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Biomedical subjects

K Backman

Publications and source records attributed to K Backman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Factors associated with the self-care of home-dwelling elderly.

The purpose of this study was to examine how functional capacity, activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), life satisfaction and self-esteem are related to the self-care behaviour styles of home-dwelling elderly persons. Data were collected by qualitative interviews (self-care) and structured interviews (functional capacity, life satisfaction and self-esteem) from home-dwelling elderly persons (n=40) aged 75 or more. The persons were living in a medium-sized city in northern Finland. The qualitative data were analysed using deductive content analysis. The classification frame consisted of a theoretical classification developed in an earlier study. The categories were quantified and the relationship between the variables analysed by cross-tabulation. The persons whose self-care behaviour style was responsible, formally guided or independent carried out their daily activities without assistance from others, while those who showed abandoned self-care did not manage their daily activities without help. Life satisfaction was the highest among the formally guided persons and self-esteem among the responsible ones. Poor life satisfaction and self-esteem correlated with abandoned self-care behaviour.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

Model for the self-care of home-dwelling elderly.

The aim of this study was to develop a model to clarify the existing knowledge concerning the self-care of home-dwelling elderly people. The data were collected in Oulu, a medium-sized city in northern Finland, by interviewing 40 home-dwelling elderly persons aged 75 or more. Data were analysed using the constant comparative method of the grounded theory approach. The model consists of four modes of self-care with different conditions for action and different meanings: responsible self-care consists of responsible activity by the elderly person based on a positive orientation towards the future and a positive experience of ageing. The meaning of responsible self-care is a desire to continue living as an active agent. Formally guided self-care consists of uncritical observance of instructions and routine performance of daily tasks. This approach is based on life experiences of taking care of others and realistic awareness of the effects of old age. The meaning of formally guided self-care is a tendency to accept life as it comes. Independent self-care is based on the person's desire to listen to his/her own internal voice. These persons aim to manage in life independently and deny the prospect of growing old. The meaning of independent self-care is an attempt to maintain the constancy of life. Abandoned self-care is characterized by helplessness and lack of responsibility. It involves bitterness and a negative attitude towards ageing. The meaning of abandonment is a desire to 'give up'. According to this study, self-care is not a separate part of old men's or women's lives, it is associated closely with their past life and with the future. As an activity, self-care is not just a rational way to maintain health. It also reflects the person's overall attitude towards health care, illnesses and manner of living.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

Challenges of the grounded theory approach to a novice researcher.

The grounded theory approach has been used in nursing research since 1970. The latest methodological books describe the research process in detail. However, there are many problems involved in the grounded theory approach, which especially need to be considered by a novice researcher. One of these problems is the question of how deeply and widely the researcher should familiarize her- or himself with the research topic before the empirical study. The problems also include the need to focus the research problem and to choose the sampling method. Data analysis is a multistage process, which demands from the researcher both sensitivity and time to work out the findings which emerge from the data. In this paper, the grounded theory approach is described as a process undertaken by the novice researcher. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges of the grounded theory approach and the problems encountered by a researcher using the method for the first time.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

[Challenges of the grounded theory approach to a novice researcher].

The grounded theory approach has been used in nursing research since 1970. The latest methodological books describe the research process in details. However, there are many problems involved in the grounded theory approach, which especially need to be considered by a novice researcher. One of these problems is the question of how deeply and widely the researcher should get familiar with the research topic before the empirical study. The problems also include the need to focus the research problem and to choose the sampling method. Data analysis is a multistage process, which demands from the researcher sensitivity and time to work out the findings which emerge from the data. In this paper, the grounded theory approach is described as a process undertaken by the researcher. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges of the grounded theory approach and the problems encountered by a researcher using the method for the first time.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Appendix. Cloning and sequence of the gene encoding enzyme E-1 from the methionine salvage pathway of Klebsiella oxytoca.

The methionine salvage pathway converts the methylthioribose moiety of 5'-(methylthio)-adenosine to methionine via a series of biochemical steps. One enzyme active in this pathway, a bifunctional enolase-phosphatase called E-1 that promotes oxidative cleavage of the synthetic substrate 2,3-diketo-1-phosphohexane to 2-keto-pentanoate, has been purified from Klebsiella pneumoniae and is characterized in the preceding paper (Myers, R., Wray, J., Fish, S., and Abeles, R. H. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 24785-24791). We synthesized degenerate oligonucleotides corresponding to portions of the amino terminus of E-1. These oligonucleotides were used as polymerase chain reaction primers on whole genomic DNA from Klebsiella oxytoca. This resulted in an 82-base pair DNA fragment that was used as a hybridization probe to obtain a clone of the E-1 gene from a K. oxytoca gene library. The DNA sequence of the E-1 coding region was determined, and the amino acid sequence of E-1 was deduced. E-1 appears to represent a novel class of enzymes since no homology to known enzymes was found. Cloning the gene from K. oxytoca on a multicopy plasmid leads to overproduction of E-1 enzyme that has properties indistinguishable from those of the enzyme from K. pneumoniae.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Inactivation of a volume-sensitive basolateral potassium conductance in turtle colon: effect of metabolic inhibitors.

Previous work has shown that the basolateral membrane of turtle colon epithelium contains a quinidine-sensitive potassium conductance which can be activated by osmotic cell swelling. In this work and in the present study, potassium flow across the basolateral membrane was measured as a short-circuit current across intact pieces of epithelial tissue in which amphotericin B was used to permeabilize the apical membrane. Quinidine-sensitive currents were generated when the mucosal bath contained chloride, a permeant anion. Replacement of chloride by sulfate or addition of sucrose to the bathing solutions abolished 75-90% of the current and caused the quinidine-inhibitable fraction of the current to go from over 90% to around 6%--suggesting that decreases in cell volume had brought about inactivation of the quinidine-sensitive conductance. When metabolic inhibitors were present, inactivation of the conductance by these maneuvers was prevented. Activation of the conductance by replacement of mucosal SO4 by Cl, however, was not affected.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1988

Controllable alteration of cell genotype in bacterial cultures using an excision vector.

We have used recombinant DNA techniques to construct a derivative of phage lambda, called an excision vector, which retains only those functions necessary for conditional maintenance of lysogeny and integration/excision. The tyrA+ gene was cloned on this excision vector, integrated into the Escherichia coli chromosome, and stably maintained and expressed under permissive conditions. Upon shift to non-permissive conditions, the excision vector and its passenger gene were very efficiently excised from the chromosome and lost, leaving a culture of Tyr- bacteria. This illustrates a new class of conditional mutations in which the genotype changes in response to external stimuli.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1983

Tetracycline resistance determined by pBR322 is mediated by one polypeptide.

Only one polypeptide specified by plasmid pBR322 is necessary to determine tetracycline resistance. Small deletions in pBR322 constructed in vitro which result in the lack of ability to confer tetracycline resistance in vivo also result in the absence or alteration of this polypeptide in vivo. Other deletions define the extent of material necessary to encode this polypeptide. A correction to the DNA sequence of the tetracycline resistance cistron has been determined which confirms these observations.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1982

Characterization of a gene, glnL, the product of which is involved in the regulation of nitrogen utilization in Escherichia coli.

DNA was prepared from a strain of Escherichia coli bearing a mutation which confers the GlnC phenotype (inability to reduce the expression of glnA and other nitrogen-regulated operons in response to ammonia in the growth medium). A fragment of this DNA carrying glnA, the structural gene for glutamine synthetase, was cloned on plasmid pBR322. By using recombination in vitro, we mapped the GlnC mutation to a region between glnA and glnG. This region defines a gene, glnL, which codes for a trans-acting product; the GlnC mutant produces an altered product. The glnL product plays a key role in the communication of information concerning the quality and abundance of the nitrogen source in the growth medium to a destination responsible for the regulation of glnA and other genes for enzymes responsible for nitrogen utilization.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1981

Physical and genetic characterization of the glnA--glnG region of the Escherichia coli chromosome.

We have cloned and characterized a fragment of the Escherichia coli chromosome spanning glnA, the structural gene for glutamine synthetase (L-glutamate:ammonia ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.3.1.2]. The fragment also carriers glnG, whose product is necessary for regulation of glnA expression, and a previously unidentified gene whose function we have not discovered. Transcription of glnA and the newly identified gene occurs divergently from a region between the two genes. Transcription of glnA proceeds toward glnG, which is transcribed in the same direction. A region of DNA between glnA and glnG contains genetic information whose loss may result in the inability to reduce expression of glnA and other operons in response to ammonia (the GlnC phenotype).

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1980

A plasmid cloning vehicle allowing a positive selection for inserted fragments.

We describe a plasmid cloning vehicle, pTR262, which allows a strong positive selection (resistance to tetracycline) for transformants bearing plasmids which have DNA insertions. pTR262 is derived from plasmid pBR322 and contains the cI gene and adjacent regulator region oRpR or the bacteriophage lambda. The expression of the tetracycline resistance (tet-r) gene(s) in pTR262 requires transcription from pR and is repressed by the cI gene product, lambda repressor. Insertion of a DNA fragment into the HindIII or Bc/I sites in pTR262 inactivates the cI gene and allows expression of the tet-r gene(s) in the host bacterium. A 100-fold increase in the number of tetracycline-resistant transformants is obtained when HindIII- or Bc/I-generated fragments are added to a ligation mixture containing HindIII- or Bc/I-digested pTR 262 DNA.

DNA Restriction Enzymes↗