Cell lysates of two established human tumor lines, a medulloblastoma (TE671), and a rhabdomyosarcoma (RD), contain mitogenic activity which elutes from heparin-Sepharose under conditions typical of ...class 1 heparin-binding growth factors, such as acidic brain fibroblast growth factor. The presence of this class of mitogen in both cell lines was confirmed by their chromatographic behavior on reversed-phase C3 columns, and by the ability of heparin to enhance their mitogenic activity. Using a specific synthetic DNA probe, RNA's were isolated from both cell lines by hybridization-selection, translated in vitro, and translated proteins affinity fractionated on heparin-Sepharose. The results demonstrate that TE671 and RD cell lysates contain mRNA's for mitogens related to acidic brain fibroblast growth factor, and also suggest that high molecular weight proteins exist that are closely related to, or are precursor forms of, the class 1 mitogens.
Effective consumer centred healthcare incorporates consumer and clinician perspectives into decision making, in addition to traditional quantitative measures. This information is usually captured in ...qualitative data that requires manual analysis. Healthcare systems often lack resources to systematically incorporate qualitative feedback into decision making. Semi-automated content analysis tools, such as Leximancer, provide an efficient and objective alternative to time consuming manual content analysis (MCA). Literature on the validity of Leximancer in healthcare is sparse. This study seeks to validate Leximancer against MCA on a broad emotive conversational dataset gathered in a healthcare setting. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large Australian hospital and health service conducted interactive webcasts with staff to provide updates and answer questions. A manual thematic analysis and a Leximancer content analysis were conducted independently on 20 webcast transcripts. The findings were compared, along with the time required to the complete each analysis. The Leximancer analysis identified nine concepts, while the manual analysis identified 12 concepts. The Leximancer concepts mapped to five of the concepts identified in the manual analysis, which accounted for 74% of mentions tagged in the text through the manual analysis. Leximancer missed concepts which required an emotional or contextual interpretation. The Leximancer analysis took 21 hours (excluding time to learn the program), compared to 73 hours for the manual analysis. Semi-automated content analysis provides an efficient alternative to manual qualitative data analysis, shifting it from a small-scale research activity to a more routine operational activity, albeit with some limitations. This is critical to be able to utilise at scale the rich narratives from consumers and clinicians in healthcare decision making.
Objective Little data exist to support the durability of thoracic endovascular repair during prolonged periods of follow-up. This study examines the durability and long-term results with the Zenith ...TX1 and TX2 thoracic devices (Cook Inc, Bloomington, Ind) in high-risk patients. Methods Data were collected prospectively from 2001 to 2007 on high-risk patients who presented with thoracic aneurysms, chronic aortic dissection, or fistulas treated with a Zenith thoracic device. Surgical modifications of proximal or distal landing zones were performed when necessary. Computed tomography follow-up scans were performed before discharge, at 1, 6, and 12 months, and yearly thereafter. Three-dimensional reconstruction software with central line of flow measurements was used to assess aortic morphologic characteristics. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to assess survival, freedom from reintervention, predictive factors of poor outcome, and morphologic changes, including aneurysm sac behavior. Results A total of 160 patients (44% women; mean age, 70) were treated for 130 thoracic aneurysms, 25 aortic dissections with aneurysm, 2 fistulas, and 3 symptomatic or aortic ruptures, or both. Mean follow-up was 36 months, and aneurysm size was 67 mm. Seventy-five patients (47%) had undergone prior aortic aneurysm repair. Surgical modifications were required to create adequate landing zones in 33% patients, including 28 elephant trunk/arch reconstruction, 22 carotid-subclavian bypasses, and seven visceral vessel bypasses. Iliac conduits were required in 31 patients. Early mortality (<30 days) occurred in 11 patients (6.9%). Overall mortality at 1 year was 16%. Aneurysm sac increase (>5 mm) requiring intervention was observed only in one patient in the settings of component separation and type III endoleak that was treated; the sac is now stable. Twenty-seven endoleaks were detected in 25 patients: 15 primary endoleaks (9.4%) <30 days and 12 secondary endoleaks (7.5%) >30 days. Secondary interventions were required in 42 patients (26%). Conclusion Endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic pathologies with the Zenith TX1 and TX2 devices is feasible and durable. The mid- to long-term results are encouraging, with acceptable low reintervention rates and with good survival within high-risk patients.
The identification of individuals at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) events is the critical first step toward reducing CVD morbidity and mortality. Accurate models for cardiac risk ...stratification benefit high-risk patients, who stand to gain the most from aggressive treatments, including pharmacologic therapies for blood pressure control, lipid lowering, glycemic control, and smoking cessation, as well as lower risk patients, who may avoid the added expense and complications from unnecessary medications and procedures. The further stratification of CVD risk in patients with diabetes mellitus may be important in individualizing therapy and in developing future clinical trials to examine new approaches for CVD event reduction in patients with diabetes. This review examines the utility of various surrogate markers of CVD specifically in patients with diabetes by looking first at markers already recommended by both American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Heart Association (AHA) treatment guidelines, followed by the most recent data on selected markers not routinely used.
Population genetics of Pythium ultimum Francis, D.M. (Ohio State University, Wooster.); St Clair, D.A
Phytopathology,
04/1997, Letnik:
87, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Several psychophysiological abnormalities associated with schizophrenia have been proposed as genetic trait markers of vulnerability to the disorder. Smooth pursuit eye tracking dysfunction and ...abnormal long latency event-related potentials are the most promising candidates. Both are independent of the effects of psychotropic medication or mental state at the time of testing, and twin studies demonstrate that each has a high level of heritability. Having recorded smooth pursuit eye tracking and event-related potentials in 20 high-density schizophrenic families, we find abnormalities in one or both measures in most of the families studied. The abnormalities, when present, occur in the family members with schizophrenia and other forms of functional psychosis, and they have a bimodal distribution with approximately half the nonschizophrenic relatives also showing eye tracking dysfunction and/or abnormal event-related potentials. Some of these relatives had psychiatric symptoms; others were normal. Our results suggest that psychophysiological examination can help to clarify the boundaries of schizophrenia spectrum disorder. By helping to decide the phenotypic status of nonschizophrenic family members, this should increase the power of DNA linkage studies.
Simple low-cost, evidence-based interventions such as clean delivery practices, immediate warming, umbilical cord care, and neonatal resuscitation could prevent 40% to 70% of newborn deaths globally, ...but many obstacles preclude the provision of those basic interventions for all newborns, particularly in low-resource regions. Global efforts have led to widespread development of neonatal clinical practice guidelines, training programs, and policies. Because of a shortage of health care resources, standards of care have been redefined to meet the needs of underserved populations. This article provides an overview of the challenges, efforts, and controversies surrounding neonatal health in low-resource settings.
Schizophrenia and chromosomes Blackwood, D H; Muir, W J; St Clair, D M ...
The Lancet (British edition),
12/1989, Letnik:
2, Številka:
8677
Journal Article
We investigated the RGS4 as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia in Chinese Han (184 trios and 138 sibling pairs, a total of 322 families) and Scottish (580 cases and 620 controls) populations ...using both a family trio and case-control design. Both the samples had statistical power greater than 70% to detect a heterozygote genotype relative risk of >1.2 for frequent RGS4-risk alleles. We genotyped four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) which have previously been associated with schizophrenia as either individually or part of haplotypes. Allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium between the SNPs was similar in the two populations. In the Chinese sample, no individual SNPs or any of their haplotypes were associated with schizophrenia. In the Scottish population, one SNP (SNP7) was significantly over-represented in the cases compared with the controls (0.44 vs. 0.38; A allele; chi super(2) 7.08, P = 0.011 after correction for correlation between markers by permutation testing). One two-marker haplotype, composed of alleles T and A of SNP4 and SNP7, respectively, showed individual significance after correction by permutation testing ( chi super(2) 6.8; P = 0.04). None of the full four-marker haplotypes showed association, including the G-G-G-G haplotype previously associated with schizophrenia in more than one sample and the A-T-A-A haplotype. Thus, our data do not directly replicate previous associations of RGS4, but association with SNP 7 in the Scottish population provides some support for a role in schizophrenia susceptibility. We cannot conclusively exclude RGS4, as associated haplotypes are likely to be surrogates for unknown causative alleles, whose relationship with overlying haplotypes may differ between the population groups. Differences in the association seen across the two populations could result from methodological factors such as diagnostic differences but most likely result from ethnic differences in haplotype structures within RGS4.
PDF
