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Biomedical subjects

S Miller

Publications and source records attributed to S Miller.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Protein and energy value of pearl millet grain for mature goats.

We conducted two studies to assess the protein and energy value of pearl millet grain (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) for mature goats. In Exp. 1, 15 2-yr-old male castrated goats were gradually introduced over a 4-mo period to three all-grain diets consisting of 100% corn (Zea mays L.), 50:50 corn:pearl millet, and 100% pearl millet. After the adjustment to all-grain feeds, the goats were fed the diets in metabolism crates for 2-d adjustment and 7-d total collection periods. For Exp. 2, complete diets containing the three grain treatments (corn, 50:50 corn:pearl millet, and pearl millet) as 40% of the total DM as fed (the remainder was mainly alfalfa meal and mineral supplement) were balanced to contain 16% crude protein (CP) and 2.24 Mcal digestible energy (DE)/kg on an air-dry basis. Twelve mature (4- to 6-yr-old) buck goats were randomly assigned to diets and fed in pens for 14 d and then moved to metabolism crates for 10-d adjustment and 10-d total collection periods. In Exp. 1, DM intake was unaffected by dietary treatment, but digestibility of DM and organic matter was lowest (P < .10) in goats fed 100% pearl millet. Digestibility of complete diets also decreased (P < .10) as corn was replaced by 50 or 100% pearl millet, but DM intake increased (P < .10) on the 100% millet diet. In both experiments, substituting pearl millet for corn had no effect on nitrogen retained by the goats. Metabolizable energy of pearl millet was only 92% that of corn, but ME intake was similar when the grains were fed as 40% of the dietary DM. Pearl millet has potential as a major energy feed for goats in areas where it can be economically produced.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1998

A close look at family practice in Louisiana: manpower '97. Louisiana family practice residency program needs.

There is a shortage of family physicians in Louisiana. This manuscript reports on the current status of primary care in Louisiana. It compares these data with national averages and assesses current needs. Finally, it proposes necessary steps by which this shortage can be decreased. Medical schools, residency programs, and practicing physicians will need to be involved in the solution to this problem. Louisiana can have a bright future in family medicine if the recommendations in this paper are thoroughly addressed. With ever increasing costs of quality medical care, well-placed funding and emphasis on family practice appear to be the right direction.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1998

Bowling related injuries of the hand and upper extremity; a review.

Bowling is one of the oldest and most popular indoor sports. The earliest evidence of bowling dates back to ancient Egypt. Archaeologists discovered equipment for a game resembling bowling. Modern forms of bowling appeared in England as early as the 1100s. Bowling can cause a variety of hand and upper extremity injuries either due to acute or reparative forces. Greater number of such injuries is being encountered as the popularity of the game has increased. The goal of this article is to present an overview of bowling related injuries, their mechanisms along with preventive and treatment measures.

Arm Injuries↗
PubMed1998

Interstrain variation in the deoxynucleotide composition of Cryptococcus neoformans: nucleotide composition of Cryptococcus neoformans.

The deoxynucleotide (dNMP) composition of ten strains of C. neoformans was analysed by 32P-labelling and two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. This technique is very sensitive for detecting rare deoxynucleotide adducts and analogues (minor bases) in DNA. The results indicate considerable variation among strains in DNA nucleotide composition.

Autoradiography↗
PubMed1998

Demonstration of the feasibility of emergency department immunization against influenza and pneumococcus.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility of systematic immunization against influenza and pneumococcus in a public emergency department. METHODS: This was a demonstration project conducted from October 21, 1996, through December 2, 1996, at Cook County Hospital, an inner-city hospital with a 1996 adult ED census of 120,449. Seventy-eight percent of patients are uninsured; 92% are people of color; 73% deny having a primary physician. Only 15% have emergency complaints. Nurses received standing orders that all nonemergency adult patients meeting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for high risk should be offered immunization against influenza and pneumococcus at triage. Cash prizes were offered to nurses appropriately immunizing the most patients. The date of immunization was entered into the computerized patient registration system, available to all providers within the county system. From November 4 through November 18, an extra nurse was assigned to triage to test for improvement in immunization rates. A time-motion study determined the time required per immunization on the basis of a convenience sample of 8 nurses drawn from all 3 shifts. RESULTS: Only 3% of identified high-risk patients reported previous pneumococcal immunization. Despite extreme variation in nurse performance, 2,631 patients (24% of patients triaged) were screened, and 716 high-risk patients were identified (27% of patients screened). A total of 1234 patients were immunized against influenza, and 241 patients were appropriately immunized against pneumococcus. Sixty-one percent of high-risk patients with no contraindication to influenza immunization were immunized against influenza. Thirty-five percent of high-risk patients not previously immunized against pneumococcus were immunized against pneumococcus. Immunizations per shift per triage nurse varied from 0 to 24. Median time for all activities related to immunization was 4 minutes (range, 2 to 10 minutes). There was no increase in immunization rates with the addition of an extra nurse at triage (95% confidence interval for odds ratio, .929 to 1.153). CONCLUSION: Systematic immunization against influenza and pneumococcus is both needed and feasible in a public ED. "Buy-in" by nurses is variable. Increased staffing alone does not improve immunization rates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Clinical event management using push technology--implementation and evaluation at two health care centers.

For two years, beginning in 1995, we developed and implemented a novel method for delivering patient information directly to clinicians. Using rules based logic to scan data bound for an electronic medical record, messages were automatically written that alert care providers to important patient information. These messages were transmitted electronically to either existing email accounts or to wide-screen pagers, or to both. This system now is operational at two medical centers. We describe the model and methods that led to its successful implementation and compare it to other ways of delivering patient information.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed1998

Consumer health informatics: knowledge engineering and evaluation studies of medical HouseCall.

The changes in reimbursement structure in health care have given rise to a rapidly growing focus on the consumer and this recent increase has been fueled by the advent of the Web. Consumer health information (CHI) systems empower the consumer and aim to improve doctor-patient communication. We present HouseCall, a CHI system. First, this paper reviews how a consumer information system can be derived from an existing physician knowledge base (Iliad). Second, it presents evaluation studies that: 1) show how consumers are eager for non 'dumbed-down' content with easy access, 2) demonstrate the large spectrum of topics of interest and the 'natural' search strategies of health care consumers.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Surgical therapy of locally confined prostate carcinoma].

Since prostate specific antigen (PSA) has been established as marker for screening, a dramatic increase of prostatic cancer incidence has been observed over the past years. A further consequence of PSA-measurements lies in the observation that nowadays the majority of newly diagnosed prostatic carcinoma is in a clinically localized stage and therefore amendable to radical prostatectomy in a curative intervention. An important task yet to be solved is to find parameters able to estimate the malignant potential of the tumor preoperatively. Long-term results of radical prostatectomy are explained and the possibilities for reduction of intra- and perioperative complications are discussed.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1997

Mutations in the glutathione-gated KefC K+ efflux system of Escherichia coli that cause constitutive activation.

The kefC gene of Escherichia coli encodes a potassium efflux system that is gated by glutathione (GSH) and by GSH adducts. Independently isolated kefC mutations that result in spontaneous activation of the efflux system have been analyzed. Three mutations affect residues located adjacent to the conserved Rossman fold in the carboxyl-terminal domain. Two mutations lie in a sequence predicted to form a cytoplasmically located loop in the membrane domain of KefC. All of the mutants retain normal regulation by the YabF protein and by GSH adducts. A mutation in the Rossman fold, R416S, alters the normal regulation of KefC by GSH. In contrast to the wild-type protein, which is inactive in the presence of GSH, the R416S mutant is only active in the presence of GSH or its analogue, ophthalmic acid. Other mutations in this region or elsewhere in the protein have their spontaneous activity augmented by depletion of the GSH pool. These data identify a specific role for the carboxyl-terminal domain of KefC in regulating KefC activity and are discussed in the light of recent data that suggest that GSH adducts can bind within a Rossman fold.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1997

Mutations in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase genes segregate with late-onset Alzheimer disease.

Mounting evidence suggests that defects in energy metabolism contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Cytochrome c oxidase (CO) is kinetically abnormal, and its activity is decreased in brain and peripheral tissue in late-onset AD. CO is encoded by both the mitochondrial and the nuclear genomes. Its catalytic centers, however, are encoded exclusively by two mitochondrial genes, CO1 and CO2 (encoding CO subunits I and II, respectively). We searched these genes, as well as other mitochondrial genes, for mutations that might alter CO activity and cosegregate with AD. In the present study, specific missense mutations in the mitochondrial CO1 and CO2 genes but not the CO3 gene were found to segregate at a higher frequency with AD compared with other neurodegenerative or metabolic diseases. These mutations appear together in the same mitochondrial DNA molecule and define a unique mutant mitochondrial genome. Asymptomatic offspring of AD mothers had higher levels of these mutations than offspring of AD fathers, suggesting that these mutations can be maternally inherited. Cell lines expressing these mutant mitochondrial DNA molecules exhibited a specific decrease in CO activity and increased production of reactive oxygen species. We suggest that specific point mutations in the CO1 and CO2 genes cause the CO defect in AD. A CO defect may represent a primary etiologic event, directly participating in a cascade of events that results in AD.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Phage P22 tailspike protein: crystal structure of the head-binding domain at 2.3 A, fully refined structure of the endorhamnosidase at 1.56 A resolution, and the molecular basis of O-antigen recognition and cleavage.

The tailspike protein of Salmonella phage P22 is a viral adhesion protein with both receptor binding and destroying activities. It recognises the O-antigenic repeating units of cell surface lipopolysaccharide of serogroup A, B and D1 as receptor, but also inactivates its receptor by endoglycosidase (endorhamnosidase) activity. In the final step of bacteriophage P22 assembly six homotrimeric tailspike molecules are non-covalently attached to the DNA injection apparatus, mediated by their N-terminal, head-binding domains. We report the crystal structure of the head-binding domain of P22 tailspike protein at 2.3 A resolution, solved with a recombinant telluromethionine derivative and non-crystallographic symmetry averaging. The trimeric dome-like structure is formed by two perpendicular beta-sheets of five and three strands, respectively in each subunit and caps a three-helix bundle observed in the structure of the C-terminal receptor binding and cleaving fragment, reported here after full refinement at 1.56 A resolution. In the central part of the receptor binding fragment, three parallel beta-helices of 13 complete turns are associated side-by-side, while the three polypeptide strands merge into a single domain towards their C termini, with close interdigitation at the junction to the beta-helix part. Complex structures with receptor fragments from S. typhimurium, S. enteritidis and S. typhi253Ty determined at 1.8 A resolution are described in detail. Insertions into the beta-helix form the O-antigen binding groove, which also harbours the active site residues Asp392, Asp395 and Glu359. In the intact structure of the tailspike protein, head-binding and receptor-binding parts are probably linked by a flexible hinge whose function may be either to deal with shearing forces on the exposed, 150 A long tailspikes or to allow them to bend during the infection process.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Equatorial X-ray Emissions: Implications for Jupiter's High Exospheric Temperatures

Observations with the High Resolution Imager on the Rontgensatellit reveal x-ray emissions from Jupiter's equatorial latitudes. The observed emissions probably result from the precipitation of energetic (>300 kiloelectron volts per atomic mass unit) sulfur and oxygen ions out of Jupiter's inner radiation belt. Model calculations of the energy deposition by such heavy ion precipitation and of the resulting atmospheric heating rates indicate that this energy source can contribute to the high exospheric temperatures(>800 kelvin at 0.01 microbar) measured by the Galileo probe's Atmospheric Structure Instrument. Low-latitude energetic particle precipitation must therefore be considered, in addition to other proposed mechanisms such as gravity waves and soft electron precipitation, as an important source of heat for Jupiter's thermosphere.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

A DNA polymerase alpha accessory protein exhibits structural and functional similarities to SV40 large tumor antigen.

Untransformed cells have been proposed to require a protein homologous to SV40 large tumor antigen (TAg) which functions as a component of the replicase complex during the initiation of DNA synthesis. By definition, this should be a phosphoprotein which interacts with the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in G0 or early G1, and is capable of binding to and potentiating the activity of DNA polymerase alpha (pol alpha). This protein should also be an ATP-dependent helicase which interacts with the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein, RP-A. Because of these requirements, a TAg homologous protein could be expected to contain epitopes with amino acid sequences similar to those of TAg at critical functional sites, such as ATP, pRb and pol alpha binding sites. TAg and a putative cellular homolog of TAg, DNA pol alpha accessory protein (alpha AP), were compared for pRb and pol alpha interaction, and for immunological identity. The analyses utilized immunoaffinity-purified TAg and pRb from a baculovirus expression system, and DNA pol alpha/primase and alpha AP chromatographically isolated from a mouse lymphocytic leukemia cell line. Monoclonal antibodies specific for the pol alpha or pRb binding sites on TAg interacted with alpha AP strongly enough to be employed for immunoaffinity purification of alpha AP. Anti-pRb and anti-TAg reciprocally coimmunoprecipitated pRb bound to TAg and pRb bound to alpha AP. The functional consequences of pol alpha interaction with TAg or alpha AP in the presence or absence of pRb was determined using pol alpha nucleotide incorporation assays. alpha AP exhibited the capacity to stimulate pol alpha activity, a capacity which was diminished in the presence of pRb. Lastly, TAg and alpha AP independently co-purified with pol alpha through a multi-step chromatographic protocol. These data indicate that a pol alpha accessory protein, alpha AP, exhibits functional and immunological similarities to SV40 TAg, suggest that alpha AP is involved in regulation of the initiation of DNA synthesis, and support the proposal that alpha AP may be a normal cell protein homologous to SV40 large T antigen.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Semen quality and fertility of men employed in a South African lead acid battery plant.

Previous studies of the associations of measures of occupational lead exposure with measures of semen quality and infertility among male workers have produced conflicting results. The current study was undertaken to examine these associations among a population of workers with a broad range of measures of current and historical lead exposure. Ninety-seven lead-exposed workers from a South African lead acid battery facility provided semen samples that were analyzed for sperm density, sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology, and presence of antisperm antibodies. Questionnaire data were collected for reported histories of sub- or infertility. Current blood leads ranged from 28 to 93 micrograms/dl. Semen lead ranged from 1 to 87 micrograms/dl. Reasonably consistent and significant associations were found between an increased percentage of sperm with abnormal morphology and higher measures of current blood lead, cumulative blood lead, and duration of exposure. An increased percent of immotile sperm was associated only with zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) among the lead exposure measures. There were no associations of sperm density or sperm count with any of the lead exposure measures. A weak association of increased percent of sperm with antisperm antibodies with increased semen lead was present. There were no consistent associations of measures of lead exposure with measures of fertility or procreativity. This study, while supporting the association of lead exposure with increased risk of abnormal sperm morphology seen in some previous studies, does not lend support to previously reported associations of sperm density or count or infertility with measures of lead exposure. However, the relatively high range of current blood leads, high prevalence of abnormalities in semen quality, and the lack of a control population, suggest that these negative findings should be interpreted with caution.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1997

Heparan sulfate potentiates the autocrine action of basic fibroblast growth factor in astrocytes: an in vivo and in vitro study.

Increasing evidence indicates that heparan sulfate proteoglycans have a critical role in the regulation of the activity of basic fibroblast growth factor by interacting with it or its receptor. In this study we examined the possibility that heparan sulfate can modulate the basic fibroblast growth factor system at a more fundamental level than activity regulation, by influencing the synthesis of basic fibroblast growth factor and its receptor messenger RNAs. Previous studies in vitro indicate that basic fibroblast growth factor promotes proliferation and differentiation of astrocytes. Accordingly, we examined the possibility that the action of heparan sulfate on the basic fibroblast growth factor system could have a critical role in the modulation of reactivity and/or proliferation of astrocytes in vitro and in vivo. We report that basic fibroblast growth factor applied to pure astrocyte cultures or rat neocortex promoted an increase in the messenger RNA for basic fibroblast growth factor itself and for its receptor. Furthermore, basic fibroblast growth factor applied directly into the brain elicited an increase in messenger RNA for the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein. All of these actions, both in vitro and in vivo, were highly potentiated when heparan sulfate was applied in combination with basic fibroblast growth factor. These results suggest that basic fibroblast growth factor regulates astrocytic proliferation or reactivity via an autocrine cascade that involves induction of its own receptor and that this action is modulated by heparan sulfate.

Animals↗