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Biomedical subjects

B Terry

Publications and source records attributed to B Terry.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Resumption of meiosis induced by meiosis-activating sterol has a different signal transduction pathway than spontaneous resumption of meiosis in denuded mouse oocytes cultured in vitro.

The sterol 4,4-dimethyl-5-cholesta-8,14,24-trien-3-ol (follicular fluid meiosis-activating sterol [FF-MAS]) isolated from human follicular fluid induces resumption of meiosis in mouse oocytes cultured in vitro. The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that differential signal transduction mechanisms exist for FF-MAS-induced and spontaneous in vitro resumption of meiosis in mouse oocytes. Mouse oocytes were dissected from ovaries originating from mice primed with FSH 48 h before oocyte collection. Mechanically denuded germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes were in vitro matured in medium supplemented with hypoxanthine and FF-MAS or allowed to mature spontaneously; both groups were exposed to individual compounds known to inhibit specific targets in the cell. After 20-22 h of in vitro maturation, resumption of meiosis was assessed as the frequency of oocytes in GV breakdown (GVBD) stage. Pertussis toxin (2.5 microg/ml) did not influence resumption of meiosis in either group. Dibutyryl cyclic GMP (320 microM) inhibited FF-MAS-induced GVBD, but not spontaneous GVBD, whereas the subtype 5 phosphodiesterase-inhibitor zaprinast (50 microM) inhibited GVBD in both groups. Microinjection of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase into oocytes inhibited spontaneous GVBD, but not FF-MAS-induced GVBD. An inhibitor of cytoplasmic polyadenylation, cordycepin (80 microM), inhibited or retarded spontaneous GVBD to a further extent than it did FF-MAS-induced GVBD. Spontaneous GVBD was more sensitive to the histone H1 kinase-inhibitor olomoucine (250 microM) than was FF-MAS-induced GVBD. Addition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-inhibitor PD 98059 (50 microM), phospholipase C-inhibitor U-73122 (10 microM), p21(ras)-inhibitor lovastatine (250 microM), and the src-like kinase inhibitor PP2 (20 microg/ml) inhibited FF-MAS-induced GVBD, but not spontaneous GVBD. Both MAPKs, extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) 1 and ERK2, were phosphorylated under FF-MAS-induced meiotic resumption, in contrast to spontaneous meiotic resumption, in which ERK1 and ERK2 phosphorylation occurred 2 h after GVBD. In the present study, we show that FF-MAS acts through an MAPK-dependent pathway, and we suggest that src-like kinase, p21(ras), and phosphoinositide signaling lie upstream of MAPK in the FF-MAS-activated signaling pathway. Clearly, striking pathway differences are present between spontaneous versus FF-MAS-induced meiotic resumption.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Low levels of urinary iodine excretion in schoolchildren of rural areas in Cuba.

OBJECTIVE: We set up a baseline data on urinary iodine excretion from a nationwide representative sample of rural schoolchildren before instituting iodine supplementation. DESIGN: Stratified multistage cluster sampling in three different strata: lowlands, foothills and mountainous areas. Early morning urine samples were collected for evaluation of iodine status. SETTING: Field study in 25 municipalities in 11 out of 14 provinces. The study was carried out from October to December 1995. SUBJECTS: Three thousand and twenty-seven schoolchildren of either sex, 6 to < 12 y from 87 primary schools. RESULTS: The median urinary iodine excretion was 95 microg/L for the whole sample. The situation in a few foothills and all mountainous areas showed a moderate to severe deficiency. In the mountainous stratum, the median urinary iodine excretion values was less than 20 microg/L. CONCLUSIONS: Cuba has a mild iodine deficiency public health problem with respect to WHO criteria, which in the mountainous areas is severe. The Government of Cuba has started a national Plan of Action and funds are being mobilized to introduce nationwide iodized salt.

Altitude↗
PubMed1994

Biochemical studies on capped RNA primers identify a class of oligonucleotide inhibitors of the influenza virus RNA polymerase.

A synthetic 67-nt RNA substrate, containing a 32P-labeled cap-1 structure (m7G32pppGm) was specifically cleaved by the influenza virus RNA polymerase (EC 2.7.7.48) to yield a single capped 11-nt fragment capable of directly priming transcription. An analysis of systematic truncations of this RNA substrate demonstrated that an additional nucleotide beyond this cleavage site was required for cleavage. The minimal RNA chain length required for priming activity was found to be 9 nt, while in contrast an RNA chain length of at least 4 nt was required for efficient binding to the viral polymerase. On the basis of these chain length requirements we show that a pool of capped oligonucleotides too short to prime transcription, but long enough to bind with high affinity to the viral polymerase, are potent inhibitors of cap-dependent transcription in vitro.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Automated patient acuity. Linking nursing systems and quality measurement with patient outcomes.

Traditional patient classification systems no longer provide a useful function for nursing management. Value from these systems can only be realized through major revisions and integration with other systems. The resulting transformed system, linking patient outcomes, cost of care, and quality measurements together, provides a valuable measurement tool and enables nursing to demonstrate their value to the industry. The authors describe their rationale and experience in designing such a system.

California↗
PubMed1992

Out of the laboratory and into the community. 26 years of applied behavior analysis at the Juniper Gardens Children's Project.

Application of Skinner's principles to socially significant human behavior had been well articulated by 1968 (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968). Applications of these principles by Baer, Wolf, Risley, Hall, Hart, Christophersen, and their colleagues were in evidence as early as 1964 in the homes, schools, and clinics of inner-city Kansas City, Kansas, at the Juniper Gardens Housing Project. The work continues relatively uninterrupted, having contributed extensively to the literature of applied behavior analysis and the lives of community residents. This article describes the project and illustrates how applied behavioral research was initiated and extended, how the work addressed general concerns in psychology, and how it continues to address contemporary concerns within the community.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1992

The classwide peer tutoring program: implementation factors moderating students' achievement.

We conducted a study designed to assess implementation of the classwide peer tutoring program and the relationship between implementation variation and student outcome. A clinical replication design was used. Five volunteer elementary teachers were trained to implement the program; their implementation was monitored for 19 consecutive weeks during 1 school year. Overall, the results indicated that specific variations in program implementation were associated with students' responses to treatment. It was also demonstrated that different teachers' applications of the program produced differential levels of student outcome. Implementation factors related to lower spelling achievement were (a) reduced opportunities to receive program sessions, (b) reduced probabilities of students' participation in program opportunities, (c) too many students assigned unchallenging spelling words, and (d) reduced rates of daily point earning reflecting lower levels of spelling practice during tutoring sessions. The implications of these findings and methods of preventing these implementation problems are discussed in the context of quality assurance and social validity.

Achievement↗
PubMed1991

Study of the definition of nosocomial infections (SDNI). Research Committee of the Association for Practitioners in Infection Control.

If nosocomial infections are to be used as clinical indicators of quality, their definitions must be accurate. To assess validity and reliability of definitions of nosocomial infection, a study was conducted in two groups of U.S. hospitals. Group A consisted of a stratified, random sample of 715 hospitals and excluded those that are part of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System. The 112 NNIS hospitals were surveyed separately in group B. Both groups used the same instrument, consisting of 36 case studies simulating patients' charts. Content and construct validity were formally tested and demonstrated. Six case studies were presented for each of the four major NI sites and for community-acquired or no infection. The pooled hospital response was 48% (396/827). The pooled number of individual responders whose data were used in the analysis was 469. Their overall mean score was 84%, and the score for correctly identifying any NI was 83%. Both groups were best at identifying urinary nosocomial infections (Group A = 92%, Group B = 93%) and poorest for no infection (Group A = 62%, Group B = 75%). Group A responders had significantly higher scores if they were certified, had a baccalaureate or higher degree, had taken a formal infection control course, had worked in infection control for greater than or equal to 2 years, or had worked full time in infection control in a greater than or equal to 200-bed hospital that was affiliated with a medical school (all p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed1991

Selective activity and cellular pharmacology of (1R-1 alpha,2 beta,3 alpha)-9-[2,3-bis(hydroxymethyl)cyclobutyl]guanine in herpesvirus-infected cells.

The cycloburtane nucleoside analog (1R-1 alpha,2 beta,3 alpha)-9-[2,3-bis(hydroxymethyl)cyclobutyl]guanine [(R)-BHCG or SQ 34,514] was recently synthesized and shown to be the active enantiomer of (+/-)-BHCG (SQ 33,054), a potent inhibitor of several strains of herpesviruses [J. Med. Chem 34:1415-1421 (1991); Antiviral Res. 13:41-52 (1990)]. In plaque reduction assays, (R)-BHCG was about 1000 times more active than its S-enantiomer on herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) and over 200 times more active against a thymidine kinase-deficient mutant HSV-1 and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). We now show that both (R)-BHCG and (S)-BHCG are efficiently phosphorylated to their mono-, di-, and triphosphates by HSV-1-infected cells, in a manner similar to that of acyclovir [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74:5716-5720 (1977)]. The uptake of both enantiomers was greatly increased upon infection; however, (S)-BHCG was taken up to about twice the extent of (R)-BHCG and accumulated primarily as the mono- and diphosphates. (R)-BHCG accumulated primarily as the triphosphate, and accumulation was linear with both time and added drug concentration. The triphosphate had an apparent half-life of about 10 hr. Metabolic studies using HCMV-infected cells showed only a small degree of phosphorylation of (R)-BHCG and none of (S)-BHCG. When cells were labeled with 25 microM (R)-BHCG, the amount of (R)-BHCG triphosphate formed was less than 0.5 pmol/10(6) cells. Interestingly, the ED50 value of (R)-BHCG is about 100-fold higher against HCMV than against HSV-1, and the relative levels of (R)-BHCG triphosphate formed in cells infected by the two viruses are roughly proportional to the antiviral activities.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Surgical ligation clip artifacts on CT scans.

Surgical ligation clips of various materials were scanned in a water-filled phantom to determine what artifacts would be produced. Tantalum clips produced severe image degradation, while stainless steel clips produced less severe degradation. Minimal artifacts were observed with titanium clips. Clips molded from an absorbable polymeric material, polydioxanone, were visible on computed tomography (CT) scans and had the least effect on the CT image.

Humans↗
PubMed1984

Teacher- versus peer-mediated instruction: an ecobehavioral analysis of achievement outcomes.

In three experiments, we compared the effects of instructional arrangements that varied in: teacher versus peer mediators, methods used, levels of student academic responding generated, and content taught and tested. Instructional arrangements (i.e., tasks, structure, teacher position, teacher behavior) and students' levels of academic responding were measured by an observation system which served as an index of the independent variables. Students' accuracy on weekly spelling, arithmetic, and vocabulary tests and pre- and post-standardized achievement tests (Experiments 2 and 3 only) were the dependent variables. Results indicated that the classwide peer tutoring, compared to the teacher's procedure, produced more student academic responding and higher weekly test scores, regardless of treatment order or subject matter content (Experiment 1). The four lowest performing students in each class, in particular, benefited from peer tutoring, often performing as well as the other students. These findings were replicated in Experiments 2 and 3 wherein content taught/tested was also manipulated. Standardized test score gains were higher in those areas in which peer tutoring was used longest. Issues related to the functional analysis of instruction and achievement gain are discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1983

Exploring quality circles in the provision of therapeutic recreation services.

This article provides a discussion of the advantages of implementing a Quality Circles program into a therapeutic recreation setting. Quality Circles, a Japanese management concept, has received increased support in American industry and human service organizations. It is founded on the principle of employee involvement and concern for the improvement of the organization. Disadvantages of Quality Circles include: (1) lack of management support; (2) time required to implement; (3) failure to hire consultants; and (4) improper composition of Circles. Advantages of Quality Circles are (1) improved communication; (2) management awareness of employee job-related concerns; (3) personal growth and development; (4) enhanced decision making skills; (5) increased individual power; (5) improved motivation; and (6) opportunities for recognition of individual improvement.

Group Processes↗
PubMed1979

Effect of aspirin and acid on human jejunal mucosa. An ultrastructural study.

To determine the effects of aspirin and hydrochloric acid on human jejunal mucosa, three obese patients with a small intestinal bypass that opened on the abdominal wall as a mucous fistula were studied. An 80-mM solution of HCl, a 40-mM suspension of aspirin (equivalent to two tablets in a glass of water), and a combination suspension of 40 mM aspirin plus 40 mM HCl damaged a mean +/- SE of 26 +/- 13% (P less than 0.05), 24 +/- 5% (P less than 0.05), and 29 +/- 5% (P less than 0.05) of jejunal villi, respectively, 5 min after administration. By 60 min after instillation, considerable recovery had occurred. Scanning electron microscopy revealed focal villous tip erosion and erythrocyte extrusion after all test solutions. In conclusion, aspirin, 40 mM, physiologic concentration of hydrochloric acid, and the combination of acid plus aspirin are each capable of damaging human small intestinal mucosa on direct contact.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1978

All pustular nodules are not bacterial.

A case of lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis was thought to represent bacterial pyoderma. Lack of recognition led to excessive costs and a delay in the institution of specific therapy. The differential and an approach to diagnosis of pus-containing nodules are discussed.

Adult↗