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Biomedical subjects

L French

Publications and source records attributed to L French.

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

Characterization of the non-functional Fas ligand of gld mice.

Mice homozygous for either the gld or lpr mutation develop autoimmune diseases and progressive lymphadenopathy. The lpr mutation is characterized by the absence of functional Fas, whereas gld mice exhibit an inactive FasL due to a point mutation proximal to the extracellular C-terminus. The structural repercussions of this amino acid substitution remain unknown. Here we report that FasL is expressed at similar levels on the surface of activated T lymphocytes from gld and wild-type mice. Using a polyclonal anti-FasL antibody, indistinguishable amounts of a 40 kDa protein are detected in both gld and wild-type splenocytes. The molecular model of FasL, based on the known structure of TNF-alpha, predicts that the Phe --> Leu gld mutation is located at the protomer interface which is close to the FasR interaction site. We conclude that the gld mutation allows normal FasL biosynthesis, surface expression and oligomerization, but induces structural alterations to the Fas binding region leading to the phenotypic changes observed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Family practice bashing as perceived by students at a university medical center.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Medical schools are being asked to produce more family physicians, but it is not always clear how this can be accomplished. Previous research has focused on students' characteristics and attitudes that predict specialty choice but has paid less attention to feedback they receive in the academic medical center environment. METHODS: In early 1993, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 160 students from all classes of the University of California, San Francisco Medical School who had previously shown interest in family practice. Data are shown for the 138 respondents. RESULTS: Most students from all years had received positive feedback about their interest in family practice, usually from family physicians. By the fourth year, 95% of students had received negative feedback, usually from physicians in other specialties. Many students gave poignant examples of pejorative comments about family practice by faculty and house staff. Negative feedback seemed strongest at the time students were making decisions about residency. By the fourth year, only 39% of these previously interested students chose family practice. CONCLUSION: Serious efforts to encourage students to enter family practice must address the problem of negative feedback from other specialties. To promote positive feedback, contact with family physicians should be increased, especially in the third and fourth years.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1994

Soluble complement receptor type 1 (CD35) is released from leukocytes by surface cleavage.

The soluble form of complement receptor type 1 in human plasma (sCR1) might correspond to the shedding of the receptor by proteolytic cleavage at the cell surface. A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established to specifically measure membrane-bound CR1 using a rabbit polyclonal antibody against a 19-amino acid peptide corresponding to the C-terminal sequence of the intracellular domain of CR1 (mCR1-ELISA). This ELISA measured CR1 from solubilized erythrocyte membranes, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), a B lymphocyte cell line and renal podocyte-derived urinary vesicles in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, and similarly to recombinant soluble CR1 which lacks the intracellular domain of CR1, plasmatic sCR1 was not recognized, suggesting that sCR1 corresponds to an extracellular fragment of whole CR1. In vitro, PMN were shown to release a soluble form of CR1 which was also not recognized in the mCR1-ELISA, and whose size was smaller (5 kDa) than the CR1 of PMN cell membranes. The release of soluble CR1 was highest for PMN and HL60 cells, followed by U937 cells and three different B lymphocyte cell lines, whereas T lymphocyte cell lines did not release soluble CR1. The levels of CR1 gene expression were also higher in PMN compared to remaining blood leukocytes and the different cell lines tested above. Incubation of PMN with formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha or lipopolysaccharide accelerated the release of soluble CR1, and incubation with granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor resulted in sustained CR1 gene expression and higher total soluble CR1 release. Our results suggest that soluble CR1 is produced by cleavage of cell surface CR1, and that a large fraction of human plasma sCR1 is cleaved from PMN. The release of sCR1 by leukocytes may play a role in the control of complement activation at sites of inflammation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Human megakaryocytes express clusterin and package it without apolipoprotein A-1 into alpha-granules.

Clusterin, a 70-Kd disulfide-linked two-chain plasma glycoprotein circulates in blood as a high-density lipoprotein particle and is highly induced after tissue injury and tissue remodeling. In this study, peripheral blood leukocytes were assayed for clusterin expression. The protein was predominantly detectable in human platelets by immune cytochemistry. The content of clusterin was determined and amounts to 2.5 +/- 1.3 micrograms/10(9) platelets, thus representing about 2% of the blood pool. Clusterin purified from human platelets had the same molecular weight as plasma clusterin under nonreducing conditions and was composed of two disulfide-linked nonidentical subunits of the same size. Both preparations were sensitive to reduction yielding the two subunits of 35 Kd. In contrast to plasma clusterin, the platelet form was not complexed to apolipoprotein A-I. By immunogold labeling, alpha-granule localization of clusterin was observed. Complete release of platelet clusterin occurred at optimal doses of A23187, phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), and thrombin. Because clusterin mRNA was detected by hybridization in situ in bone marrow-derived megakaryocytes, platelet clusterin is most likely produced and packaged into alpha-granules during megakaryocyte development.

Apolipoprotein A-I↗
PubMed1991

A practitioner's notes on treating sexual deviance.

Considerable controversy exists regarding the treatment of sexual offenders. Often incarceration masks the environmental stimuli, resulting in not only early release but a false clinical prognosis for success. The paper looks at treatment strategies applicable to both the diagnostic and treatment components of sexual deviance. Specifically, what factors contribute to the symptoms associated with intense sexual urges and are there any viable treatment programs which carry over into the home world environment?

Gender Identity↗
PubMed1990

Identifying children with specific reading disabilities from listening and reading discrepancy scores.

A method of identifying children with specific reading disabilities by identifying discrepancies between their reading and listening comprehension scores was validated with disabled and nondisabled readers in Grades 4, 5, and 6. The method is based on a modification of the reading comprehension subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (Dunn & Markwardt, 1970). In this modification, even-numbered sentences are read by subjects, and odd-numbered sentences are read by the test administrator as subjects listen. The features of this test that reduce demands on working memory, thereby making it suitable for the detection of a discrepancy between reading and listening comprehension in readers with disabilities, are discussed. A significant group-by-modality interaction was obtained. Children with reading disabilities scored significantly lower on reading than on listening comprehension, while nondisabled readers scored slightly higher, but not significantly so, on reading than on listening comprehension. The appropriateness of this method as a substitute for the traditional method, which is based on the detection of a discrepancy between intelligence and reading and which has recently been proscribed in certain school districts, is discussed. Issues concerning the listening comprehension skills of disabled readers are also discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1988

Summarization strategies of hearing-impaired and normally hearing college students.

The purpose of this study was to compare the summary writing skills of hearing-impaired and normally hearing college students. Summarization was defined in terms of the following measures: deletion of trivial text information, inclusion of most important ideas, selection of topic sentences, creation of topic statements, and integration of information within and among several paragraphs. Inclusion of opinionated, incorrect, and uninterpretable information was measured also. Thirty hearing-impaired and 30 normally hearing students read and summarized two expository science passages that were controlled for the number of topic (main idea) sentences and that had been rated previously for the importance of "idea units." Students' factual comprehension also was assessed. Hearing-impaired and normally hearing students exhibited a similar pattern of use among several measured summarization strategies, except for the inclusion of opinions or comments in their summaries. Hearing-impaired students were not as sensitive as normally hearing students to importance of ideas and used the following summarization strategies significantly less often: inclusion of important ideas, selection of topic sentences, creation of topic statements, and integration of ideas within and among paragraphs. The results indicated that hearing-impaired college students have basic summarization skills but do not apply summarization strategies as effectively as normally hearing students.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Suicide and female aggression: a contemporary analysis of anomic suicide.

Much has been said about the combined efforts of civil disorder and the emergence of the Women's Right Movement during the mid 1960s-early 1970s, suggesting that perhaps now females would rebel against their traditional subordinate/passive role and aspire to more assertive positions within society. Since social disruption and anomic suicide are closely associated, the authors looked at the relationship between suicide and female assertiveness (aggressive suicides). While male/female suicide rates remained proportional over time, female victims, during this period, did manifest a greater degree of aggression than in the past.

Adult↗