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Biomedical subjects

P Morris

Publications and source records attributed to P Morris.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Long-term effects of nurse home visitation on children's criminal and antisocial behavior: 15-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT: A program of home visitation by nurses has been shown to affect the rates of maternal welfare dependence, criminality, problems due to use of substances, and child abuse and neglect. However, the long-term effects of this program on children's antisocial behavior have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term effects of a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses on children's antisocial behavior. DESIGN: Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Interviews were conducted with the adolescents and their biological mothers or custodial parents. SETTING: Semirural community in New York. PARTICIPANTS: Between April 1978 and September 1980, 500 consecutive pregnant women with no previous live births were recruited, and 400 were enrolled. A total of 315 adolescent offspring participated in a follow-up study when they were 15 years old; 280 (89%) were born to white mothers, 195 (62%) to unmarried mothers, 151 (48%) to mothers younger than 19 years, and 186 (59%) to mothers from households of low socioeconomic status at the time of registration during pregnancy. INTERVENTION: Families in the groups that received home visits had an average of 9 (range, 0-16) home visits during pregnancy and 23 (range, 0-59) home visits from birth through the child's second birthday. The control groups received standard prenatal and well-child care in a clinic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Children's self-reports of running away, arrests, convictions, being sentenced to youth corrections, initiation of sexual intercourse, number of sex partners, and use of illegal substances; school records of suspensions; teachers' reports of children's disruptive behavior in school; and parents' reports of the children's arrests and behavioral problems related to the children's use of alcohol and other drugs. RESULTS: Adolescents born to women who received nurse visits during pregnancy and postnatally and who were unmarried and from households of low socioeconomic status (risk factors for antisocial behavior), in contrast with those in the comparison groups, reported fewer instances (incidence) of running away (0.24 vs 0.60; P = .003), fewer arrests (0.20 vs 0.45; P = .03), fewer convictions and violations of probation (0.09 vs 0.47; P<.001), fewer lifetime sex partners (0.92 vs 2.48; P= .003), fewer cigarettes smoked per day (1.50 vs 2.50; P= .10), and fewer days having consumed alcohol in the last 6 months (1.09 vs 2.49; P = .03). Parents of nurse-visited children reported that their children had fewer behavioral problems related to use of alcohol and other drugs (0.15 vs 0.34; P = .08). There were no program effects on other behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS: This program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses can reduce reported serious antisocial behavior and emergent use of substances on the part of adolescents born into high-risk families.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The effects of cocaine on nonhuman primate brain function are age dependent.

The effects of acute intravenous (i.v.) cocaine (COC) on several complex brain functions were studied in rhesus monkeys at 1.5, 3 and 10-11 years of age. Subjects performed several operant tasks (for food) that were used to model learning, short-term memory, color and position discrimination, and motivation, and disruption of performance of these tasks was used to quantitate drug effect. Drug effects were age dependent: The youngest subjects were 3 to 10 times less sensitive than the oldest. Presuming the observed behavioral effects of cocaine were caused primarily via its interaction with dopamine (DA) systems, changes in sensitivity to its effects with age are likely a reflection of the functional status of the DA system. These data, along with preliminary data on levels of DA transporters, suggest that the age-related differences in sensitivity to cocaine lie in, 'downstream' from, the dopamine receptor.

Aging↗
PubMed1998

Platelet paroxetine binding in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sixty-two subjects, 45 with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 17 healthy control subjects, were examined in a study of serotonin function measured by [3H]paroxetine binding to platelet membranes. Subjects were selected from male combat exposed veterans. The mean (+/- S.D.) Kd was 0.078 +/- 0.045 nM for the PTSD patient group and 0.064 +/- 0.037 nM for the control group. The mean Bmax was 934 + 238 fmol/mg protein for the PTSD patient group and 1011 +/- 363 fmol/mg protein for the control group. There was no significant difference between the groups for either Kd or Bmax before or after controlling for season of sampling. There were no significant differences between subjects with current PTSD and those with PTSD in the past, or between PTSD subjects with or without concurrent major depressive disorder. This study finds no relationship between PTSD, major depressive disorder and peripheral serotonin function measured by [3H]paroxetine binding to blood platelets.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Pantoprazole-based 10-day triple therapy is effective in Helicobacter pylori eradication.

AIM: To investigate the efficacy of a short course of pantoprazole-based triple therapy in Helicobacter pylori eradication in a single-centre pilot study. METHODS: Patients with active or healed duodenal ulcer or with gastric erosions or gastritis, all of whom were H. pylori-positive, received 10 days of twice-daily open treatment with pantoprazole 40 mg, plus clarithromycin 250 mg and tinidazole 500 mg. H. pylori was assessed at entry and 28-35 days after the end of treatment by rapid urease test (at entry only), culture and antimicrobial sensitivity, histology and 13C urea breath test. The criterion for eradication was a negative result in all three tests. RESULTS: Seventy patients were treated, of whom four were excluded from analysis due to major deviations from the study protocol. Eradication of H. pylori was achieved in 57/66 patients (per protocol analysis 86% (95% CI: 78-95%)) and was higher in patients with organisms sensitive to nitroimidazole before treatment (sensitive: 47/53 (89%), insensitive: 10/13 (77%)). There was marked reduction in acute gastritis throughout the stomach while chronic gastritis decreased only in the corpus. Healing was achieved in all 24 patients with active duodenal ulcer. Treatment was complied with; only one patient missed one of the 20 doses. Adverse events were of mild or moderate intensity and did not require withdrawal from treatment. CONCLUSION: A short course of pantoprazole-based triple therapy is well tolerated and effective in eradicating H. pylori.

2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles↗
PubMed1998

Genetic manipulation of condensed tannins in higher plants. Ii. Analysis Of birdsfoot trefoil plants harboring antisense dihydroflavonol reductase constructs

We have produced and analyzed transgenic birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) plants harboring antisense dihydroflavonol reductase (AS-DFR) sequences. In initial experiments the effect of introducing three different antisense Antirrhinum majus L. DFR constructs into a single recipient genotype (S50) was assessed. There were no obvious effects on plant biomass, but levels of condensed tannins showed a statistical reduction in leaf, stem, and root tissues of some of the antisense lines. Transformation events were also found, which resulted in increased levels of condensed tannins. In subsequent experiments a detailed study of AS-DFR phenotypes was carried out in genotype S33 using pMAJ2 (an antisense construct comprising the 5' half of the A. majus cDNA). In this case, reduced tannin levels were found in leaf and stem tissues and in juvenile shoot tissues. Analysis of soluble flavonoids and isoflavonoids in tannin down-regulated shoot tissues indicated few obvious default products. When two S33 AS-DFR lines were outcrossed, there was an underrepresentation of transgene sequences in progeny plants and no examples of inheritance of an antisense phenotype were observed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the genetic manipulation of condensed tannin biosynthesis in higher plants.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Erosive oesophagitis: outcome of repeated long term maintenance treatment with low dose omeprazole 10 mg or placebo.

AIMS: To investigate the efficacy of daily maintenance treatment with omeprazole 10 mg in reducing the relapse rate of healed erosive oesophagitis. METHODS: Three hundred patients with erosive oesophagitis (grade 2 or greater) received omeprazole 20 mg daily for 12 weeks, followed by 40 mg daily for a further 12 weeks if required. After healing, patients were randomised to double blind treatment with omeprazole 10 mg daily or placebo for up to 18 months. On relapse the treatment cycle was repeated. RESULTS: The cumulative healing rate at 12 weeks in the initial healing period was 95%, and 96% and 98% on rehealing courses after relapse in the first and second maintenance periods respectively. After 12 weeks of treatment, 98% of patients were free from heartburn and 97% were free of all reflux related symptoms. Relapse in the subgroup of patients who relapsed in both maintenance periods was infrequent on omeprazole 20 mg daily: only 9% at two years. Gastrin concentrations rose above normal in one third of patients. One patient had linear hyperplasia of endocrine cells and another had micronodular hyperplasia. There were no side effects definitely attributable to omeprazole. CONCLUSION: Maintenance treatment with omeprazole 10 mg daily keeps about 60% of patients with erosive oesophagitis in prolonged remission. Patients relapsing once are likely to do so again; they can subsequently be treated effectively with omeprazole 20 mg daily.

Anti-Ulcer Agents↗
PubMed1997

Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect. Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial.

CONTEXT: Home-visitation services have been promoted as a means of improving maternal and child health and functioning. However, long-term effects have not been examined. OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term effects of a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses on women's life course and child abuse and neglect. DESIGN: Randomized trial. SETTING: Semirural community in New York. PARTICIPANTS: Of 400 consecutive pregnant women with no previous live births enrolled, 324 participated in a follow-up study when their children were 15 years old. INTERVENTION: Families received a mean of 9 home visits during pregnancy and 23 home visits from the child's birth through the second birthday. DATA SOURCES AND MEASURES: Women's use of welfare and number of subsequent children were based on self-report; their arrests and convictions were based on self-report and archived data from New York State. Verified reports of child abuse and neglect were abstracted from state records. MAIN RESULTS: During the 15-year period after the birth of their first child, in contrast to women in the comparison group, women who were visited by nurses during pregnancy and infancy were identified as perpetrators of child abuse and neglect in 0.29 vs 0.54 verified reports (P<.001). Among women who were unmarried and from households of low socioeconomic status at initial enrollment, in contrast to those in the comparison group, nurse-visited women had 1.3 vs 1.6 subsequent births (P=.02), 65 vs 37 months between the birth of the first and a second child (P=.001), 60 vs 90 months' receiving Aid to Families With Dependent Children (P=.005), 0.41 vs 0.73 behavioral impairments due to use of alcohol and other drugs (P=.03), 0.18 vs 0.58 arrests by self-report (P<.001), and 0.16 vs 0.90 arrests disclosed by New York State records (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: This program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses can reduce the number of subsequent pregnancies, the use of welfare, child abuse and neglect, and criminal behavior on the part of low-income, unmarried mothers for up to 15 years after the birth of the first child.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Differential modification of flavonoid and isoflavonoid biosynthesis with an antisense chalcone synthase construct in transgenic Lotus corniculatus.

Three clonal genotypes of Lotus corniculatus L. (bird's foot trefoil) were transformed with an antisense chalcone synthase (CHS) gene construct made using a stress induced CHS17 cDNA from Phaseolus vulgaris under the control of the constitutive CaMV 35S promoter and Nos terminator via Agrobacterium rhizogenes. After initial screening, ten antisense and five control co-transformation events from each recipient clonal genotype were analysed. After elicitation with glutathione, the level of tannin accumulation was found to be increased in a number of antisense root cultures derived from the low (S33) and moderate (S50) tannin recipient genotypes. Six antisense and four control transformed lines from genotype S50 were selected for more detailed study. The antisense CHS construct was found to be integrated into the genome, with a copy number ranging from 1 to 5 and antisense orientation was confirmed by PCR. In transformed root cultures, increased CHS transcript levels were noted in a number of antisense lines. Biochemical analyses of glutathione-elicited-root cultures indicated a significant increase in tannin accumulation in antisense CHS lines and mean vestitol levels were reduced. These results show that the introduction of a heterologous antisense chalcone synthase construct into L. corniculatus resulted in an unpredicted molecular and biochemical phenotype. Such findings are discussed in relation to manipulation of this complex multigene family.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1997

Expression of an Antirrhinum dihydroflavonol reductase gene results in changes in condensed tannin structure and accumulation in root cultures of Lotus corniculatus (bird's foot trefoil).

Condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins) are an important factor in the nutritive and dietary quality of many forage crops. We report here experiments aimed at altering the levels and monomer composition of condensed tannins (CTs) in 'hairy root' cultures of Lotus corniculatus (bird's foot trefoil) using genetic manipulation. An Antirrhinum majus dihydroflavonol reductase (DFR) cDNA was expressed in sense in L. corniculatus and CT levels in transgenic root cultures were analysed. Two co-transformed lines were noted with decreased CT content relative to controls and these levels were comparable with antisense-DFR phenotypes. In ADFR10, a co-transformed line with the highest CT levels, CT structure was altered in a manner consistent with the substrate specificity of the introduced gene; that is an increase in pro-pelargonidin monomers noted after hydrolysis of CTs. RT-PCR confirmed the expression of endogenous DFR gene(s) in both putatively co-suppressed lines and also in ADFR10. Analysis of selected root culture lines indicated that the monomer composition of CTs did not change during growth and development but that levels of CTs varied in a regulated manner.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1997

Intermittent positive ventilation through a laryngeal mask in children: does it cause gastric dilatation?

After obtaining Ethics Committee approval and informed consent, sixty children, ASA Grade 1 or 2 and aged six months to ten years, were randomly allocated to receive intermittent positive pressure ventilation through either a laryngeal mask or a tracheal tube. Inflation pressures were maintained below 20 cm H2O, and gas aspirated from the stomach via an orogastric tube over a one h period. No large volumes were aspirated and no differences were detected between the groups. We conclude that healthy children over the age of six months can be safely ventilated through the laryngeal mask airway without gastric distension.

Air↗
PubMed1997

Histamine H2 receptor antagonist-refractory oesophagitis: the efficacy of long-term omeprazole maintenance treatment.

BACKGROUND: Erosive oesophagitis refractory to high dose histamine H2 receptor antagonists (definition: failure to heal fully after > or = 3 months' treatment with cimetidine 3.2 g or ranitidine 0.9 g) responds well to omeprazole 40 mg daily but frequently relapses when the patients are put back on maintenance H2 receptor antagonists at medium or even high dose (e.g. cimetidine 1.6 g and 3.2 g, respectively). AIM: To investigate the efficacy of maintenance omeprazole 20 mg daily in refractory erosive oesophagitis. PATIENTS & METHODS: In this open, sequential study, patients with H2 receptor antagonist-refractory oesophagitis were healed on omeprazole 40 mg daily and then put on maintenance H2 receptor antagonists (cimetidine 1.6 g or 3.2 g). Relapses were re-treated with omeprazole 40 mg; upon rehealing, patients were put on maintenance omeprazole 20 mg daily for up to 4.5 years. RESULTS: Healing on omeprazole occurred in 38 out of 39 patients (97%) at 12 weeks. Only six of the 38 patients (16%) relapsed (asymptomatic in half) during subsequent maintenance treatment, whereas all had relapsed earlier on high dose H2 receptor antagonists. CONCLUSION: Within the limits of interpretation of an open study, omeprazole 20 mg daily seems effective in maintaining prolonged remission in this group of patients with H2 receptor antagonist-refractory oesophagitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Maintenance therapy with colloidal bismuth subcitrate reduces duodenal ulcer relapse.

AIM: To investigate the efficacy and safety of daily low-dose colloidal bismuth subcitrate in reducing duodenal ulcer relapse. DESIGN: Double-blind, double-dummy group comparative clinical trial with random allocation. Healing Phase: colloidal bismuth subcitrate 240 mg twice daily vs ranitidine 150 mg twice daily for up to 12 weeks. Maintenance Phase: nightly, colloidal bismuth subcitrate 120 mg vs ranitidine 150 mg vs placebo for up to 12 months (high-risk patients received active treatment only). ASSESSMENT: clinical, endoscopy, random blood bismuth levels (and rapid urease test for Helicobacter pylori in a subgroup). PATIENTS: 194 with active duodenal ulcer. OUTCOME: Cumulative healing at 12 weeks was 93% on colloidal bismuth subcitrate (of 92 patients) and 97% on ranitidine (of 102 patients). Relapse at 1 year was significantly less on active treatment as follows: placebo (50 patients) 60%; ranitidine (71 patients) 21%; colloidal bismuth subcitrate (64 patients) 33%. This was independent of the results of the rapid urease test which was positive in 78%, 88% and 76% of the patients respectively. Treatment was well tolerated. The highest median blood bismuth level (mcg/L) was 25 in the healing phase and fluctuated between 6 and 10 in the maintenance phase. CONCLUSIONS: Colloidal bismuth subcitrate, 120 mg nightly, is effective in reducing duodenal ulcer relapse and is well tolerated.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Evidence that linker sequences and cellulose-binding domains enhance the activity of hemicellulases against complex substrates.

Xylanase A (XYLA) and arabinofuranosidase C (XYLC) from Pseudomonas fluorescens subsp. cellulosa are modular enzymes consisting of discrete cellulose-binding domains (CBDs) and catalytic domains joined by serine-rich linker sequences. To evaluate the role of the CBDs and interdomain regions, the capacity of full-length and truncated derivatives of the two enzymes, lacking either the linker sequences or CBDs, to hydrolyse a range of substrates, and bind to cellulose, was determined. Removal of the CBDs did not affect either the activity of XYLA or XYLC against soluble arabinoxylan. Similarly, deletion of the linker sequences did not alter the affinity of the enzymes for cellulose or their activity against soluble substrates, even when bound to cellulose via the CBDs. Truncated derivatives of XYLA lacking either the linker sequences or the CBD were less active against xylan contained in cellulose-hemicellulose complexes, compared with the full-length xylanase. Similarly, removal of the CBD from XYLC diminished the activity of the enzyme (XYLC''') against plant-cell-wall material containing highly substituted arabinoxylan. The role of CBDs and linker sequences in the catalytic activity of hemicellulases against the plant cell wall is discussed.

Binding Sites↗