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D Acampora

Publications and source records attributed to D Acampora.

80 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Human homoeobox-containing genes in development.

The homoeobox is a 183-bp DNA sequence conserved in several Drosophila genes controlling segmentation and segment identity. Homoeobox sequences have been detected in the genome of species ranging from insects and annelids to vertebrates, and homoeobox-containing genes have been cloned from sea urchin, Xenopus, mouse and man. We have recently isolated human homoeobox-containing complementary DNA clones which represent transcripts from four different human genes. We have studied the expression of these genes in tissues of human embryos and fetuses at 5-10 weeks post-conception. Most of them appear to be expressed in a stage- and tissue-specific pattern. We report here on the genomic organization of a number of human homoeoboxes and their transcriptional organization in human placenta.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Sensitivity of routine clinical criteria for diagnosing myocardial infarction within 24 hours of hospitalization.

Myocardial infarction was diagnosed in 431 (30%) of 1460 patients with acute chest pain who had serial enzyme testing after admission to intensive or intermediate care units at three teaching and three community hospitals. The diagnosis was made within 12 hours of admission in 331 (77%) patients and within 24 hours in 415 (96%). Of the 16 patients with myocardial infarction who did not have enzyme abnormalities within 24 hours, 9 (56%) had recurrent ischemic pain during this 24-hour period. Of 451 patients who had neither enzyme abnormalities nor recurrent ischemic pain in the first 24 hours, only 7 (2%) ultimately met diagnostic criteria for myocardial infarction. These findings were prospectively validated in an independent testing set of 275 patients with myocardial infarction, 271 (99%) of whom either met diagnostic criteria for myocardial infarction or had recurrent ischemic pain within 24 hours of admission. These data suggest that 24 hours is nearly always a sufficient period to exclude myocardial infarction in patients without recurrent chest pain.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Use of the initial electrocardiogram to predict in-hospital complications of acute myocardial infarction.

We evaluated the initial electrocardiogram as a predictor of complications in 469 patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction. An electrocardiogram was classified as positive if it showed one or more of the following: evidence of infarction, ischemia, or strain; left ventricular hypertrophy; left bundle-branch block; or paced rhythm. Forty-two (14 per cent) of 302 patients with positive electrocardiograms had at least one life-threatening complication (ventricular fibrillation, sustained ventricular tachycardia, or heart block), as compared with 1 (0.6 per cent) of 167 patients with a negative electrocardiogram. Life-threatening complications were therefore 23 times more likely if the initial electrocardiogram was positive (P less than 0.001). Other complications were 3 to 10 times more likely (P less than 0.01), interventions were 4 to 10 times more likely (P less than 0.05), and death was 17 times more likely (P less than 0.001) in patients with a positive electrocardiogram. We conclude that patients with a negative initial electrocardiogram have a low likelihood of complications and could be admitted to an intermediate care unit instead of a coronary care unit. This would reduce admissions to the coronary care unit by 36 per cent and thereby save considerable hospital costs without compromising patient care.

Connecticut↗
PubMed1985

Effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics in the outpatient treatment of burns.

We compared wound infection rates in 133 outpatient burns treated with prophylactic antibiotics in our emergency room and 161 similar, untreated burns. Infection rates in the treated and untreated groups were 3.8% (5/133) and 3.1% (5/161), respectively. Since this was an observational cohort study, it was necessary to demonstrate the comparability of treated and untreated groups with respect to risk factors for infection, including patient age, size, location, and etiology of the burn injury, time since injury, and presence of co-morbidity. The groups were found to be comparable for all risk factors except size of burn: larger burns were over-represented in the treated group (p less than 0.05). Even after controlling for size, antibiotic use did not lower the infection rate. These results argue strongly against routine use of systemic antibiotics in the treatment of outpatient burns.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1983

Adequacy of antitetanus prophylaxis in six hospital emergency rooms.

We studied the adequacy of antitetanus prophylaxis given to 620 patients with open soft-tissue injuries by 169 physicians in six hospital emergency rooms. Twenty-three per cent of the patients were treated incorrectly (6 per cent were undertreated and 17 per cent were overtreated) with tetanus toxoid or human tetanus immunoglobulin. Undertreatment ranged from 4 to 11 per cent, and overtreatment from 5 to 38 per cent at the different hospitals (P less than 0.01). Patients at highest risk for tetanus (those with tetanus-prone wounds who had never been given a complete initial course of immunizations) had the lowest likelihood (27 per cent) of receiving correct antitetanus treatment. By following an immunization protocol based on time since injury, mechanism of injury, estimated bacterial contamination, presence of devitalized tissue, wound depth, and past immunizations, physicians can better protect the population against tetanus while lowering the risk of adverse drug reactions and not increasing the cost of care.

Emergency Medical Services↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differential and stage-related expression in embryonic tissues of a new human homoeobox gene.

The homoeobox is a 183 base-pair (bp) DNA sequence conserved in several Drosophila genes controlling segmentation and segment identity. Homoeobox sequences have been detected in the genome of species ranging from insects and anellids to vertebrates and homoeobox containing genes have been cloned from Xenopus, mouse and man. We recently isolated human homoeobox containing complementary DNA clones, that represent transcripts from four different human genes. One clone (HHO.c10) is selectively expressed in a 2.1 kilobase (kb) polyadenylated transcript in the spinal cord of human embryos and fetuses 5-10 weeks after fertilization. We report the characterization of a second cDNA clone, termed HHO.c13, that represents a new homoeobox gene. This clone encodes a protein of 255 amino-acid residues, which includes a pentapeptide, upstream of the homoeo domain, conserved in other Drosophila, Xenopus, murine and human homoeobox genes. By Northern analysis HHO.c13 detects multiple embryonic transcripts, which are differentially expressed in spinal cord, brain, backbone rudiments, limb buds and heart in 5-9-week-old human embryos and fetuses, in a striking organ- and stage-specific pattern. These observations suggest that in early mammalian development homoeobox genes may exert a wide spectrum of control functions in a variety of organs and body parts, in addition to the spinal cord.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Otx genes in evolution: are they involved in instructing the vertebrate brain morphology?

Previous mouse models have indicated that Otx1 and Otx2 play an important role in brain and sense organ development and, together with the Drosophila orthodenticle (otd) gene, they share a high degree of reciprocal functional equivalence. Interestingly, mouse models replacing the same region of the Otx2 locus with Otx1, otd or lacZ genes have revealed the existence of a differential post-transcriptional control between the visceral endoderm (VE) and epiblast cells. Indeed Otx1, otd or lacZ mRNA were transcribed in both tissues but translated only in the VE. Embryos lacking OTX1 or OTD proteins in the epiblast and derived tissues, such as the neuroectoderm and axial mesendoderm (AME), fail to maintain the anterior identity and result in a headless phenotype. This finding leads us to hypothesise that, during evolution, the specification of the vertebrate-type brain may have required epiblast cells to translate Otx2 mRNA in order to establish maintenance properties. The establishment of this regulatory control might have been reflected into a remarkable reorganisation of the rostral CNS architecture and might have represented an important event in the evolution of the vertebrate head. Current data suggest that the Otx2 replaced region and in particular the 3' untranslated region (UTR), may contain regulatory element(s) necessary to translate and/or stabilise Otx2 mRNA in epiblast and its derivatives.

3' Untranslated Regions↗