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Biomedical subjects

J Williams

Publications and source records attributed to J Williams.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Tobacco settlement dollars should reach root of problem.

Arkansas' share of the 1998 settlement between states and the tobacco industry amounts to about $1.62 billion over 25 years. How that money will be spent could be partially decided by the house tobacco settlement task force when it hears from health experts and others during meetings Nov. 2-4.

Arkansas↗
PubMed1999

A student-developed tool for assessing safety in schizophrenic patients.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, disabling disease of mind and behavior. Since some schizophrenics are prone to violence, nursing students devised a safety risk assessment tool to help health care personnel screen clients in acute care settings who may be at risk for violent behavior. The tool is accurate, quick, and user-friendly, and it enhances communication among members of the multidisciplinary health care team. The results obtained from the assessment tool guide nurses and other health care team members in implementing appropriate interventions. Future research and pilot studies are warranted to increase the reliability and validity of this tool.

Humans↗
PubMed1999

A narrative study of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe the experience of alopecia in people undergoing chemotherapy. DESIGN: Qualitative. SAMPLE: Using announcement flyers, 15 participants (13 women and 2 men) were recruited to participate in audiotaped, in-depth interviews. METHOD: In-depth interviews and narrative analysis of participants' "stories" using a sociolinguistic approach to narrative analysis. FINDINGS: Alopecia is a significant and disturbing side effect of chemotherapy. Preparing for hair loss, experiencing hair falling out, realizing an altered sense of self, trying to look normal, being reminded of disease, joking about alopecia, sharing being bald, having problems with wigs, taking control, and experiencing hair growing back emerged as aspects of the experience. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the full significance of the experience of alopecia in an individual's everyday life and personal identity is critical to providing support during the course of illness and developing strategies to help clients cope with the difficult changes that occur during cancer treatment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Information about alopecia can help to cognitively prepare the person, but the emotional response to alopecia is difficult to anticipate. Nurses need to create an atmosphere that encourages patients to tell their stories.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

The Dictyostelium developmental cDNA project: generation and analysis of expressed sequence tags from the first-finger stage of development.

In an effort to identify and characterize genes expressed during multicellular development ill Dictyostelium, we have undertaken a cDNA sequencing project. Using size-fractionated subsets of cDNA from the first finger stage, two sets of gridded libraries were constructed for cDNA sequencing. One, library S, consisting of 9984 clones, carries relatively short inserts, and the other, library L, which consists of 8448 clones, has longer inserts. We sequenced all the selected clones in library S from their 3'-ends, and this generated 3093 non-redundant, expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Among them, 246 ESTs hit known Dictyostelium genes and 910 showed significant similarity to genes of Dictyostelium and other organisms. For library L, 1132 clones were randomly sequenced and 471 non-redundant ESTs were obtained. In combination, the ESTs from the two libraries represent approximately 40% of genes expressed in late development, assuming that the non-redundant ESTs correspond to independent genes. They will provide a useful resource for investigating the genetic networks that regulate multicellular development of this organism.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Overexpression of hsp70i facilitates reactivation of intracellular proteins in neurones and protects them from denaturing stress.

Transfection of neurones with an adenoviral vector (Ad) expressing high levels of hsp70i was shown to protect primary hippocampal cultures from heat stress. To investigate one of the molecular mechanisms which may underlie hsp70i's neuroprotective effects we measured luciferase activity in the presence and absence of hsp70i following heat or chemical inactivation. Luciferase activity was recovered to 80% of control levels in the presence of recombinant hsp70i in vitro. Luciferase activity was also maintained in primary hippocampal neurones exposed to a denaturing stress if transfected with Ad-hsp70i. These results support the hypothesis that hsp70i protects neurones from stress by interacting with cytosolic proteins and thereby protecting them from inactivation.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Isolation and characterization of Bordetella bronchiseptica from cats in southern Louisiana.

The role of Bordetella bronchiseptica in respiratory disease of domestic cats is currently being explored. Clinical and experimental studies in the United Kingdom have shown Bordetella bronchiseptica to be a primary respiratory pathogen in cats; similar studies in the United States are limited. The purpose of this study is to report on the isolation, seroprevalence, and partial characterization of Bordetella bronchiseptica from shelter cats in southern Louisiana. A total of 614 cats from four local shelters were studied. All cats appeared to be asymptomatic for signs of respiratory disease. Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated in 19/614 (3.1%) cats by oropharyngeal swab and in 6/614 cats by bronchial lavage. Using an antibody capture ELISA method, 148/614 (24.1%) cats were seropositive for Bordetella bronchiseptica. The 25 isolates of Bordetella bronchiseptica were further characterized by ribotype analysis, and a total of 17 different ribotypes were identified. Specific pathogen-free kittens were experimentally infected with five of the isolates, and four of the five isolates induced clinical signs typical of feline bordetellosis. It is concluded that Bordetella bronchiseptica is present in the cat population in southern Louisiana, the organism can be isolated from asymptomatic cats, some of these isolates can produce disease in specific pathogen-free kittens, and that Bordetella bronchiseptica isolates from cats in a relatively small geographic area are genetically diverse. This and other studies indicate that Bordetella bronchiseptica should be considered in cases of feline respiratory disease.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed1998

Decreased presynaptic sensitivity to adenosine after cocaine withdrawal.

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a site mediating the rewarding properties of drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, amphetamine, opiates, nicotine, and alcohol (Wise and Bozarth, 1987; Koob, 1992; Samson andHarris, 1992; Woolverton and Johnson, 1992; Self and Nestler, 1995; Pontieri et al., 1996). Acute cocaine has been shown to decrease excitatory synaptic transmission mediated by the cortical afferents to the NAc (Nicola et al., 1996), but the effects of long-term cocaine treatment and withdrawal have not been explored. Here, we report that long-term (1 week) withdrawal from chronic cocaine reduced the potency of adenosine to presynaptically inhibit glutamate (Glu) release by activating adenosine A1 receptors. Adenosine A1 receptors were not desensitized, because the potency of the metabolically stable adenosine analog N6-cyclopentyl-adenosine was unchanged after chronic cocaine withdrawal. When adenosine transporters were blocked, the potency of adenosine to inhibit Glu release from naive and cocaine-withdrawn NAc slices was similar. These results suggest that one of the long-term consequences of cocaine withdrawal is an augmented uptake of adenosine. This long-lasting change expressed at the presynaptic excitatory inputs to the medium spiny output neurons in the NAc may help identify new therapeutic targets for the treatment of drug abuse.

4-(3-Butoxy-4-methoxybenzyl)-2-imidazolidinone↗
PubMed1998

Genetic studies on chromosome 12 in late-onset Alzheimer disease.

CONTEXT: The only genetic locus universally accepted to be important as a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD) is the apolipoprotein E (APOE) locus on chromosome 19. However, this locus does not account for all the risk in late-onset disease, and a recent report has suggested a second locus on chromosome 12p11-12. OBJECTIVE: To look for evidence of linkage on chromosome 12 and to test for the presence of the new locus in an independent sample of familial late-onset AD cases. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. As part of a 20-centimorgan genome screen (approximately equal to 200 markers), we tested a series of 18 genetic markers on chromosome 12 and carried out multipoint, nonparametric lod score and exclusion analyses. SETTING: Clinic populations in the continental United States selected from the National Institute of Mental Health AD Genetics Consortium. PATIENTS: We selected samples for DNA analysis from affected sibling pairs, 497 subjects from 230 families with 2 or more affected individuals with probable or definite AD with onset ages older than 60 years (mean+/-SD, 75+/-6 years). Within the families, we used the 2 probable or definitely affected individuals. In families with more than 2 such cases available, we used all of them; in families with only 2 such cases in which unaffected individuals were available, we also sampled the oldest unaffected individual and used genotype data from this unaffected individual to check for nonpaternity and genotyping errors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Presence of linkage or locus on chromosome 12. RESULTS: Although linkage analyses confirmed the presence of a genetic susceptibility factor at the APOE locus in these families with late-onset AD, we were unable to confirm the presence of a locus close to the marker D12S1042. A moderate lod score (1.91) was found near D12S98 close to the alpha2-macroglobulin locus in the affected pairs in which both members did not possess an APOE epsilon4 allele. CONCLUSIONS: APOE remains the only locus established to be a risk factor for late-onset AD. We were unable to confirm that a locus on chromosome 12p11-12 has a major effect on risk for late-onset AD, although an effect smaller than that for APOE cannot be excluded.

Age of Onset↗
PubMed1998

Community outbreak of psittacosis in a rural Australian town.

BACKGROUND: Health authorities in Victoria, Australia were notified of three men from a rural town with atypical pneumonia, admitted to hospital over 8 days. Initial serological testing suggested Chlamydia psittaci as the cause. We did a case-control study to find risk factors for psittacosis. METHODS: We searched for cases of pneumonia or severe flu-like illness through family physicians and the regional hospital. We selected three controls per case from the region's electoral roll. We collected blood for serological tests and administered questionnaires to all cases and controls. FINDINGS: We found 16 cases of psittacosis and one died. Most cases were clustered within a small geographical area, with a median age of 58 years (range 23-76), 15 (94%) of whom were male. Keeping, handling, or feeding domestic or wild birds was not associated with illness. Cases spent a median of 17.5 h per week in their garden, compared with a median of 5.2 h for controls (p=0.04) and were more likely to have mowed lawns during the 3 weeks before onset of illness than controls (odds ratio 4.81 [95% CI 1.08-33.37]). INTERPRETATION: We showed that psittacosis outbreaks are not limited to direct contact with birds and pose new challenges for disease control. Modifications may be needed to work outdoors to decrease the risk of psittacosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Screening of maternal serum for fetal Down's syndrome in the first trimester.

BACKGROUND: Screening of maternal serum to identify fetuses with Down's syndrome is now routinely offered during the second trimester of pregnancy. Prenatal screening by means of serum assays or ultrasonographic measurements, either alone or in combination, may also be possible in the first trimester. METHODS: We measured serum alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated estriol, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the free beta subunit of hCG, and pregnancy-associated protein A in 4412 women (82 percent of whom were 35 years of age or older) who came to 16 prenatal diagnostic centers for chorionic-villus sampling or early amniocentesis at 9 to 15 weeks of gestation. Ultrasound measurements of fetal nuchal translucency were also reported. Fetal chromosomal analysis was performed in all pregnancies. Altogether, there were 61 fetuses with Down's syndrome. RESULTS: A total of 48 pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome and 3169 unaffected pregnancies were identified before 14 weeks of gestation; the rates of detection of Down's syndrome for the five serum markers were as follows: 17 percent for alpha-fetoprotein, 4 percent for unconjugated estriol, 29 percent for hCG, 25 percent for the free beta subunit of hCG, and 42 percent for pregnancy-associated protein A, at false positive rates of 5 percent. The results of the measurements of serum hCG and its free beta subunit were highly correlated. When used in combination with the serum concentration of pregnancy-associated protein A and maternal age, the detection rate was 63 percent for hCG (95 percent confidence interval, 47 to 76 percent) and 60 percent for its free beta subunit (95 percent confidence interval, 45 to 74 percent). Measurements of nuchal translucency varied considerably between centers and could not be reliably incorporated into our calculations. CONCLUSIONS: Screening for Down's syndrome in the first trimester is feasible, with use of measurements of pregnancy-associated protein A and either hCG or its free beta subunit in maternal serum.

Adolescent↗