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At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Empathy and sympathy as tactile encounter.

Empathy and sympathy are feeling-acts which bring the self into direct encounter with other persons. In empathy a self grasps the affective act of another self; in sympathy xn persons apprehend a common object while immersed in similar feeling acts. Since touch is the paradigmatic sense for bringing what is felt into proximity with feeling, structural affinities between touch and these feeling acts can be shown. This relationship has been obscured by classical theories of touch in which it is interpreted on analogy with the other senses. When the subject of touch is seen as the living body in a whole, the full range of its possible relationships to affective states can be explored. In this connection the theories of touch of Aristotle, Berkeley and Condillac are critically evaluated. While none recognizes the uniqueness of touch, each sees difficulties in incorporating touch in a general theory of sense. In the course of the exposition pity is distinguished from empathy and sympathy and a criticism of Nietzsche's ressentiment theory offered.

Empathy↗
PubMed2001

Molecular aspects of alpha-tocotrienol antioxidant action and cell signalling.

Vitamin E, the most important lipid-soluble antioxidant, was discovered at the University of California at Berkeley in 1922 in the laboratory of Herbert M. Evans (Science 1922, 55: 650). At least eight vitamin E isoforms with biological activity have been isolated from plant sources. Since its discovery, mainly antioxidant and recently also cell signaling aspects of tocopherols and tocotrienols have been studied. Tocopherols and tocotrienols are part of an interlinking set of antioxidant cycles, which has been termed the antioxidant network. Although the antioxidant activity of tocotrienols is higher than that of tocopherols, tocotrienols have a lower bioavailability after oral ingestion. Tocotrienols penetrate rapidly through skin and efficiently combat oxidative stress induced by UV or ozone. Tocotrienols have beneficial effects in cardiovascular diseases both by inhibiting LDL oxidation and by down-regulating 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase, a key enzyme of the mevalonate pathway. Important novel antiproliferative and neuroprotective effects of tocotrienols, which may be independent of their antioxidant activity, have also been described.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Cytogenetic damage in buccal epithelia and peripheral lymphocytes of young healthy individuals exposed to ozone.

Ozone (O(3)) is an important component of air pollution and a potent oxidant of biomolecules. To address the hypothesis that elevated ambient O(3) can induce cytogenetic damage in healthy people, we collected buccal cells from two groups of students (N = 126) from University of California, Berkeley, in the spring and again in the fall. One group spent their summer in the Los Angeles (LA) area where summer O(3) concentrations are significantly higher than in the San Francisco Bay (SF) area, and another remained in SF. During the school year, all students were exposed to low O(3) levels in SF. The micronucleus assay in a total of 611,000 buccal cells demonstrated that, in the fall, micronuclei (MN) in normal cells for the LA group had increased 39% relative to levels in the spring (1.52 and 0.87 MN/1,000 cells, respectively, P = 0.001). Students who spent the summer in SF had a 12.7% increase (P = 0.48). A similar effect of season was seen in degenerated buccal cells for the LA group (3.23 versus 1.88 MN/1,000 cells, P = 0.003). LA but not SF subjects also had more degenerated cells in the fall sample (P = 0.003). These findings were paralleled by an increase in MN and nucleoplasmic bridges in lymphocytes and MN in buccal cells in a sub-group of 15 students who underwent a 4-h controlled exposure to 200 p.p.b. O(3). This cytogenetic evidence, along with recent studies linking O(3) exposure to elevated lung cancer risk and mortality, suggest potential public health implications from exposures to high oxidant environments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

FlyBase: a Drosophila database. The FlyBase consortium.

FlyBase is a database of genetic and molecular data concerning Drosophila. FlyBase is maintained as a relational database (in Sybase) and is made available as html documents and flat files. The scope of FlyBase includes: genes, alleles (and phenotypes), aberrations, transposons, pointers to sequence data, clones, stock lists, Drosophila workers and bibliographic references. The Encyclopedia of Drosophila is a joint effort between FlyBase and the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project which integrates FlyBase data with those from the BDGP.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

The FlyBase database of the Drosophila Genome Projects and community literature.

The FlyBase Drosophila genetics database and the public interfaces of the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP) and European Drosophila Genome Project (EDGP) are in the process of integrating. At present, the data of these projects are available from independent, but hyperlinked, WWW sites (FlyBase URL, http://flybase. bio.indiana.edu/; BDGP URL, http://fruitfly.berkeley.edu/; EDGP URL, http://edgp.ebi.ac.uk/ ). Because of the considerable overlap of data classes between the contributions of the Drosophila genome projects and the Drosophila community, the new and enlarged FlyBase consortium views the implementation of a single integrated Drosophila genomics/genetics server as essential to the scientific community. This integration will occur in a stepwise fashion over the next 1-2 years. In this report, the salient features of the current databases and how to interrogate and navigate the extensive data sets are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Flytrap, a database documenting a GFP protein-trap insertion screen in Drosophila melanogaster.

Flytrap is a web-enabled relational database of transposable element insertions in Drosophila melanogaster. A green fluorescent protein (GFP) artificial exon carried by a transposable P-element is mobilized and inserted into a host gene intron creating a GFP fusion protein. The sequence of the tagged gene is determined by sequencing inverse-PCR products derived from genomic DNA. Flytrap contains two principle data types: micrographs of protein localization and a cellular component ontology, based on rules derived from the Gene Ontology consortium (http://www.geneontology.org), describing protein localization. Flytrap also has links to gene information contained in Flybase (http:// flybase.bio.indiana.edu). The system is designed to accept submissions of micrographs and descriptions from any type of tissue (e.g. wing imaginal disk, ovary) and at any stage of development. Insertion lines can be searched using a number of queries, including Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP) numbers and protein localization. In addition, Flytrap provides online order forms linked to each insertion line so that users may request any line generated from this project. Flytrap may be accessed from the homepage at http://flytrap.med. yale.edu.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Levels of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in pregnant women and subsequent breast cancer risk.

High maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels during pregnancy may be instrumental in reducing the subsequent risk of breast cancer. This hypothesis was tested in a nested case-control study using stored frozen sera accrued between 1959 and 1966 by the University of California at Berkeley Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) group from a cohort of pregnant women. Cases with histologically confirmed breast cancer were identified from California Cancer Registry files covering their date of enrollment in the CHDS until 1994. Controls were selected from the CHDS cohort by using randomized recruitment. Third-trimester maternal serum AFP levels were analyzed by using both a radioimmunoassay and an immunoenzymatic method. After controlling for multiple confounders in logistic regression models, the authors found an inverse association between high levels of maternal serum AFP (top quartile) during the index pregnancy and the risk of breast cancer. The protective effect of high levels of maternal serum AFP varied by age at first full-term pregnancy (age 20 years or less: odds ratio (OR) = 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28-0.65; age 21-23 years: OR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.41-0.92). After age 27 years, the estimated risk exceeded unity (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.14-2.45). These study findings suggest that some of the protection against breast cancer conferred by early first full-term pregnancy may result from high levels of maternal serum AFP. After age 27 years, a high maternal serum AFP level is not protective and may increase risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Co-circulation of two influenza A (H3N2) antigenic variants detected by virus surveillance in individual communities.

From March through June 1977 a total of 31 influenza A (H3N2) viruses were isolated from students with respiratory disease who were seen at the student health service on the Berkeley campus of the University of California, and 32 influenza A (H3N2) viruses were isolated from persons who participated in a city-wide febrile respiratory disease surveillance program in Seattle. The antigenic specificity of the hemagglutinin was determined for each isolate by hemagglutination inhibition testing with sera from ferrets infected with prototype strains A/Victoria/3/75 and A/Texas/1/77. In each of the three months, April, May and June, A/Victoria/3/75-like and A/Texas/1/77-like viruses were identified among isolates from both communities, and the numbers of isolates of the two antigenic variants from patients seen with influenza-like illnesses were similar. The findings emphasize the need to examine multiple isolates even from within single communities to determine the antigenic specificity of current strains of influenza virus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

The performance of three approximate confidence limit methods for the odds ratio.

The performance of three approximate confidence limit methods for the odds ratio, R, is studied at the 95% level in the unconditional sample space. There are: the method proposed by Cornfield (Proceedings of the 3rd Berkeley Symposium 1956;4:135-48), the logit method with 1/2 corrections first considered by Woolf (Ann Hum Genet 1955;19:251-3), and the test-based method proposed by Miettinen (Am J Epidemiol 1976;103:226-35). Cornfield's method comes closest to attaining the normal confidence coefficient. The logit method typically has actual confidence coefficients somewhat too large with disparate tail areas. The latter is ascribed in part to the enhanced skewness induced by the logit transformation itself. The test-based method has actual coefficients uniformly less than nominal when R not equal to 1. This underestimation is worse in finite samples than Halperin found it to be asymptotically. Although the Cornfield and test-based methods have the same confidence coefficients for R = 1, the test-based method is more likely to cover distant values of R not equal to 1 when in fact R = 1. It is concluded that Cornfield's method without the continuity correction is the preferred approximate method in the unconditional space as, with the continuity correction, it was previously found to be in the conditional space.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1995

A study of milk and calcium supplement intake and subsequent preeclampsia in a cohort of pregnant women.

To test the hypothesis that high calcium intake protects against preeclampsia, the relation between milk intake and preeclampsia was examined in a cohort of 9,291 pregnant women (7,104 white women and 2,187 black women) selected from the Child Health and Development Study population assembled by the University of California, Berkeley, during 1959-1966. Exposure was based on glasses of milk per day with and without calcium supplements. Data from both white and black women displayed a U-shaped distribution of preeclampsia risk in relation to milk and milk plus supplement intake. Logistic regression analysis showed that women who drank two glasses of milk per day had the lowest risk (reference category). The relative risk (RR) for those drinking one glass of milk per day was similarly low (RR = 1.2; 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 0.7-2.0), but risk for those drinking less than one glass of milk per day was substantially higher (RR = 1.9; 95 percent CI 1.2-2.9). Women drinking three or more glasses of milk per day also showed increased risk (RR = 2.0; 95 percent CI 1.2-3.4) as did those drinking four or more glasses per day (RR = 1.8; 95 percent CI 1.1-3.0). The increased risk associated with low milk intake is consistent with studies showing reduced blood pressure with increased calcium intake. The increased risk with high milk intake has not been demonstrated previously.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

A reappraisal of the reported dose equivalents at the boundary of the University of California Radiation Laboratory during the early days of Bevatron operation.

The Bevatron of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory operated with no permanent shielding-roof from 1954 to 1962. Neutron fluences measured at the laboratory perimeter reached a maximum in 1959, and were reported as an annual dose equivalent of 8.1 mSv (54% of the then operative radiation limit). The addition of temporary local shielding and improved operational techniques subsequently led to a steady decline in dose equivalent at the laboratory perimeter. A permanent concrete shielding-roof was constructed in 1962. In those early years of operation the reported dose equivalent, H, was derived from a measured total neutron fluence, phi, and an estimated spectrum-weighted fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficient, (g), where H= (g) phi. The uncertainty in H was almost entirely due to the uncertainty in (g). While the measurements of phi were accurate the estimates of (g) were quite crude and depended upon measurements of average neutron energy, on assumptions about the shape of the neutron energy spectrum, and primitive values of fluence to dose equivalent conversion coefficients for monoenergetic neutrons. These early reported dose equivalents were known to be overestimated. This paper has reappraised the dose equivalents in the light of better information now available. Environmental neutron spectra have been calculated which more accurately correspond to the operational conditions of the Bevatron in the 1950s and early 1960s. than did those spectra available at that time. A new fluence to dose equivalent conversion function based on the latest data and for isotropic irradiation geometry was developed. From these two parameters better estimates of the coefficient (g) were determined and compared with the earlier values. From this reappraisal it is shown that the early reported dose equivalents were conservative by a factor of at least five.

Calibration↗
PubMed1993

Cross-validation of bioelectrical impedance analysis of body composition in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The reliability and validity of measurements obtained with two bioelectrical impedance analyzers (BIAs), an RJL Systems model BIA-103 and a Berkeley Medical Research BMR-2000, were investigated using the manufacturers' prediction equations for the assessment of fat-free mass (FFM) (in kilograms) in children and adolescents. SUBJECTS: Forty-seven healthy children and adolescents (23 male, 24 female), ranging in age from 8 to 20 years (mean = 12.1, SD = 2.3), participated. METHODS: In the context of a repeated-measures design, the data were analyzed according to gender and maturation (Tanner staging). Hydrostatic weighing (HYDRO) and Lohman's Siri age-adjusted body density prediction equation served as the criteria for validating the BIA-obtained measurements. RESULTS: High intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC > or = .987) demonstrated good test-retest (between-week) measurement reliability for HYDRO and both BIA methods. Between-method (HYDRO versus BIA) correlation coefficients were high for both boys and girls (r > or = .97). The standard errors of estimate (SEEs) for FFM were slightly larger for boys than for girls and were consistently smaller for the RJL system than for the BMR system (RJL SEE = 1.8 kg for boys, 1.3 kg for girls; BMR SEE = 2.4 kg for boys, 1.9 kg for girls). The coefficients of determination were high for both BIA methods (r2 > or = .929). Total prediction errors (TEs) for FFM showed similar between-method trends (RJL TE = 2.1 kg for boys, 1.5 kg for girls; BMR TE = 4.4 kg for boys, 1.9 kg for girls). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the RJL BIA with the manufacturer's prediction equations can be used to reliably and accurately assess FFM in 8- to 20-year-old children and adolescents. The prediction of FFM by the BMR system was acceptable for girls, but significant overprediction of FFM for boys was noted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Clinical problems in radiotherapy of carcinoma of the pancreas.

Since 1975, 94 patients with localized unresectable carcinoma of the pancreas have been irradiated using helium and heavier particles at the University of California Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Despite surgical exploration and an extensive diagnostic workup including radiological, nuclear medicine, and computer-assisted tomographic studies, many patients proved to have occult liver metastases manifested within 9 months post treatment. In addition, local and regional control of the primary neoplasm (approximately 20%) has been difficult to obtain even with doses of 6000 equivalent rad in 7 1/2 weeks. Gastric and biliary obstruction have required surgical bypass procedures since irradiation has not been successful in relieving obstructive symptoms. Evidence of gastrointestinal injury has been present in postradiation therapy in approximately 10% of patients, a figure which might be higher if more patients had a longer survival (average 10 months). Some patients require pancreatic enzyme supplementation because of pancreatic deficiency either secondary to tumor or treatment. Further improvement in local control and survival requires better diagnostic methods for evaluation of local and metastatic spread, improved therapy for local and regional disease, as well as therapy directed at occult liver metastases that are frequently present.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1994

Carcinoma of the extrahepatic bile ducts. The University of California at San Francisco experience.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the combined experience of a single institution in treating bile duct carcinoma during the modern era. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Bile duct carcinomas are notoriously difficult to cure, with locoregional recurrence the rule, even after radical resection. Adjuvant efforts have included various radiation modalities, with limited success. Recently, charged-particle radiotherapy has also been used in these patients. METHODS: The authors performed a retrospective chart analysis of 129 patients with bile duct adenocarcinomas treated between 1977 and 1987 through the University of California at San Francisco, including 22 patients treated at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory with the charged particles helium and neon. The minimum follow-up was 5 years. Survival, outcome, and complication results were analyzed. RESULTS: Sixty-two patients were treated with surgery alone (S), 45 patients received conventional adjuvant x-ray radiotherapy (S + X), and 22 were treated with charged particles (S + CP). The median survival times were 6.5, 11, and 14 months, respectively, for the entire group, and 16, 16, and 23 months in patients treated with curative intent. There was a survival difference in patients undergoing total resection compared with debulking (p = 0.05) and minor resections (p = 0.0001). Patients with microscopic residual disease had increased median survival times when they were treated with adjuvant irradiation, most markedly after CP (p = 0.0005) but also with conventional X (p = 0.0109). Patients with gross residual disease had a less marked but still statistically significant extended survival (p = 0.05 for S + X and p = 0.0423 for S + CP) after irradiatio CONCLUSIONS: The mainstay of bile duct carcinoma management was maximal surgical resection in these patients. Postoperative radiotherapy gave patients with positive microscopic margins a significant survival advantage and may be of value in selected patients with gross disease.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2000

Cervicovaginal anti-HIV antibodies in HIV-seronegative female sex workers in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

OBJECTIVE: To detect anti-HIV antibodies in cervicovaginal secretions of HIV-seronegative female sex workers and to evaluate whether the presence of these antibodies is associated with increased sexual exposure. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at a confidential clinic for female sex workers in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The participants were 342 HIV-seronegative female sex workers in whom a cervicovaginal lavage was collected. The main outcome measures were the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 in cervicovaginal lavages using an in-house and a commercial (Seradyn Sentinel; Calypte Biomedical Corporation, Berkeley, California, USA) enzyme immunoassay; the detection of semen in cervicovaginal lavages; and the assessment of epidemiological and biological markers of sexual exposure to HIV. RESULTS: Cervicovaginal anti-HIV antibodies were detected in 7.3 and 29.8% of women using in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Seradyn Sentinel respectively. All cervicovaginal secretions found to be positive by in-house ELISA were also positive by Seradyn Sentinel. In a minority of women, ranging from 2.9% by in-house ELISA to 12.3% by Seradyn Sentinel, the anti-HIV antibodies were present in vaginal fluids that did not contain semen. Sexual exposure to HIV was similar in women with anti-HIV antibodies in their semen-free cervicovaginal secretions compared with women without anti-HIV antibodies in their cervicovaginal secretions. CONCLUSIONS: Cervicovaginal HIV-specific antibodies were detected in a minority of sexually exposed HIV-seronegative female sex workers in Abidjan. The lack of association between increased sexual exposure to HIV and presence of cervicovaginal HIV-specific antibodies suggests that the production of genital HIV-specific antibodies in exposed seronegative women depends on the ability of individual women to mount specific mucosal immunity to HIV antigens, the determinants of which are currently unknown.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of left ventricular pressure unloading during LVAD support on right ventricular contractility.

The effects of left ventricular pressure (LVP) unloading with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) on right ventricular (RV) end-systolic pressure volume relationships were studied. A Thoratec (Berkeley, CA) LVAD was implanted in open chest anesthetized pigs via apical cannulation, and an electromagnetic flow probe and computer controlled pneumatic occluder were attached to the pulmonary artery. RV and left ventricular (LV) pressures were measured with Millar catheters, and changes in RV volume during ejection were determined by integrating the flow signal. As an index of contractility, RV maximal systolic elastance (Emax) was calculated as the slope of the end systolic, pressure volume relationship between an isovolumic beat and a series of transiently occluded beats at different times in the ejection phase. After an 83 +/- 15% decrease in LV pressure time integral during LVAD pumping, there were no significant changes in cardiac output, mean systemic arterial pressure, or in RV dP/dtmax. Most important, RV Emax during LVAD unloading (0.63 +/- 0.16 mmHg/ml) was unchanged from control (0.62 +/- 0.10 mmHg/ml). Therefore, in the normal intact porcine heart, the effective contractility of the right ventricle is not altered by significant LV pressure unloading produced with a LVAD.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mechanical advantage of skeletal muscle as a cardiac assist power source.

The insertion of unconditioned latissimus dorsi muscle at the humerus was reattached in anesthetized goats to the first stage piston of a two stage mechanical-to-hydraulic energy convertor for a skeletal muscle powered ventricular assist device. To study a range of forces, pistons of different cross sectional areas were evaluated during thoracodorsal nerve stimulation. Each energy convertor piston was coupled hydraulically to an actuator on a Thoratec VAD (Thoratec Laboratories, Berkeley, CA) in a mock circulatory loop. Maximum force (70.1 +/- 10.8 N) was greatest for the largest piston, and stroke length (4.0 +/- 0.7 cm) was greatest for the smallest piston. However, maximum stroke work (1.2 +/- 0.5 J) and muscle powered VAD ejected stroke volume (45 +/- 17 ml) were greatest for the middle size piston. These results are consistent with a biomechanical model of whole muscle contraction that predicts that there is an optimum force that produces maximum cycle work. Thus, with a two stage energy convertor, by changing the ratio of the cross sectional areas of the energy convertor and muscle powered VAD actuator pistons, the effective mechanical advantage for the muscle can be optimized to produce more work output and muscle powered VAD flow. Skeletal muscle powered devices using such an energy convertor could provide completely implantable circulatory support free from batteries and other power conditioning hardware required with electromechanical systems.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Success rates of long-term circulatory assist devices used currently for bridge to heart transplantation.

Circulatory assist devices as bridge to heart transplantation have become more important as the number of possible recipients has increased and the number of donors remains stable. The number of patients successfully bridged and discharged home after transplantation was determined for the Novacor Left Ventricular Assist System (Baxter Healthcare Corp., Oakland, CA) (LVAS), console and wearable; the TCI Left Ventricular Assist Device (Thermo Cardio Systems Inc., Woburn, MA) (LVAD), pneumatic and electric; the Thoratec LVAD and Biventricular Assist Device (Thoratec Lab Co., Berkeley, CA) (BIVAD); and the CardioWest total artificial heart (CardioWest Tech. Inc., Tuscon, AZ) (TAH). A total of 1,286 devices (14% Novacor console, 14% Novacor wearable, 35% TCI pneumatic, 4% TCI electric, 10% thoratec LVAD, 19% Thoratec BIVAD, and 4% CardioWest TAH) were implanted worldwide since 1984. A total of 776 (60%) patients reached heart transplantation and 687 patients (88.5% of those transplanted) were discharged home. The individual success rate for each device to bridge a patient to heart transplantation and be discharged home is as follows: Novacor LVAS console, 90%; Novacor LVAS wearable, 92%; TCI LVAD pneumatic, 89%; TCI LVAD electric, 89%; Thoratec LVAD, 93%; Thoratec BIVAD, 81%; and CardioWest TAH, 92%. The success rate with all the available systems to bridge a patient to heart transplantation and be discharged home is similar for all devices. The criteria used to determine which system to be used should be individualized for each patient. Some of the factors that should be considered in making a decision on which device to use should include anticoagulation, univentricular vs biventricular failure, mobility, protocol to discharge home, and size of the patient.

Adult↗