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Biomedical subjects

N Wood

Publications and source records attributed to N Wood.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Skin conductance and subjective assessments associated with the odour of 5-alpha-androstan-3-one.

Two experiments are reported using the odours of 5-alpha-androstan-3-one (androstanone) and, a control odour, aurantiol. Various measures of skin conductance (SC) were recorded and analysed and subjects also rated the odours using analogue scales. The first experiment involved comparisons between subjects who perceive the androstanone odour as pleasant and subjects who perceive it as unpleasant. A number of differences were shown between the two groups and also between androstanone and aurantiol. The results are interpreted as demonstrating the influence of cognitive factors that are found between male and female responses and also between the responses of the 'pleasant' and 'unpleasant' groups. The second experiment examined the SC response of subjects who displayed specific anosmia to the odour of androstanone. The results suggest that the concept of specific anosmia requires modification.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patient satisfaction with cancer chemotherapy nursing: a review of the literature.

Assessments of patient satisfaction have become widely accepted as a legitimate and worthwhile approach to improvement of service quality. Satisfaction studies are common in areas such as general practice or midwifery, but the approach has hardly been applied to assessments of care for persons with cancer. This paper first provides an historical background to satisfaction research in Western countries, then goes on to introduce conceptual issues in this field. Literature relevant to patient satisfaction with cancer chemotherapy services is then examined, with the review structured by four aspects of care: treatment accessibility and environment, technical aspects of care, interpersonal aspects of care, and patient information and education. The literature clearly suggest two areas which need urgent attention: assessments and management of adverse effects, and provision of patient information.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diagnosis of sickle-cell disease with a universal heteroduplex generator.

A new diagnostic technique, universal heteroduplex generator screening, has been developed to detect homozygosity and heterozygosity for sickle-cell disease. Since it is a polymerase chain reaction-based technique, it may be used to detect haemoglobin S and haemoglobin C genotypes in adults, neonates, or from coelocentesis during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. beta-globin gene nucleotide sequences are amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, and are heteroduplexed with a beta-globulin universal heteroduplex generator. Haemoglobins S and C mutations are identified by characteristic polyacrylamide minigel banding patterns. The technique is simple and rapid to do, even by nonspecialist laboratories, and is applicable to large-scale screening for haemoglobin S and C mutations as well as prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell disease.

Anemia, Sickle Cell↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The detection of microsatellite instability in blind endometrial samples--a potential novel screening tool for endometrial cancer in women from hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer families?

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is the phenotypic molecular characteristic of the majority of tumors associated with the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome (HNPCC). Women in this group have an increased risk of endometrial cancer (EC). This study aimed to determine whether MSI could be demonstrated in blind endometrial samples from women with EC, HNPCC kindreds undergoing screening for EC, and women with normal endometrium. Twenty-four women with EC, 20 women from HNPCC kindreds, and 20 women undergoing gynecological surgery for benign indications underwent blind sampling. MSI analysis was performed by conventional polymerase chain reaction using fluorescent-labeled primers and automated analysis. Twelve microsatellites were studied with MSI defined as evident when novel alleles were seen in endometrial biopsy samples compared to genomic DNA. Of the 24 EC samples obtained, sufficient DNA for analysis was extracted in 17 cases. Three cases had evidence of MSI in at least 7/12 loci. None of the endometrium from the two other study groups revealed evidence of MSI. This is the first demonstration of MSI in blind endometrial biopsies. The ability to demonstrate MSI in heterogeneous endometrial samples suggests potential for the development of a novel EC screening tool for women in HNPCC kindreds.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Developing performance measures for sedation and analgesia: the approach of the Quality Indicator Project.

This article describes the development of a set of measures focused on use of and complications following sedation and analgesia. This group of measures is another step in a 15-year quest of a group of hospitals and other healthcare providers to identify ways to better monitor and understand performance--and thereby improve their ability to identify opportunities for improvement. The article describes in detail the practical steps taken to develop, test, and implement the measures, as well as some of the fundamental conceptual issues associated with cost and benefits of performance measurement. Finally, it examines the pilot-test experience for the measures--both the individual hospitals' efforts to implement data collection and the aggregate data that resulted from the pilot test.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
PubMedDate not supplied

In vitro invasiveness of human breast cancer cells is promoted by low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein.

Low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein/alpha(2)-macroglobulin receptor (LRP) is a surface membrane endocytic receptor, one of whose many functions is the regulation of plasminogen activator-mediated cell migration. LRP is known to have a role in migration and invasion, but its direct involvement has been demonstrated only in non-tumour cells. We investigated six breast cancer cell lines and a normal mammary epithelial cell clone for surface and total cellular LRP expression, and confirmed that its presence corresponds to the ability to invade and migrate in vitro. We showed that LRP in the tumour cell lines is expressed at a wide range of levels: from approximately 300 to approximately 6,300 sites per cell. Four of the breast cancer cell lines expressed LRP at over 1,000 sites/cell and were markedly invasive in our assay, the remainder of the cell lines and the normal clone having far fewer LRP sites and lacking invasive ability. We further showed that the migratory and invasive abilities of a highly invasive breast cancer cell line are both inhibited by receptor-associated protein, a unique LRP ligand which normally has a solely intracellular distribution but which, when added to culture medium, can inhibit all other ligand interactions with this receptor.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cell surface expression of urokinase receptor in normal mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cell lines.

BACKGROUND: The urokinase receptor (uPAR) is important in the process of extracellular matrix degradation occurring during cancer cell invasion and metastasis. We wished to quantify uPAR on the surfaces of normal mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) and 6 well-known breast cancer cell lines using flow cytometry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell surface uPAR was labelled with a monoclonal antibody, and this was detected with a fluorescent-labelled second antibody and accurately measured using flow cytometry. The measured fluorescent signals of the stained cells were interpolated with those of Quantum Simply Cellular bead standards to determine the number of uPAR sites per cell. RESULTS: The breast cancer cell lines ranged from 13,700 to 50,800 uPAR sites per cell, whilst HMEC cells had only 2,500 sites. CONCLUSIONS: This simple and reliable method showed that the expression of cell surface uPAR is higher in the breast cancer cell lines than in the normal mammary cells.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Urokinase receptor expression is upregulated by cell culture sparsity in breast cancer cell line BT-20.

BACKGROUND: The processes of tumour cell migration and invasion are enhanced by urokinase activity mediated by the urokinase receptor on the cell surface. Various factors affect the expression of the urokinase receptor, and amongst them we have found evidence that cell culture dispersity strongly upregulates it in breast cancer cell line BT 20. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Flow cytometry was used to quantify urokinase enzyme and urokinase receptors on the surfaces of cells cultured at different levels of dispersity. RESULTS: Increasing the cell culture sparsity caused more than a doubling in the level of expression of the cell surface urokinase receptor in this cell line. A marked increase in the level of cell surface receptor-bound urokinase corresponding to the increase in the receptor itself also occurred in sparse cell cultures. CONCLUSIONS: The marked effect of culture sparsity on the urokinase pathway may have important implications for the behaviour of tumour cells during the process of metastasis formation.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dose-titration of fenbendazole in the treatment of poultry nematodiasis.

Broiler chickens were fed ad libitum diets containing fenbendazole at various concentrations and durations for the removal of adult Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, and Capillaria obsignata. All regimens were 100% effective against A. galli. Fenbendazole at doses of 80 ppm for 3 days and 48 or 30 ppm for 5 days was 100% effective against H. gallinarum. C. obsignata was not removed completely by any regimen, but greater than or equal to 95% effectiveness was seen in birds given fenbendazole at doses of 80 ppm for 3 days and 48 ppm for 5 days. All medicated rations were readily consumed, and the treated birds exhibited no adverse reactions.

Administration, Oral↗