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B Bartlett

Publications and source records attributed to B Bartlett.

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Australia

Functions involved in bacteriophage P2-induced host cell lysis and identification of a new tail gene.

Successful completion of the bacteriophage P2 lytic cycle requires phage-induced lysis of its Escherichia coli host, a process that is poorly understood. Genetic analysis of lysis-deficient mutants defined a single locus, gene K, which lies within the largest late transcription unit of P2 and maps between head gene L and tail gene R. We determined and analyzed the DNA sequence of a ca. 2.1-kb EcoRV fragment that spans the entire region from L to R, thus completing the sequence of this operon. This region contains all of the functions necessary for host cell lysis. Sequence analysis revealed five open reading frames, initially designated orf19 through orf23. All of the existing lysis mutants--ts60, am12, am76, and am218--were located in orf21, which must therefore correspond to gene K. The K gene product has extensive amino acid sequence similarity to the product of gene R of bacteriophage lambda, and its exhibits endolysin function. Site-directed mutagenesis and reverse genetics were used to create P2 amber mutants in each of the four other newly identified open reading frames. Both orf19 (gene X) and orf20 (gene Y) encode essential functions, whereas orf22 (lysA) and orf23 (lysB) are nonessential. Gene Y encodes a polypeptide with striking similarities to the family of holin proteins exemplified by gpS of phage lambda, and the Yam mutant displayed the expected properties of a holin mutant. The gene products of lysA and lysB, although nonessential, appear to play a role in the correct timing of lysis, since a lysA amber mutant caused slightly accelerated lysis and a lysB amber mutant slightly delayed lysis of nonpermissive strains. Gene X must encode a tail protein, since lysates from nonpermissive cells infected with the X amber mutant were complemented in vitro by similar lysates of cells infected with P2 head mutants but not with tail mutants.

Amino Acid Sequence

Bindii (Jo Jo) dermatitis (Soliva pterosperma [Compositae]).

Bindii dermatitis is a distinctive eruption occurring in some Australian children during spring and early summer and characterized by discrete erythematous papules with puncta, concentrated over the palms, soles, and knees. In three affected individuals (but not in thirteen controls), pricking the skin with bindii seed produced an erythematous, indurated papule that appeared within 48 hours of intradermal pricking and simulated the primary lesion. Pathogenesis may involve an allergic reaction with a retained depot of antigen rather than a nonspecific foreign body injury reaction.

Australia

A statewide consortium initiative to establish an undergraduate clinical internship program.

The amount of time and the type of experience needed by undergraduate students in the clinical setting to actually practice nursing has been the subject of many debates between nurses in academe and service. Rather than blaming each other for the culture shock and transition problems of neophyte nurses, members of the academic and practice community in Rhode Island decided to address the problem together. The development of the collaborative program described in this article grew out of a research study and was coordinated through the efforts of nurses from service and academe. The central outcome of this statewide consortium's project was to increase the students' level of nursing competencies. "Turf" issues that related to the colleges and the hospitals involved became secondary. Everyone involved believed that students from different collegiate programs working together presented exciting opportunities to share and learn from one another. In addition, other outcomes included increased recruitment and retention of these baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the hospitals, and greater ease in their orientation and transition. In addition, a cluster of three research studies were conducted by members of the consortium. This ongoing program, in which nurses in education and service are working together in a statewide consortium to break down the turf issues that separated them, is achieving outcomes that could not have been accomplished had it been undertaken independently. This article describes the process used to develop, implement, and evaluate such a program.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Clinical Clerkship

Intravenous site care practices in critical care: a national survey.

OBJECTIVE: To collect and compare written procedures for central line intravenous site care. DESIGN: Descriptive, stratified, random sample survey. SETTING: Adult medical-surgical critical care units among hospitals throughout the United States. SAMPLE: One hundred fifty-two returned surveys. RESULTS: A 24.6% response rate with underrepresentation from smaller institutions and hospitals in the Mid-Atlantic and West South Central regions of the country. There were wide variations in procedures for intravenous site care related to type of dressing used and frequency of dressing changes. CONCLUSIONS: Standardization of catheter care is needed to ensure consistent quality of intravenous site care. Lack of standardization may be due to lack of a research data base linking various components of care to outcomes such as infection, patient comfort, or catheter retention.

Adult