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Biomedical subjects

N Gray

Publications and source records attributed to N Gray.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Factors predicting return to work following mild traumatic brain injury: a discriminant analysis.

Studies of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) suggest that most individuals recover rapidly and return to their everyday activities. However, a percentage of MTBI patients report persistent problems with cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms. There is also evidence that some experience changes in occupational functioning following MTBI. The current study used a stepwise discriminant function analysis (DFA) to examine the role of injury severity variables, cognitive performance, and ratings of symptoms of TBI in predicting work status following MTBI. Subjects included 121 MTBI patients who were all active-duty military personnel. The stepwise DFA revealed that age and three cognitive variables (verbal memory, verbal fluency, and a speed test of planning and strategy) were predictive of work status 3-15 months following a documented MTBI, correctly classifying work status 68.8% of the time. A cross-validation DFA was conducted, with a 66.1% correct classification rate. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive impairments in identifying those at risk for occupational impairment following MTBI.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

A cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor inducing cancer cell differentiation: biochemical identification using Xenopus egg extracts.

Cellular differentiation is a complex process involving growth arrest, exit from the cell cycle, and expression of differentiated cell-type-specific functions. To identify small molecules promoting this process, a chemical library was screened by using a myeloid leukemic cell line that retained the potential to differentiate in culture. In the presence of a purine derivative, aminopurvalanol (AP), cells acquired phenotypic characteristics of differentiated macrophages and became arrested in the cell cycle with a 4N DNA content. AP also inhibited mitosis in Xenopus egg extracts, suggesting that it acted on an evolutionarily conserved cell cycle regulatory pathway. Affinity chromatography and biochemical reconstitution experiments with Xenopus egg extracts identified cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 1-cyclin B as a target of the compound. Although AP potently inhibited immunoprecipitates of both human CDK1 and CDK2 from human leukemic cell extracts, our results indicate that the compound preferentially targets the G2/M-phase transition in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Development and evaluation of the McKnight Risk Factor Survey for assessing potential risk and protective factors for disordered eating in preadolescent and adolescent girls.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the McKnight Risk Factor Survey-III (MRFS-III). The MRFS-III was designed to assess a number of potential risk and protective factors for the development of disordered eating in preadolescent and adolescent girls. METHOD: Several versions of the MRFS were pilot tested before the MRFS-III was administered to a sample of 651 4th through 12th- grade girls to establish its psychometric properties. RESULTS: Most of the test-retest reliability coefficients of individual items on the MRFS-III were r > .40. Alpha coefficients for each risk and protective factor domain on the MRFS-III were also computed. The majority of these coefficients were r > .60. High convergent validity coefficients were obtained for specific items on the MRFS-III and measures of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) and weight concerns (Weight Concerns Scale). CONCLUSIONS: The test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the MRFS-III suggest that it is a useful new instrument to assess potential risk and protective factors for the development of disordered eating in preadolescent and adolescent girls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Supplying commercial biomedical companies from a human tissue bank in an NHS hospital--a view from personal experience.

NHS histopathology laboratories are well placed to develop banks of surgically removed surplus human tissues to meet the increasing demands of commercial biomedical companies. The ultimate aim could be national network of non-profit making NHS tissue banks conforming to national minimum ethical, legal, and quality standards which could be monitored by local research ethics committees. The Nuffield report on bioethics provides ethical and legal guidance but we believe that the patient should be fully informed and the consent given explicit. Setting up a tissue bank requires enthusiasm, hard work, and determination as well as coordination between professionals in the NHS trust and in the commercial sector. The rewards are exiting new collaborations with commercial biomedical companies which could help secure our future.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1999

The future of tobacco product regulation and labelling in Europe: implications for the forthcoming European Union directive.

The European Commission has announced that it is considering legislation concerning further restrictions on cigarette tar and nicotine yields, as well as new provisions to regulate additives and the labelling of tobacco products. This report considers these issues and their relation to public health. In particular, we argue that further reductions in tar and nicotine yields as measured by the International Standards Organisation/Federal Trade Commission (ISO/FTC) method will be largely cosmetic and certainly misleading to consumers. If a new directive uses the ISO/FTC methodology as a basis for regulation, it risks lending further official support to the concept of "low tar" cigarettes, which may be used by smokers as an alternative to smoking cessation. Although new regulations based on the ISO/FTC methodology may appear to offer health gains, these will be illusory and there may even be negative health consequences, as has been the case with these tests up to the present. We therefore make the following recommendations for the way forward.

European Union↗
PubMed1999

ATP-site directed inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases.

Cyclin-dependent kinases trigger and coordinate transitions between different phases the cell division cycle (CDK1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7). They also play a role in apoptosis (CDK2), in neuronal cells (CDK5) and in the control of transcription (CDK 7, 8, 9). Intensive screening has lead to the recent identification of a series of chemical inhibitors of CDKs: olomoucine, roscovitine, purvalanol, CVT-313, flavopiridol, g-butyrolactone, indirubins, paullones and staurosporine. Some of these compounds display remarkable selectivities and efficiencies (IC50 < 25 nM). Many have been co-crystallised with CDK2 and their interactions with the kinase have been analysed in atomic detail. These inhibitors all act by competing with ATP for binding at the catalytic site. Most inhibitors present a flat heterocyclic ring system that occupies the purine binding pocket as well as form 2 or 3 hydrogen bonds with Glu-81 and Leu-83. The binding modes of these inhibitors are reviewed in this article. Knowledge of the CDK/inhibitor interactions will be of great help to design inhibitors with improved selectivity our potency as well as to generate affinity chromatography matrices for the purification and identification of their cellular targets. The potential use of CDK inhibitors is being extensively evaluated in cancer chemotherapy and other fields such as the cardiovascular domain (restenosis), dermatology (psoriasis), nephrology (glomerulonephritis) parasitology (unicellular parasites such as Plasmodium, Trypanosomes, Toxoplasm,.etc.), neurology (Alzheimer's disease) and viral infections (cytomegalovirus, H.I.V., herpes).

Adenine↗
PubMed1998

Attachment style and weight concerns in preadolescent and adolescent girls.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the association between attachment style and weight concerns, a major risk factor for eating disorders, in preadolescent and adolescent girls. METHOD: Three hundred and five female elementary and middle school students completed measures of attachment style and weight concerns. RESULTS: Insecurely attached subjects reported higher weight concerns than did securely attached subjects. A greater proportion of insecurely attached subjects obtained "at risk" weight concerns scores than securely attached subjects. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that attachment style may play an important role in the development of weight concerns, which, in turn, have been shown to be associated with the onset of eating disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Factors associated with weight concerns in adolescent girls.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the association of weight concerns with potential risk factors for the development of eating disorders. METHOD: A self-report survey was given to 103 elementary (Grades 4 and 5) and 420 middle (Grades 6-8) school students in Arizona and California. Of these, 78 elementary and 333 middle school students provided complete data and were used in the analyses. RESULTS: In a multivariate stepwise regression analysis, the importance that peers put on weight and eating was most strongly related to weight concerns in the elementary school girls, accounting for 34% of the variance after adjusting for site differences. Trying to look like girls/women on TV and in magazines as well as body mass index (BMI) entered the final model that accounted for 57% of the variance in weight concerns. In middle school, the importance that peers place on weight and eating was also the strongest predictor accounting for 33% of the variance followed by confidence, BMI, trying to look like girls/women on TV and in magazines, and being teased about weight. Together these variables accounted for 55% of the variance. DISCUSSION: Prevention programs aimed at reducing weight concerns need to address these factors.

Adolescent↗