 latencies corresponded closely to the "N400" effect elicited with semantically incongruous sentence-final spoken words. Implications for ERP investigations of language processing are discussed.
Adult↗
Complexity charts can be used to map functional domains in DNA.
We measured local compositional complexity (LCC) of DNA sequences by calculating Shannon information content over mononucleotide frequencies. Eukaryotic DNA appeared to be "simpler" than bacterial DNA even at the level of short oligonucleotides. Moreover, different DNA functional domains displayed different compositional complexity in a systematic manner. In particular, the complexity of exon sequences was systematically higher than the complexity of corresponding introns. We therefore present examples of complexity charts (plots of complexity versus position in sequence) for pre-mRNA sequences from higher eukaryotes. By taking a window width of 100 nucleotides and a window step of 1 nucleotide, introns can be distinguished from exons in the majority of cases studied. Complexity charts of immunoglobulin variable regions allowed correct mapping of exons and introns in these sequences as well, a task that was impossible with commercial programs available to date.
Acanthamoeba↗
Age and attempted suicide.
Clinical and demographic factors associated with suicide attempts admitted to the West Midlands Poisons Unit over a 2-year period were compared by age group. Risk factors for future suicide (living alone, physical illness, psychiatric illness and high suicidal intent in the attempt) were significantly more common among elderly patients (65 years and over) than middle-aged patients (35-64 years) and significantly less common among young patients (under 35 years) than middle-aged patients. Elderly patients that attempted suicide resemble elderly patients that completed suicide and should be considered at high risk of future suicide.
Adult↗
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: a case for electroconvulsive therapy.
A case of prolonged and refractory neuroleptic malignant syndrome was treated successfully with electroconvulsive therapy. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome and its treatment are reviewed.
Adult↗
RNA secondary structures: comparison and determination of frequently recurring substructures by consensus.
A method for assessing the preserved stem-loops of RNA secondary structures is presented. Frequently recurring helical stems in a set of secondary structures resulting from the simulated folding process of a given RNA are assessed and consensus structural motifs can then be selected to construct a secondary structure of the RNA. Alternatively, it can be applied to a series of 'optimal' and 'suboptimal' secondary structures computed using the dynamic program developed by Williams and Tinoco. To demonstrate the power and the usefulness of the program we give examples of this procedure.
Algorithms↗
Helix stability in prokaryotic promoter regions.
Prokaryotic promoters have been extensively studied to relate sequence features to promoter function. Here we examine the relationship between double-helix stability and promoter activity. The double-helix stability is evaluated from sequence data by free energy computation, based on reported values of dinucleotide free energies for strand separation. For a collection of 168 promoters, we find that within a 500-nucleotide span around the transcription initiation site the -10 region is the least stable. There is no correlation between the free energies and the rates of RNA polymerase-promoter open complex formation measured for 25 promoters. We also compare the free energies of 121 promoter mutations across the -35 and -10 consensus regions with the free energies of the corresponding wild-type sequences. These pairwise mutant-wild-type comparisons provide a particularly good test since the examined sequences differ only in one nucleotide so that all other sequence-dependent effects remain the same. About 80% of the mutations in the -10 region that show increased/reduced promoter activity are less/more stable than the wild types. The observed high free energy peak and the mutation data strongly support the conjecture that the instability, or melting properties, of the -10 region plays a significant role in promoter function.
Cells↗