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Biomedical subjects

K Walker

Publications and source records attributed to K Walker.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Do mothers and fathers interact differently with their child or is it the situation which matters?

This study aimed to test the Differential Experience Hypothesis which suggests mothers and fathers interact differently with their child. The forms and functions of parents' language in interaction with their 2-2.5-year-old child were investigated across four different interactional settings within the home and for each parent separately. The results, supporting the differential experience hypothesis, suggest that differences do exist between mothers' and fathers' conversational styles. However, the findings indicate that gender is not the only influencing factor. The situations in which interaction occurs also appear to have an effect on the style of interaction irrespective of the sex of the parent (context hypothesis).

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1995

Crossing borders: nursing practice, teaching and research together into the 21st century.

This paper addresses a research project currently in progress. It is a postmodern ethnographic and (auto)biographical undertaking that simultaneously redraws the methodological and theoretical boundaries of conventional ethnographic work while it engages a 'praxis' oriented approach to working collaboratively and creatively with nurses from both clinical practice and academia. Only the broadest parameters of this 'project of possibility' are outlined--to do otherwise would be antithetical to its participatory, processual and provisional character. It is an unprecedented venture between those who think and write about the culture of clinical nursing and those who actually live it on a daily basis.

Education, Nursing↗
PubMed1995

Courting competency: nursing and the politics of performance in practice.

Nurses have long anguished over how best to assess performance in clinical practice. The 'competency' movement appears to have provided a solution to this problem. In this paper I undertake a 'radical hermeneutic' interrogation of the cultural text of clinical practice doubled with a poststructuralist interpretation of the literal text of the Australian competency project. Through this work I attempt to expose some of the deeply embedded assumptions that underwrite the competency movement and amplify the problems posed by an uncritical appropriation of competency based training and assessment in nursing education.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1995

Nursing, narrativity and research: toward a poetics and politics of orality.

'Telling' our lives as they happen to us is an extremely pervasive activity in our social world. Through the stories which suture together the multiple ways we can make sense of a life as a nurse, is woven the fabric of a culture. Clinical nursing culture is, as yet, poorly understood and little theorised. By appropriating narrative as a research technology I suggest that we might be better placed to first articulate, and then critique, the complexity and diversity of clinical practice through a postmodern poetics and politics of orality.

Autobiographies as Topic↗
PubMed1994

Canine galanin: sequence, expression and pancreatic effects.

To determine if dog galanin is a potent inhibitor of dog insulin secretion we determined its primary structure from its cloned cDNA, evaluated its expression in celiac ganglia and determined its effect on islet hormone secretion. The predicted amino acid sequence differs from the other known species of galanin by three to six amino acids in the C-terminal half of the molecule. In situ hybridization revealed the presence of dog progalanin mRNA in every neuronal cell body in the dog celiac ganglion. The predicted dog galanin peptide was synthesized and infused i.v. at 0.25, 2.5, 25 or 250 pmol/kg/min. It potently inhibited insulin secretion, less potently inhibited pancreatic somatostatin release and stimulated glucagon secretion, similar to the effects of porcine galanin in the dog. In summary, dog galanin is expressed in the neuronal cell bodies that innervate the pancreas and the sequence of the dog galanin preserves the potent insulin inhibitory part of the galanin molecule. These data support the hypothesis that galanin is a sympathetic neurotransmitter in dog pancreas.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Analyses of anti-human CD monoclonal antibodies for cross reactions with swine cell antigens.

For the First International Swine CD Workshop an effort was made to include commercially available anti-human CD monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that had been prescreened to determine whether they were cross-reactive with swine cell CD antigens. Thus before the actual workshop began, ten companies were contacted to determine whether they would participate in this effort. Four companies (Dako Corporation, Carpenteria, CA; T Cell Sciences, Cambridge, MA; Bioproducts for Science, Indianapolis, IN; PharMingen, San Diego, CA) provided a total of 38 mAb for tests of cross-reactions with swine cell antigens. Two companies (Coulter, Hialeah, FL and Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA) declined to participate because of the low likelihood of positive cross-reactions. Several other companies (Behringewerke, Marburg, Germany; Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, IN; Biosource International, Camarillo, CA; Applied Immune Sciences, Menlo Park, CA) were interested but either had problems in preparing the mAb in time for US importation or in providing the quantities necessary free to the workshop. The studies described below verify that few anti-human CD mAb exhibit consistent, predictable cross-reactions on pig cells; of the seven mAb that showed reactivity on swine cells only one mAb, Dako's anti-CD18, showed consistent reactivity with every pig tested and at the expected intensity level.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Workshop studies on monoclonal antibodies reactive against porcine myeloid cells.

Investigators from eight laboratories analyzed the reactivity of 22 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against porcine myeloid cells. Based on binding data, clustering analysis and inhibition studies, workshop mAb 74-22-15 (003) and 6F3 (007) were assigned a swine workshop cluster number 3 (SWC3). These mAb recognized macrophages and neutrophils; neutrophils; a monocyte/macrophage-specific mAb was not identified by this workshop.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Confronting 'reality': nursing, science and the micro-politics of representation.

In an age where previous frames of reference lose their certainty nurses are finding themselves rethinking their relations to the 'real'. In this paper I interrogate an empirical 'text' of a local nursing cultural practice through a poststructural critique of the ways in which language, discourses, representation and experience intersect to construct 'reality' for us with specific consequences. I do this in an attempt to disclose the micro-politics at work in the processes of signifying and thus representing nursing to a world of potential students. The discourses of science and caring find themselves exposed in particular representational technologies and practices that mark nursing's collusion with the 'truths' of science at the expense of those we loosely name 'caring'. This cultural theoretical work constitutes a provisional and historical fragment of analysis designed to trouble the relations we often unwittingly sustain with dominant 'regimes of truth'.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

AggR, a transcriptional activator of aggregative adherence fimbria I expression in enteroaggregative Escherichia coli.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAggEC) has been associated with persistent pediatric diarrhea in the developing world, yet the pathogenetic mechanisms of EAggEC infection are unknown. Our previous data have suggested that aggregative adherence of some EAggEC strains to HEp-2 cells is mediated by flexible, bundle-forming fimbriae, which we have termed aggregative adherence fimbriae I (AAF/I). Genes sufficient to confer expression of AAF/I are located on the 60-MDa plasmid of EAggEC 17-2; AAF/I genes are present as two unlinked plasmid regions (regions 1 and 2), separated by 9 kb of DNA. Here we report the complete DNA sequencing of region 2 and the identification of an open reading frame which is involved in the expression of AAF/I. One open reading frame of 794 bp encodes a protein (designated AggR) with a predicted molecular size of 29.4 kDa, which shows a high degree of amino acid sequence identity to CfaR and other members of the AraC class of gene regulators. The cloned aggR gene (or, alternatively, a cloned cfaR gene) was sufficient to complement a region 1 clone to confer AAF/I expression. To further substantiate the role of aggR in the regulation of AAF/I, we constructed a 289-bp in-frame aggR deletion and replaced the native gene in 17-2 by allelic exchange, using the temperature-sensitive vector pIB307. The resulting aggR deletions were negative for AAF/I expression, but expression was restored when the aggR gene (cloned into pBluescript II SK) was reintroduced into the aggR mutant. RNA slot blot experiments using a probe for the putative AAF/I pilin subunit (aggA) revealed that aggR operates as a transcriptional activator of aggA expression. aggA::phoA fusions were constructed in 17-2 and in 17-2 delta aggR. AggR was found to promote expression of the aggA gene under a variety of conditions of temperature, osmolarity, oxygen tension, and medium. At acid pH, aggA expression was maximal and was regulated by both AggR-dependent and AggR-independent mechanisms.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1994

Preliminary evidence on the question of gender differences in language testing of older people.

The effect of gender on the outcomes of language assessments in older people is relatively unknown. This study compared the performance of groups of normal older men and women on three different batteries of language and memory tests. No significant mean score difference was found. All three batteries therefore show no strong quantitative gender bias and can be applied equally to older men and women with communication difficulties. Although no quantitative gender difference was found, the data suggested two possible areas for further investigation (error types and interpersonal styles) which may have clinical implications.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Research with/in nursing: 'troubling' the field.

Nursing and research coexist in a 'troubled' relationship. The culture of nursing and the discourses of research together generate tensions and conflicts which often work to constrain nurses' attempts to engage in research activity. In this paper I attempt to expose possible reasons why this might be so. Drawing on critical feminist post-structuralist theories and recent empirical research with clinical nurses some of the 'challenges' to thinking and doing research in nursing are given voice and brought to critical expression.

Cultural Characteristics↗
PubMed1993

The counterpart relationship: a model for clinical nurse specialists in international nursing practice.

The proposed counterpart relationship model can be an effective tool in blending role functions to provide culturally sensitive nursing care in international settings. The authors explore their experience in developing a counterpart relationship where the CNS enters into a mutually collaborative relationship with a host counterpart from a cultural base different from the CNS's. The goal is to improve the level of health care provided to a specific cultural group and to transition the responsibilities of the CNS to the host counterpart.

Global Health↗
PubMed1993

Isolation of glucagon antagonists by random molecular mutagenesis and screening.

Glucagon has an important role in the regulation of glucose homeostasis, and glucagon antagonists may be effective therapeutic agents in the control of diabetes mellitus. We were able to identify a number of analogs with antagonist activity by creating libraries of mutant glucagon coding sequences, expressing them in a yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) secretion system, and screening for clones that produce analogs that inhibit the glucagon stimulation of rat hepatocyte membrane adenylate cyclase. These libraries were constructed by allowing random misincorporation during the synthesis of oligonucleotides that contained the complete coding sequence for mammalian glucagon or for an analog (desHis1-glucagon) that had partial antagonist activity. We developed and used a simplified screening assay to test culture broths from > 3500 individual transformant yeast clones for their ability to inhibit glucagon-dependent adenylate cyclase activity. Ultimately, > 20 different analogs with antagonist activity were identified by recovering and sequencing plasmid DNA from yeast strains that were positive in the screening assay. Interestingly, several analogs were identified repeatedly in independent yeast clones and certain amino acid substitutions occurred in more than one analog. This clustering of randomly isolated mutations clearly delineates the regions of the glucagon molecule that are important for designing improved glucagon antagonists. A subset of the antagonists identified in yeast broth were produced by peptide synthesis to confirm their activities as pure compounds.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1992

Tumor markers CA 19-9 and CA 195 are also useful as markers for cystic fibrosis.

When monoclonal kits are used we can no longer detect highly elevated serum concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients as we could earlier (Pediatr Res 10:223-236, 1975). Instead, we find increased concentrations of CA 19-9 or CA 195 in the CF sera. The serum levels of CA 19-9 not only reflect the pulmonary condition of CF patients but also respond well to antibiotic therapy. Several lines of evidence suggest that the elevated serum concentration of CA 19-9 is derived from sputum and corresponds with the amount of sputum in the lung. Correlations between CA 19-9 and CA 195 in random and serial specimens from both patients with CF and patients with pancreatic carcinoma suggest that all sera contain heterogeneous, Lewis blood group-related epitopes and the proportions of various epitopes are different among individual patients. When monitored on multiple tumor markers, the pattern of CF is different from that of pancreatic carcinoma although both usually show elevated CA 19-9. Our study indicates that both CA 19-9 and CA 195 can be used as sensitive markers for the early detection of exacerbation in CF patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Changes in the CA 19-9 antigen and Lewis blood group with pulmonary disease severity in cystic fibrosis.

The altered carbohydrate structure of sputum from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has been thought to be due to the inflammatory airway response. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA 19-9 detect sialosylated carbohydrates in mucus. The epitope of CA 19-9 is part of the Lewis A (Le(a)) blood group antigen. Serum concentrations of CEA and CA 19-9 were determined by radioimmunoassay in 41 CF patients, aged 6-34 years; 16 were asymptomatic Outpatients, and 25 had been admitted for pulmonary exacerbations. There was no difference in CEA between groups. The CA 19-9 serum concentration was elevated in 90% of patients who had at least one of the two Lewis antigens. The CA 19-9 concentration of Inpatients with exacerbations was 2.7 times that of stable Outpatients (263 +/- 44 versus 99 +/- 13 U/mL; P less than 0.02). CA 19-9 correlated significantly with age (r = 0.35, P less than 0.05), Brasfield score (r = 0.39, P less than 0.015), pulmonary function tests, cough severity (r = 0.50, P less than 0.001) and NIH clinical score (r = 0.57, P less than 0.001). CA 19-9 concentration of Inpatients decreased by 44% from admission to discharge (302 +/- 45 to 169 +/- 39, P less than 0.02). Fourteen of 25 (56%) of the Inpatients were Le(a) positive versus only 3/15 (20%) of Outpatients who had milder lung disease (P less than 0.002). Of the Inpatients, 25% with more advanced lung disease were Le(a+b+), a rare blood group in the normal population, and one not observed in the Outpatients with milder disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗