Biomedical subjects

C A Maynard

Publications and source records attributed to C A Maynard.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Increased Septoria musiva resistance in transgenic hybrid poplar leaves expressing a wheat oxalate oxidase gene.

A cDNA clone of a wheat germin-like oxalate oxidase (OxO) gene regulated by the constitutive CaMV 35S promoter was expressed in a hybrid poplar clone, Populus x euramericana ('Ogy'). Previous studies showed that OxO is likely to play an important role in several aspects of plant development, stress response, and defense against pathogens. In order to study this wheat oxalate oxidase gene in woody plants, the expression of this gene and the functions of the encoded enzyme were examined in vitro and in vivo in transgenic 'Ogy'. The enzyme activity in the transformed 'Ogy' was visualized by histochemical assays and in SDS-polyacrylamide gels. It was found that the wheat OxO gene is expressed in leaves, stems, and roots of the transgenic 'Ogy' plants and the encoded enzyme is able to break down oxalic acid. Transgenic 'Ogy' leaves were more tolerant to oxalic acid as well as more effective in increasing the pH in an oxalic acid solution when compared to untransformed controls. In addition, when leaf disks from 'Ogy' plants were inoculated with conidia of the poplar pathogenic fungus Septoria musiva, which produces oxalic acid, the OxO-transformed plants were more resistant than the untransformed controls.

Ascomycota↗

PubMed2000

Design of self-processing antimicrobial peptides for plant protection.

Small antimicrobial peptides are excellent candidates for inclusion in self-processing proteins that could be used to confer pathogen resistance in transgenic plants. Antimicrobial peptides as small as 22 amino acids in length have been designed to incorporate the residual amino acids left from protein processing by the tobacco etch virus'(TEVs') NIa protease. Also, by minimizing the length of these peptides and the number of highly hydrophobic residues, haemolytic activity was reduced without affecting the peptide's antimicrobial activity.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens↗

PubMed1999

Political influence: a model for advanced nursing education.

Involvement in shaping healthcare policy is an expected outcome for the leadership standard of advanced nursing practice as outlined by American Nurses Association's Scope and Standards of Advanced Practice Registered Nursing (1996). From personal experience teaching a healthcare policy course over a 10-year period, the author has found that beginning graduate students are primarily in an apolitical state, reluctant to participate in such activity, and have not considered the ramifications of inactivity for the profession and for healthcare policy. The skills for political influence are an essential component of graduate education to increase awareness of, and foster activity in, the political arena. A model for the development of these skills is presented. The model consists of four interrelated dimensions: information, commitment, initiative, and involvement. Model dimensions are described and made operational through student activity. Ultimately, students move from an apolitical state to a moderate level of involvement. The model has been intended for educational purposes; however, it is applicable for any advanced practice nurse (APN).

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1996

Relationship of critical thinking ability to professional nursing competence.

The relationship of critical thinking ability to professional nursing competence was investigated. Professional nursing competence, defined by Benner (1984) as stages of skill acquisition (novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert), provided the conceptual framework. A randomly selected, cross-sectional sample of nursing graduates (N = 121) was utilized. Two cohorts (N = 30) of the sample group were measured longitudinally for critical thinking ability. Relationships were investigated between measures of critical thinking and professional competencies of leadership, critical care, teaching/collaboration, planning/evaluation, interpersonal communication and professional development. Critical thinking was measured over time from beginning nursing student to practicing nurse. Critical thinking ability did not change significantly during the educational experience (sophomore to senior), however, a significant increase was found in scores as practicing nurses. No relationship was demonstrated between critical thinking ability and professional competence. The experiential component of practice emerged as the key influencing factor on the development of competence and critical thinking.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1993

Warfarin and epistaxis--a case controlled study.

Patients anticoagulated with warfarin form a small proportion of those admitted with epistaxis annually to ENT units. The authors formed the impression that such patients spend longer in hospital and have more complicated management than controls. A prospective age and sex matched controlled study of 20 consecutive patients admitted with epistaxis whilst anticoagulated was performed. This showed that these patients spent significantly longer in hospital than controls, with an additional expense in the study period of 10,500 pounds for inpatient bed nights alone. The management of these patients is more complicated and there is a subgroup of poorly controlled patients who present most of the problems. A potential solution is to improve community warfarin control and to involve general practitioners and haematologists in the re-establishment of warfarin following admission for epistaxis.

Aged↗

PubMed1979

Application of pattern recognition methodology to the design of an electronic aid for coordination therapy.

Automated aids for developing coordination skills in the handicapped are not common, with the result that therapy of such a nature tends to be highly teacher intensive. This paper describes an electronic aid, based on pattern recognition techniques, for the teaching of writing and drawing skills which, while retaining the flexibility to allow tailoring of its operation to the needs of individual patients and applicability to a variety of tasks, is sufficiently cheap and convenient in implementation to be an effective tool of general acceptability.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Synthetic antimicrobial peptide design.

To guide the design of potential plant pathogen-resistance genes, synthetic variants of naturally occurring antimicrobial gene products were evaluated. Five 20-amino acid (ESF1, ESF4, ESF5, ESF6, ESF13), one 18-amino acid (ESF12), and one 17-amino acid (ESF17) amphipathic peptide sequences were designed, synthesized, and tested with in vitro bioassays. Positive charges on the hydrophilic side of the peptide were shown to be essential for antifungal activity, yet the number of positive charges could be varied with little or no change in activity. The size could be reduced to 18 amino acids, but at 17 amino acids a significant reduction in activity was observed. ESF1, 5, 6, and 12 peptides were inhibitory to the germination of conidia from Cryphonectria parasitica, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, and Septoria musiva but did not inhibit the germination of pollen from Castanea mollissima and Salix lucida. ESF12 also had no effect on the germination of Malus sylvestris and Lycopersicon esculentum pollen, but inhibited the growth of the bacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Erwinia amylovora, and Pseudomonas syringae. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the active ESF peptides were similar to those of the naturally occurring control peptides, magainin II and cecropin B. The significant differential in sensitivity between the microbes and plant cells indicated that the active ESF peptides are potentially useful models for designing plant pathogen-resistance genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

An electronic aid for teaching writing and drawing skills.

Conventional methods for the teaching of writing and drawing skills among the handicapped are highly teacher-intensive. This paper describes an electronic drawing aid which, after an initial teaching session, may be used by an unsupervised patient to develop his drawing and writing capabilities. A major feature of the system is its flexibility in that its performance may be tailored to the needs of any particular patient, in terms of both the degree of complexity of a required drawing and in the level of ability required by the patient to reach a desired level of attainment.

Aptitude↗