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Biomedical subjects

P Hudson

Publications and source records attributed to P Hudson.

121 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Child Medical Evaluation Program: a statewide system for the medical and mental health evaluation of abused and neglected children.

The Child Medical Evaluation Program examines 1500 children per year suspected by county social service departments of having subtle physical evidence of abuse or neglect. The program utilizes private practitioners, primarily pediatricians, in a systematic manner and provides consultation, direction, and quality control. The system is a unique, cooperative effort between private practitioners and county departments of social service. It is administered from a state university department of pediatrics. The cost is low, government involvement minimal, and the service extensive. The system is recommended to other states.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Structure of a genomic clone encoding biologically active human relaxin.

Relaxin is a peptide hormone synthesized in the corpora lutea of ovaries during pregnancy and is released into the blood stream prior to parturition. Its major biological effect is to remodel the mammalian reproductive tract to facilitate the birth process. Determination of the structure of human relaxin is thus a first step in opening up the possibility of clinical intervention in cases of difficult labour. However, the limited availability of human ovaries during pregnancy has prevented both direct amino acid sequence determination and isolation of cDNA clones obtained from relaxin producing tissue. Our approach has therefore been to screen directly for a human relaxin gene using an homologous porcine relaxin cDNA probe. We report here the successful identification of a genomic clone from which the structure of the entire coding region of a human preprorelaxin gene has been determined. Synthesis of biologically active relaxin has shown that the novel gene structure described herein codes for an authentic human relaxin. We believe this is the first successful synthesis of a biologically active hormone whose structure was predicted solely from the structure of a genomic clone.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
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Analogues, ageing and aberrant assimilation of vitamin B12 in Alzheimer's disease.

Vitamin B12 assimilation might be disrupted in patients with Alzheimer's disease. We therefore measured B12 carrier protein saturation and inactive B12 'analogues' in patients compared with healthy elderly individuals in a prospective case-controlled survey. Twenty-three patients, aged 60 or over, with features compatible with DSM-IV criteria for primary degenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type were recruited together with 18 cognitively intact age-matched control subjects. Total vitamin B12 (active corrinoids), holo- and apo-haptocorrin and transcobalamin were measured in serum. B12 analogues (inactive corrinoids) were estimated from the difference between R-binder-determined corrinoids and an intrinsic factor based B12 assay. Alzheimer patients had significantly lower active corrinoid than control subjects and the analogue/corrinoid ratio was significantly higher in the Alzheimer group. The inter-relationship between age, analogues and transcobalamin polarised patients into two distinct groups. Two disparate mechanisms might exist for the development of cerebral B12 deficiency in Alzheimer's disease, although both imply a disruption of selective B12 assimilation and analogue elimination in such patients.

Aged↗
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Homocysteine and cognitive decline in healthy elderly.

Serum homocysteine is increased, and correlates inversely with cognitive scores, in Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia and "age-associated memory impairment". Elevated levels might signal accelerated cognitive decline, although this remains to be established. We therefore repeated Mini-Mental State Examinations, together with additional ADAS-Cog assessments, in 32 healthy elderly individuals to determine whether prior homocysteine levels predicted cognitive changes over a 5-year period. Homocysteine predicted follow-up cognitive scores and rate of decline in cognitive performance independently of age, sex, education, renal function, vitamin B status, smoking and hypertension (p < 0.001). Homocysteine predicted word recall (p = 0.01), orientation (p = 0.02) and constructional praxis scores (p < 0.0001). One subject, with the second highest initial homocysteine, had developed probable AD at follow-up. Fasting total serum homocysteine appears to be an independent predictor of cognitive decline in healthy elderly and exerts a maximal effect on spatial copying skills.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pertussis toxin stimulates the secretion of [Met5]-enkephalin and the expression of proenkephalin A mRNA in bovine adrenal medullary chromaffin cells.

[Met5]-Enkephalin (ME) secretion and the expression of proenkephalin A (proENK) mRNA were studied following long-term exposure of bovine adrenal medullary chromaffin (BAMC) cells to pertussis toxin. Treatment with pertussis toxin for 24 h increased the secretion of ME in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The magnitude of ME secretion continued to increase with time in the presence of pertussis toxin. The intracellular concentration of ME in the pertussis toxin-treated group was not significantly different from controls, suggesting that elevated levels of ME secretion result from increased biosynthesis of ME rather than from release of stored ME. Prolonged (24 h) stimulation of BAMC cells with pertussis toxin also increased proENK gene expression. Pretreatment with nimodipine (a calcium channel blocker) and calmidazolium (a calmodulin antagonist) inhibited both the secretion of ME and the increase in proENK mRNA levels induced by pertussis toxin, while the intracellular calcium antagonist dantrolene and the protein kinase C inhibitors sphingosine and H7 [1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine] were ineffective in blocking pertussis toxin-induced responses. Forskolin (an adenyl cyclase activator) and isobutyl methyl xanthine (a phosphodiesterase inhibitor) increased both ME secretion and proENK mRNA levels; pertussis toxin synergistically increased the secretion of ME with these cyclic AMP-elevating agents but had only an additive effect with these agents on the level of proENK mRNA. Our results suggest that a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein may tonically regulate the secretion of ME as well as the level of proENK mRNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗
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If it takes two to tango, then why not teach both partners to dance? Collaboration instruction for all educators.

Being able to collaborate effectively is important for teachers who work together to serve students with learning disabilities in general education classrooms. Effective collaboration requires that teachers have knowledge and skills in how to effectively communicate and share their technical expertise for the purpose of solving classroom problems and providing continuity across instructional settings. Although both special education and general education preparation programs provide preservice teachers with the technical expertise for their respective areas of certification, few programs provide both special education and general education majors with instruction in interpersonal communication skills and collaboration strategies. The purpose of this article is to suggest guidelines and strategies to help teacher preparation programs move toward collaboration instruction for all educators. Suggestions for what to teach and how to teach it are offered, as well as an overview of factors that influence the implementation of collaboration instruction for all educators.

Communication↗
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Alcohol and fatal injuries: temporal patterns.

Although alcohol use has been established as a risk factor for injuries associated with motor vehicle crashes, the role of alcohol for other unintentional and intentional injuries is less defined. A review of 102,401 deaths investigated by North Carolina medical examiners in the period 1973-1983 characterized the temporal patterns of ethyl alcohol in unintentional injury fatalities, suicides, homicides, and persons who died of natural or unknown causes. Victims of homicides (85.9%) and suicides (77.7%) were tested for alcohol more frequently than were fatalities resulting from unintentional injury (67.5%) or natural causes (61.6%). Alcohol was present in 62.8% of homicide victims, 48.6% of unintentional injury fatalities, 35.3% of suicides, and 14.4% of deaths from natural causes. The percentage of alcohol-associated deaths for each manner of death showed little yearly or seasonal variation. Alcohol was most frequently detected in persons fatally injured on the weekend and from 6 PM to 6 AM. This study highlights the magnitude of alcohol's role in intentional and unintentional injuries, especially for persons injured at night and on weekends.

Accidents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of defibrillation energy on pacing threshold.

After an episode of electrical defibrillation, periods of increased pacing threshold may cause lack of pacing in pacemaker patients. This effect is independent of the energy applied during defibrillation, although the data suggest that the most rapid return to prefibrillation pacing thresholds occurs after minimal energy countershocks.

Animals↗