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Biomedical subjects

A Radford

Publications and source records attributed to A Radford.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Baby-Friendly: snappy slogan or standard of care?

Breastfeeding offers significant protection against illness for the infant and numerous health benefits for the mother, including a decreased risk of breast cancer. In 1991, UNICEF and WHO launched the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative with the aim of increasing rates of breastfeeding. "Baby-Friendly" is a designation a maternity site can receive by demonstrating to external assessors compliance with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The Ten Steps are a series of best practice standards describing a pattern of care where commonly found practices harmful to breastfeeding are replaced with evidence based practices proven to increase breastfeeding outcome. Currently, approximately 19,250 hospitals worldwide have achieved Baby-Friendly status, less than 500 of which are found in industrialised nations. The Baby-Friendly initiative has increased breastfeeding rates, reduced complications, and improved mothers' health care experiences.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed2003

Cessation of feline calicivirus shedding coincident with resolution of chronic gingivostomatitis in a cat.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) shedding and oral bacterial flora were monitored over a period of 22 months in a case of feline gingivostomatitis (FGS). The cat was treated daily with 50 mg thalidomide capsules by mouth, and 200 mg lactoferrin powder was applied directly to the lesions. Clinical signs began to resolve after 11 months when, in addition to treatment, the diet had been changed to an additive-free cat food supplemented with antioxidant vitamins A, D3 and E. Resolution of clinical signs of FGS coincided with the cessation of FCV shedding, and this is the first report documenting such an association. Which part of the treatment, if any, contributed to the cure requires further investigation.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2000

Exploitation of a cellulose-binding domain from Neurospora crassa.

After eight decades as a purely research organism, Neurospora crassa is becoming a production system for heterologous peptides. The present work exploits the cbh-1 gene, which encodes a class C cellobiohydrolase (EC 3.2.1.91) and has, at its carboxy-terminus, a domain with homology to other fungal cellulose-binding domains. We describe the construction of two translational fusions of the putative cellulose-binding domain with a reporter gene, which is the catalytic domain of the gla-1 glucoamylase gene of the same species, their transformation back into the organism, and expression of the constructs as cellulose-binding glucoamylase activity. This adds to the developing biotechnology of the organism the potential for enzyme/protein immobilisation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

The Child-Friendly Healthcare Initiative (CFHI): Healthcare provision in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child Advocacy International. Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development of the World Health Organization (WHO). Royal College of Nursing (UK). Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (UK). United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

OBJECTIVE: Although modern medical technology and treatment regimens in well-resourced countries have improved the survival of sick or injured children, most of the world's families do not have access to adequate health care. Many hospitals in poorly resourced countries do not have basic water and sanitation, a reliable electricity supply, or even minimal security. The staff, both clinical and nonclinical, are often underpaid and sometimes undervalued by their communities. In many countries there continues to be minimal, if any, pain control, and the indiscriminate use of powerful antibiotics leads to a proliferation of multiresistant pathogens. Even in well-resourced countries, advances in health care have not always been accompanied by commensurate attention to the child's wider well-being and sufficient concerns about their anxieties, fears, and suffering. In accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,(1) the proposals set out in this article aim to develop a system of care that will focus on the physical, psychological, and emotional well-being of children attending health care facilities, particularly as inpatients. DESIGN OF THE PROGRAM: To develop in consultation with local health care professionals and international organizations, globally applicable standards that will help to ensure that practices in hospitals and health centers everywhere respect children's rights, not only to survival and avoidance of morbidity, but also to their protection from unnecessary suffering and their informed participation in treatment. Child Advocacy International will liase closely with the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the implementation of the pilot scheme in 6 countries. In hospitals providing maternity and newborn infant care, the program will be closely linked with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative of WHO/UNICEF that aims to strengthen support for breastfeeding. United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, child protection, breastfeeding, pain control, palliative care, child abuse.

Child↗
PubMed1997

The genome and genes of Neurospora crassa.

Neurospora crassa is an organism with a 7-decade contribution to genetic research. in a genome of 42.9 Mb and just over 1000 map units, to date over 800 different genes have been identified by phenotype and/or map location, and 222 genes have been characterized by sequencing. Methods by which analysis of the genome has been carried out are discussed, including linkage, RFLP, and chromosome walking. Characterized centomeres, telomeres, the nucleolar organizer and the dispersed 5S rRNA genes are discussed. Analysis of the protein-encoding genes is undertaken, using new software for the querying of standard sequence databases. Gene analysis includes consensus sequences for transcription and RNA splicing and new insights into codon usage.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1996

bli-4, a gene that is rapidly induced by blue light, encodes a novel mitochondrial, short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase-like protein in Neurospora crassa.

Blue light plays an important role in developmental control throughout nature. The bli-4 gene of Neurospora crassa, together with bli-3, al-1 and al-2, is rapidly inducible by blue light. Induction leads to a ninety-fold increase in transcription rate over the dark control level, and the gene therefore appears to be of prime importance in the blue-light induction pathway of N. crassa. We describe the sequencing and analysis of bli-4 and the 38 kDa protein it encodes. We show that the protein is very rapidly imported into the mitochondria and exhibits high homology with the family of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1995

The use of PCR to isolate a putative ABC transporter from Saccharopolyspora erythraea.

A gene (ertX) encoding a putative ABC transporter was cloned from the erythromycin producer Saccharopolyspora erythraea, using PCR. The primers were based on regions of homology from ABC transporters which confer resistance to macrolide antibiotics. While ertX encodes a protein with a strong degree of similarity to other macrolide ABC transporters from streptomycetes and staphylococci, it did not confer resistance to erythromycin, tylosin, spiramycin, oleandomycin, josamcin, chalcomycin or midecamycin when subcloned into sensitive streptomycete hosts. Southern blot analysis suggested that ertX did not constitute part of the erythromycin gene cluster as identified to date.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
PubMed1995

The cellulase complex of Neurospora crassa: cbh-1 cloning, sequencing and homologies.

We describe the isolation, cloning and sequencing of the cellobiohydrolase 1 (EC 3.2.1.91)-encoding gene (cbh-1) of Neurospora crassa. The nucleotide and amino-acid sequences have high homology with the cbh-1 of Trichoderma reesei, Humicola grisea and Phanerochaete chrysosporium, with clear signal, catalytic, hinge and substrate-binding domains in that order.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Expression and secretion of heterologous proteases by Corynebacterium glutamicum.

Genes encoding the basic protease of Dichelobacter nodosus (bprV) and the subtilisin of Bacillus subtilis (aprE) were cloned and expressed in Corynebacterium glutamicum. In each case, enzymatically active protein was detected in the supernatants of liquid cultures. While the secretion of subtilisin was directed by its own signal peptide, the natural signal peptide of the bprV basic protease did not facilitate secretion. A hybrid aprE-bprV gene in which the promoter and signal peptide coding sequences of subtilisin replaced those of bprV could be expressed, and basic protease was secreted by C. glutamicum. Expression of these proteases in C. glutamicum provides an opportunity to compare protein secretion from this gram-positive host with that from other gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1994

Evolution of transcription-regulating proteins by enzyme recruitment: molecular models for nitrogen metabolite repression and ethanol utilisation in eukaryotes.

Studies on the quinic acid utilisation gene (qut) cluster in Aspergillus nidulans showed that the genes encoding transcriptional activator and repressor proteins evolved by co-opting duplicated copies of genes encoding metabolic enzymes. In order to test the hypothesis that this was a general route for the genesis of regulatory proteins, the origins of the major control protein mediating nitrogen metabolite repression (an example of inter-pathway regulation) and ethanol utilisation (an example of intra-pathway regulation) in filamentous fungi were sought. The regulatory proteins mediating nitrogen metabolite repression were deduced to have originated in a duplication of genes encoding the anthranilate synthase complex which is active in the shikimate pathway. The major protein regulating ethanol utilisation was deduced to have its origin in the fusion of duplicated genes encoding the aldehyde and alcohol dehydrogenases (ALDA and ALCA). These data strongly support the view that transcriptional regulatory proteins evolve by the recruitment of functional domains provided by metabolic enzymes.

Aspergillus nidulans↗
PubMed1994

The syntax of questions in child English.

The purpose of this article is to provide a contemporary Government-and-Binding (GB) reinterpretation and evaluation of Klima & Bellugi's classic 1966 work on the acquisition of interrogatives. I argue that the central insight of K&B's paper can be captured by positing that wh-questions in Child English involve a wh-pronoun positioned in the head complementizer (C) position within the Complementizer Phrase (CP) (so blocking auxiliary inversion if this involves positioning an inverted auxiliary in C) and that in the transition to Adult English, children come to learn that wh-questions involve a wh-phrase superficially positioned in the specifier position within CP. I argue that the wh-in-C analysis poses both developmental problems (in that it fails to account for child structures involving a preposed wh-phrase with an uninverted auxiliary) and potential theoretical problems (in that long movement of a wh-head may violate locality principles). I then consider two alternative accounts of wh-questions which posit that wh-movement involves movement of a wh-phrase from the very earliest stages of development. The first of these is an adjunction account, on which wh-phrases are analysed as clausal adjuncts in Child English (adjoined to the Verb Phrase (VP) in the earliest stages and to the Inflection Phrase (IP) in later stages). I note, however, that this provides no principled account of the absence of auxiliary inversion in child wh-questions, and poses continuity problems (especially within a framework such as that of Cinque (1990) in which it is assumed that wh-phrases never adjoin to VP or IP). Finally, I consider an alternative account on which initial wh-phrases are analysed as occupying the specifier position within CP at all stages of development. I note that the problem posed by this analysis is accounting for the absence of auxiliary inversion in early wh-questions, and offer an account which posits that children overgeneralize specifier-head agreement from IP to CP.

Child Language↗
PubMed1993

A fungal phylogeny based upon orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase.

Orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase protein sequences from 14 fungi, 1 slime mold, 2 mammals, and 3 bacteria are compared and aligned and shown to be homologous. Based on the optimal alignment of the fungal sequences, a phylogenetic tree is derived. Within the fungi, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe shows a closer relationship to both basidiomycetes and phycomycetes than it does to orthodox ascomycetes (plectomycetes, pyrenomycetes, and budding yeasts). Intron conservation shows a close relationship between phycomycetes and basidiomycetes. The imperfect fungi Trichoderma and Cephalosporium are shown to be closely related to Neurospora. The predicted origin of the group of budding yeasts is dependent on the analytical method used.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Cloning and sequence analysis of the glucoamylase gene of Neurospora crassa.

A 1.0-kb DNA fragment, corresponding to an internal region of the Neurospora crassa glucoamylase gene, gla-1, was generated from genomic DNA by the polymerase chain reaction, using oligonucleotide primers which had been deduced from the known N-terminal amino-acid sequence or from consensus regions within the aligned amino-acid sequences of other fungal glucoamylases. The fragment was used to screen an N. crassa genomic DNA library. One clone contained the gene together with flanking regions and its sequence was determined. The gene was found to code for a preproprotein of 626 amino acids, 35 of which constitute a signal and propeptide region. The protein and the gene are compared with corresponding sequences in other fungi.

Amino Acid Sequence↗