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Biomedical subjects

R Cass

Publications and source records attributed to R Cass.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Development of housing programs to aid in the treatment of tuberculosis in homeless individuals: a pilot study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To describe our experience with novel supervised housing programs developed to aid in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in homeless individuals, including a preliminary analysis of their effectiveness and estimate of potential cost savings. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: A county TB control program. METHODS: The San Diego County TB Control Program's computer database was used to identify homeless individuals placed in one of two supervised housing programs for treatment of TB [Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), for noninfectious patients, or Bissell House, for infectious patients]. Charts for all these patients were reviewed and information regarding their demographics, underlying medical conditions, therapy, microbiologic markers of response to therapy, hospitalizations, and participation in supervised housing programs was recorded. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The sputum culture conversion and treatment completion rates for those housed in the YMCA were 100 and 84.6%, respectively. Of the patients in the Bissell House program, 100% had converted their smear and culture. In addition, all patients in this program completed an adequate course of supervised therapy. These rates of microbiologic conversion and treatment completion compare favorably with historical data from San Diego County and other locations. Estimated cost savings for placing medically stable infectious patients in the Bissell House for respiratory isolation and supervised treatment were estimated to be $27,034 per patient. CONCLUSIONS: Use of supervised housing to aid in treatment of TB in the homeless appears to be effective and results in substantial cost savings. A larger multicenter study should be considered to confirm these findings and better quantify the cost-effectiveness of such programs.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1996

Metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a working population: a retrospective cohort study.

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) appear to cluster in individuals, possibly because of a single, underlying metabolic disorder. We describe the prevalence of metabolic risk factors for CVD in a young working population and the tendency for individuals with some risk factors to acquire additional factors. This was a retrospective three-year follow-up study of baseline CVD risk factors assessing (1) incidence of risk factors and (2) fatal CVD. The study group consisted of 9,747 Eastman Kodak employees, who participated in a worksite-based cardiovascular screening program in Rochester, New York, which included a medical history, physical examination, and laboratory evaluation. Abnormal metabolic risk factors were defined as (1) an abnormal glucose value (fasting blood sugar greater than 115 mg/dl); (2) abnormal lipids (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol under 35 mg/dl in men or under 45 mg/dl in women; or low-density lipoproteins of 160 or greater; or triglycerides greater than 250 mg/dl), and (3) hypertension (blood pressure systolic above 160 mmHg; or diastolic above 90 mmHg). Subjects were classified as having none, one, two, or all three risk factors. Prevalence of single risk factors were: hypertension 9.8%, abnormal lipids 22.6%, and abnormal glucose 1.5%. Combinations of two risk factors were greater than expected by chance (p < 0.01). Individuals who started with one or more abnormal values tended to have an increased risk of developing others. The highest relative risk (RR) was for those with hypertension and a later diagnosis of abnormal glucose (RR 2.0; 95% CI = 0.87, 4.58). Seven employees of 4,263 with at least one risk factor died of CVD, compared with one of 5,484 employees with no factors (RR 9.0, 95% CI = 1.1, 73.2). In conclusion, this study suggests that young working individuals with CVD risk factors may continue to acquire additional factors. This clustering could be an indication of an underlying metabolic disorder and identify individuals at risk for negative CVD sequelae.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Planned sexual behaviour of young Australian visitors to Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: To research the knowledge of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among young Australian tourists to Thailand, and their intended sexual behaviour. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional survey by anonymous, self-administered questionnaire, of persons seeking pre-travel medical advice in private clinics in five Australian cities. PARTICIPANTS: 213 consecutive patients travelling to Thailand without a spouse or partner. RESULTS: Only 34% of the sample reported a definite intention not to have sex in Thailand. Regarding choice of potential partners: 24.5% more men than women said they would have sex with a Thai national; 13.7% of men said they would have sex with a "bar girl"; and 21.7% more women than men said they would choose a fellow Australian traveller. Eighty-two per cent of the sample reported that they would use condoms 100% of the time, and there was no significant difference between the number of men and women who expressed this intention. CONCLUSIONS: Although not obviously "sex tourists", many young Australian travellers are likely to have sex while visiting Thailand. These data have important implications for education and prevention programs to control the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1989

Nursing's only hope.

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Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1987

A time for courage.

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Human Experimentation↗
PubMed1982

Conformational transitions of frog heart ferricytochrome c.

A monomeric cytochrome c containing an intramolecular disulfide bond linking residues 20 and 102 was obtained from bullfrog hearts, as previously reported by Chan et al. [Chan, S. K., Walasek, O. F., Barlow, G. H., & Margoliask, E. (1967) Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol. 26, 723]. The stability of the native globular conformation of this protein is enhanced relative to that of other cytochromes c; e.g., it is stable to 0.01 N HCl in the absence of neutral salts at 25 degrees C, and its denaturation transition in guanidine at neutral pH and 25 degrees C is centered at 3.8 M. Guanidine-denatured from cytochrome c renatures in two kinetic phases whose time constants differ by about 2 orders of magnitude as observed when using other cytochromes c. However, the absolute values for the time constants of the frog protein are notably smaller. We note that the time constants for cytochromes c are inversely related to the midpoints of their guanidine transitions, suggesting that within a homologous series of proteins the more stable the conformation the faster it folds.

Amino Acid Sequence↗