Biomedical subjects

A Lambert

Publications and source records attributed to A Lambert.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: VIII. Four new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius polyuranodon and P. elongatus.

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius polyuranodon Bleeker, 1852 and P. elongatus Pouyaud, Gustiano & Teugels, 2002 (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) in Southeast Asia revealed the presence of four new species of Monogenea all belonging to Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001): T. furcus n. sp., T. infundibulus n. sp., T. sudartoi n. sp. and T. turbinatio n. sp.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: IX. Two new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius mahakamensis.

The examination of gill parasites from P. mahakamensis Pouyaud, Gustiano & Teugels, 2002 (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) in Southeast Asia revealed the presence of three species of Monogenea. One (Thaparocleidus caecus (Mizelle & Kritsky, 1969)) had been previously described. The other two, belonging to Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001), are considered new species: T. pouyaudi n. sp. and T. teugelsi n. sp.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Candida albicans peritonitis in a patient with Felty's syndrome.

A 53 year old man with Felty's syndrome presented with abdominal pain and fever. He underwent a laparotomy after starting broad spectrum antibiotics. An intestinal biopsy showed skip ulcers with fungal hyphae. Peritoneal exudates grew Candida albicans. He was started on intravenous fluconazole and then switched to liposomal amphotericin to which he showed a good clinical response. After one month at home he was readmitted with candidosis and died of a myocardial infarction.

Candidiasis↗

PubMed2004

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: VI. Pangasitrema camillae n. g., n. sp. (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae), from Pangasius polyuranodon.

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius polyuranodon Bleeker, 1852 (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) in Indonesia revealed the presence of a new species of Manogenea, belonging to a new genus: Pangasitrema camillae n. g., n. sp. (Ancylodiscoididae). Among Ancylodiscoididae, the genus has several distinguishing features: the reduced size of the haptor, the morphology and size of gripi, the absence of a ventral transversal bar and of a cuneus associated with dorsal gripi.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: VII. Six new host-specific species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius polyuranodon.

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius polyuranodon Bleeker, 1852 (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) revealed the presence of six new host-specific species of Monogenea, all belonging to Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001): T. caestus n. sp., T. crassipenis n. sp., T. legendrei n. sp., T. levangi n. sp., T. slembroucki n. sp. and T. virgula n. sp.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

How Philip Morris unlocked the Japanese cigarette market: lessons for global tobacco control.

BACKGROUND: The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control includes tobacco advertising restrictions that are strongly opposed by the tobacco industry. Marketing strategies used by transnational tobacco companies to open the Japanese market in the absence of such restrictions are described. METHODS: Analysis of internal company documents. FINDINGS: Between 1982 and 1987 transnational tobacco companies influenced the Japanese government through the US Trade Representative to open distribution networks and eliminate advertising restrictions. US cigarette exports to Japan increased 10-fold between 1985 and 1996. Television advertising was central to opening the market by projecting a popular image (despite a small actual market share) to attract existing smokers, combined with hero-centred advertisements to attract new smokers. Philip Morris's campaigns featured Hollywood movie personalities popular with young men, including James Coburn, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, and Charlie Sheen. Event sponsorships allowed television access despite restrictions. When reinstatement of television restrictions was threatened in the late 1980s, Philip Morris more than doubled its television advertising budget and increased sponsorship of televised events. By adopting voluntary advertising standards, transnational companies delayed a television advertising ban for over a decade. CONCLUSIONS: Television image advertising was important to establish a market, and it has been enhanced using Hollywood personalities. Television advertising bans are essential measures to prevent industry penetration of new markets, and are less effective without concurrent limits on sponsorship and promotion. Comprehensive advertising restrictions, as included in the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, are vital for countries where transnational tobacco companies have yet to penetrate the market.

Advertising↗

PubMed2003

Suppressor of cytokine signalling gene expression is elevated in breast carcinoma.

Cytokines are important for breast cell function, both as trophic hormones and as mediators of host defense mechanisms against breast cancer. Recently, inducible feedback suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS/JAB/SSI) have been identified, which decrease cell sensitivity to cytokines. We examined the expression of SOCS genes in 17 breast carcinomas and 10 breast cancer lines, in comparison with normal tissue and breast lines. We report elevated expression of SOCS-1-3 and CIS immunoreactive proteins within in situ ductal carcinomas and infiltrating ductal carcinomas relative to normal breast tissue. Significantly increased expression of SOCS-1-3 and CIS transcripts was also shown by quantitative in situ hybridisation within both tumour tissue and reactive stroma. CIS transcript expression was elevated in all 10 cancer lines, but not in control lines. However, there was no consistent elevation of other SOCS transcripts. CIS protein was shown by immunoblot to be present in all cancer lines at increased levels, mainly as the 47 kDa ubiquitinylated form. A potential proliferative role for CIS overexpression is supported by reports that CIS activates ERK kinases, and by strong induction in transient reporter assays with an ERK-responsive promoter. The in vivo elevation of SOCS gene expression may be part of the host/tumour response or a response to autocrine/paracrine GH and prolactin. However, increased CIS expression in breast cancer lines appears to be a specific lesion, and could simultaneously shut down STAT 5 signalling by trophic hormones, confer resistance to host cytokines and increase proliferation through ERK kinases.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2003

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: V. Five new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius Nasutus.

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius nasutus (Bleeker, 1862) (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) revealed the presence of five new species of Monogenea, all belonging to Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001): T. serpens n. sp. T. ocrea n. sp., T. megagripus n. sp., T. citreum n. sp. and T. alatus n. sp.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Numerical analysis for a discontinuous rotation of the torus.

In this paper, we study a class of piecewise rotations on the square. While few theoretical results are known about them, we numerically compute box-counting dimensions, correlation dimensions and complexity of the symbolic language produced by the system. Our results seem to confirm a conjecture that the fractal dimension of the exceptional set is two, as well as indicate that the dynamics on it is not ergodic. We also explore a relationship between the piecewise rotations and discretized rotations on lattices Z(2n).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Is the Octomacridae the sister family of the Diplozodae?

Diplozoidae and Octomacridae are usually considered as sister families. Essentially this is because they are the only polyopisthocotyleans parasitising primary freshwater teleosts. Because of the lack of phylogenetically informative morphological characters to explore the pattern of colonisation of the primary continental freshwater teleosts and in order to understand the appearance of the "natural parabiosis" of Diplozoidae, a molecular phylogeny was inferred by comparing newly obtained partial 28S and 18S rDNA gene sequences of Eudiplozoon nipponicum and Diplozoon homoion with other already available sequences. The phylogenetic analysis seems to show that Diplozoidae and Octomacridae are not sister groups. Thus, the colonisation of primary freshwater teleosts by these two families could be independent.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: III. Five new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius bocourti, P. djambal and P. hypophthalmus.

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius bocourti Sauvage, 1880; P. djambal Bleeker, 1846; P. hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) and P. gigas Chevey, 1930 (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) revealed the presence of seven species of Monogenea among which five are considered new species. They all belong to Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001). P. bocourti: T. combesi n. sp., T. komarudini n. sp. and T. vietnamensis n. sp. P. djambal: T. caecus (Mizelle & Kritsky, 1969), T. combesi n. sp., T. euzeti n. sp., T. komarudini n. sp. and T. sadilii n. sp. P. hypophthalmus: T. caecus, T. siamensis (Lim, 1990) and T. vietnamensis n. sp. P. gigas: no Monogenea were found on this host species.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: IV. Five new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius krempfi, P. kunyit, P. mekongensis and P. sabahensis.

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius krempfi Roberts & Vidthayanon, 1991; P. kunyit Pouyaud et al., 1999; P. mekongensis Gustiano et al., in press and P. sabahensis Gustiano et al., in press (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) in Southeast Asia revealed the presence of six species of Monogenea, all belonging to the genus Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001). One has been previously described (T. vietnamensis Pariselle et al., 2002), five are considered as new species: T. humerus n. sp. and T. culter n. sp. on P. kunyit; T. mehurus n. sp. and T. culteroides n. sp. on P. sabahensis; and T. phuongi n. sp. on the four studied host species. The latter one, due to slight morphometric differences linked to geographical origin of hosts, is described as made up of three sub-species: T. phuongi phuongi n. sub-sp., T. phuongi malaysiensis n. sub-sp. and T. phuongi indonesiensis n. sub-sp.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Day 5 inhibin B levels in a treatment cycle are predictive of IVF outcome.

BACKGROUND: Day 5 serum inhibin B during IVF treatment has been investigated as a predictor of outcome. METHODS: A total of 54 women (< or = 39 years, normal menses and endocrine profiles) were treated with urinary gonadotrophins or recombinant FSH following pituitary down-regulation. Serum day 3 FSH in a preceding cycle was <8.5 IU/l. Plasma inhibin B, inhibin A and estradiol were determined after 4 days of gonadotrophin administration (day 5). RESULTS: Day 5 inhibin B was the most highly correlated with the number of mature follicles (>14 mm), oocytes retrieved and fertilized. Receiver operating characteristic analysis gave high accuracy for day 5 inhibin B in predicting ovarian response and indicated that a threshold of 400 pg/ml may be helpful in the decision as to whether to continue treatment. Women with <400 pg/ml (n = 16) had lower numbers of follicles, mature follicles, oocytes retrieved, fertilized and cleaved compared with those >400 pg/ml (n = 36) and this threshold gave a positive likelihood ratio of 30, 92.9% sensitivity, 95.0% specificity and 86.7% positive predictive value to detect poor ovarian response. Day 5 inhibin B was the best predictor of pregnancy (no live births and four cycles cancelled, low inhibin group; nine live births and no cancelled cycles, high inhibin group). CONCLUSIONS: Normogonadotrophic, normogonadal women with day 5 inhibin B <400 pg/ml in down-regulated cycles have a poor response to ovarian stimulation and are less likely to conceive compared with women with higher day 5 inhibin B.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The experience and training of British general surgeons in trauma surgery for the abdomen, thorax and major vessels.

BACKGROUND: The report Better Carefor the Severely Injured [London: The Royal College of Surgeons of England and the British Orthopaedic Association; 2000] states that an experienced general surgeon trained in the techniques required to perform life-saving emergency surgery is vital in the management of major trauma. The experience and training of general surgeons in the UK in the management of trauma to the abdomen, thorax and major vessels has never been assessed. METHOD: Postal questionnaire sent to UK general surgical consultants and Higher Surgical Trainees (HSTs). RESULTS: A total of 854 (48%) questionnaires were completed. Of respondents, 85% believe that major trauma should be directed to hospitals that provide a dedicated trauma service. Of non-vascular specialists, 43% felt their training was adequate to manage vascular trauma and only one-third of general surgical consultants felt adequately prepared to manage acute cardiothoracic injuries. The median number of trauma laparotomies undertaken annually was 2 for blunt injury and 1 for penetrating injury. Of HSTs, 21% had not performed a splenectomy for trauma and 44% had no experience of packing for liver injuries. CONCLUSIONS: There is limited experience and training in the surgical management of torso trauma in the UK. Implementation of the recommendations from Better Care for the Severely Injured will be hampered unless steps are taken to maximise experience and improve training.

Abdominal Injuries↗

PubMed2001

Direct RNA motif definition and identification from multiple sequence alignments using secondary structure profiles.

We present here a new approach to the problem of defining RNA signatures and finding their occurrences in sequence databases. The proposed method is based on "secondary structure profiles". An RNA sequence alignment with secondary structure information is used as an input. Two types of weight matrices/profiles are constructed from this alignment: single strands are represented by a classical lod-scores profile while helical regions are represented by an extended "helical profile" comprising 16 lod-scores per position, one for each of the 16 possible base-pairs. Database searches are then conducted using a simultaneous search for helical profiles and dynamic programming alignment of single strand profiles. The algorithm has been implemented into a new software, ERPIN, that performs both profile construction and database search. Applications are presented for several RNA motifs. The automated use of sequence information in both single-stranded and helical regions yields better sensitivity/specificity ratios than descriptor-based programs. Furthermore, since the translation of alignments into profiles is straightforward with ERPIN, iterative searches can easily be conducted to enrich collections of homologous RNAs.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2001

Localization of growth hormone receptors in rat and human thyroid cells.

Growth hormone (GH) exerts its multiple actions by binding to a specific receptor (GHR) widely distributed in the organism. It is well established that, in acromegaly, the thyroid gland is larger than normal and that GH increases triiodothyronin concentrations and decreases those of tetraiodothyronin (thyroxine). The aim of the present study was to analyze the presence of GHR and its mRNA in rat and human thyroid gland by Western blot, in situ hybridization techniques, and immunohistochemistry. A band of the expected size for GHR was shown in rat and human thyroid by Western blot. GHR immunoreactivity was found in virtually all follicles. The signal was mainly localized in the cytoplasm, although a nuclear positivity was also found. In situ hybridization techniques demonstrated the presence of GHR messenger RNA in the thyroid gland (cytoplasm of the follicular cells). These results provide direct morphological evidence that GHR is localized in the thyroid gland of mammals and opens up the possibility that GH regulates thyroid cell function directly or via local autocrine or paracrine production of insulin-like growth factor I.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Caveolae and clathrin-coated vesicles: two possible internalization pathways for IFN-gamma and IFN-gamma receptor.

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) elicits a variety of activities following binding to its cell-surface-specific receptor (IFN-gammaR). This complex formation leads to the activation of the Jak-STAT pathway. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the role and location of the receptor and its ligand in the signalling pathway. In vivo as well as in vitro, the present study shows that IFN-gamma and its receptor were internalized in different cellular compartments including cytoplasmic matrix, mitochondria and nucleus. In order to analyse the internalization pathway of IFN-gamma and its receptor, we have study in vivo and in vitro their colocalization with clathrin and caveolin by using double immunogold-labelling experiments using electron microscopy. We demonstrate that IFN-gamma and IFN-gammaR were colocalized in the caveolin-containing structures and the clathrin-coated pits suggesting that both internalization pathways may be used. This indicates that IFN-gamma and IFN-gammaR were internalized by these two different pathways, suggesting two different intracellular routes probably for different target cell-compartments.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

S100A7, S100A10, and S100A11 are transglutaminase substrates.

S100 proteins are a family of 10-14 kDa EF-hand-containing calcium binding proteins that function to transmit calcium-dependent cell regulatory signals. S100 proteins have no intrinsic enzyme activity but bind in a calcium-dependent manner to target proteins to modulate target protein function. Transglutaminases are enzymes that catalyze the formation of covalent epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine bonds between protein-bound glutamine and lysine residues. In the present study we show that transglutaminase-dependent covalent modification is a property shared by several S100 proteins and that both type I and type II transglutaminases can modify S100 proteins. We further show that the reactive regions are at the solvent-exposed amino- and carboxyl-terminal ends of the protein, regions that specify S100 protein function. We suggest that transglutaminase-dependent modification is a general mechanism designed to regulate S100 protein function.

3T3 Cells↗