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Biomedical subjects

I Liu

Publications and source records attributed to I Liu.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

An in vitro study on spontaneous myometrial contractility in the cow during estrus and diestrus.

Myometrial smooth muscle strips were collected from slaughtered cows in estrus and diestrus. Longitudinal and circular smooth muscle strips were mounted in organ baths and after equilibration time and 2g preload, their physiologic contractility was recorded for 3h. Area under the curve (AUC), mean amplitude (MA) and frequency of contractions (F) were studied. Differences between cycle phases, between muscle layers and over the recorded time period were statistically evaluated. In the cow, physiologic contractility patterns (measured as AUC and MA) of circular versus longitudinal myometrial strips are always different during the 3h recording. Significant differences between estrus versus diestrus are only found for circular layers, but not for longitudinal layers. Significant differences over time are only found for longitudinal layers.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Influence of insulin-like growth factor-I and its interaction with gonadotropins, estradiol, and fetal calf serum on in vitro maturation and parthenogenic development in equine oocytes.

The effects of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and its interaction with gonadotropins, estradiol, and fetal calf serum (FCS) on in vitro maturation (IVM) of equine oocytes were investigated in this study. We also examined the role of IGF-I in the presence or absence of gonadotropins, estradiol, and FCS in parthenogenic cleavage after oocyte activation with calcium ionophore combined with 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP), using cleavage rate as a measure of cytoplasmic maturation. Only equine cumulus-oocyte complexes with compact cumulus and homogenous ooplasm (n = 817) were used. In experiment 1, oocytes were cultured in TCM-199 supplemented with BSA, antibiotics, and IGF-I at 0 (control), 50, 100, 200 ng/ml, at 39 degrees C in air with 5% CO(2), 95% humidity for 36 or 48 h. In experiment 2, oocytes were cultured with FSH, LH, estradiol, and FCS with IGF-I at the concentration that promoted the highest nuclear maturation rate in experiment 1. In experiment 3, oocytes from the three experimental groups (IGF-I; hormones; and IGF-I + hormones) were chemically activated by exposure to calcium ionophore followed by culture in 6-DMAP. In experiment 1, IGF-I stimulated equine oocyte maturation in a dose-dependent manner with the highest nuclear maturation rate at a concentration of 200 ng/ml. No significant effect of IGF-I on nuclear maturation was observed in experiment 2. In experiment 3, a significant difference in cleavage rate was observed between the hormone + IGF-I group (15 of 33; 45.4%) compared with IGF-I (10 of 36; 27.8%) and hormone (4 of 31; 12.9%) alone (P < 0.05). These results demonstrated that IGF-I has a positive effect on nuclear maturation rate of equine oocytes in vitro. The addition of IGF-I to an IVM medium containing hormones and FCS did not increase nuclear maturation, but resulted in a positive effect on cytoplasmic maturation of equine oocytes measured by parthenogenic cleavage.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Cancer-related patient education: an overview of the last decade of evaluation and research.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of cancer-related patient-education research to determine future research needs. DATA SOURCES: A literature search of peer-reviewed articles from 1989-1999. Databases that were searched included Medline, CINAHL, HealthStar, ERIC, CancerLit, and PubMed. DATA SYNTHESIS: 176 articles were analyzed and synthesized into narrative form. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with cancer want and benefit from information, especially when making treatment decisions. Education helps patients manage side effects and improves adherence. Literacy is an important factor in materials development. The efficacy of computer-assisted learning, audio and video programs, and telephone interventions is supported in a variety of patient groups. Pain education can improve pain control, but the impact on fatigue has not been well researched. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Patient education is an important component of nursing care. Research has confirmed its impact in many areas but questions still remain.

Communications Media↗
PubMed1997

A family medicine teaching program for obstetrics-gynecology residents.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Harbor-UCLA Family Practice Residency Program has offered a year-long primary care continuity clinic experience to first-year obstetrics-gynecology (OB-GYN) residents since July 1994. This paper describes the teaching programs and compares the experience of the OB-GYN residents to that of family practice (FP) residents in the same clinic site. METHODS: OB-GYN residents worked in the family medicine teaching clinic for a half day each week for the entire year. The teaching program was evaluated with a questionnaire and interviews of OB-GYN residents to obtain their opinions on the value of this teaching modality. A review of clinic schedules and medical records compared the practice profiles of six OB-GYN residents with six matched FP residents. RESULTS: Five out of six OB-GYN residents felt that the educational objective of improving primary care skills was achieved. Half of them were pleased about their relationships with the family medicine faculty; the remainder reported being treated as second-class citizens. Patient volume and the diagnosis encountered were similar between the OB-GYN residents and the FP residents. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of the primary care continuity clinic experience for OB-GYN residents through questionnaires, interviews, and medical records analysis revealed the acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness of this teaching program for OB-GYN residents. However, not all OB-GYN residents were happy about their relationships with the family medicine faculty. The long-term effectiveness of the experience needs further study.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Analysis of CD36 binding domains: ligand specificity controlled by dephosphorylation of an ectodomain.

The protein CD36 is a membrane receptor for thrombospondin (TSP), malaria-infected erythrocytes, and collagen. Three functional sequences were identified within a single disulfide loop of CD36: one that mediates TSP binding (amino acids 87 to 99) and two that support malarial cytoadhesion (amino acids 8 to 21 and 97 to 110). One of these peptides (p87-99) is a consensus protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation site. Dephosphorylation of constitutively phosphorylated CD36 in resting platelets and a megakaryocytic cell line led to the loss of collagen adhesion and platelet reactivity to collagen, with a reciprocal increase in TSP binding. PKC-mediated phosphorylation of this ectodomain resulted in a loss of TSP binding and the reciprocal acquisition of collagen binding. In site-directed mutagenesis studies, when the threonine phosphorylation site was changed to alanine, CD36 was expressed in a dephosphorylated state and bound to TSP constitutively.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

[The influence of different acupuncture manipulations on the plethysmogram of the patient with kidney deficiency].

In order to prove the specific property between the tonifying manipulation (TM) and reducing manipulation (RM), and search further for the key in improving the effect of manipulation, the influence of to on two different manipulations. The plethysmogram in the same body-condition (kidney-deficiency) One was TM with slow-trusting and quick lefting; the other was RM with the converse movement. Randomized block design, cross-over design and single-blind design were used. The result showed that the TM increased the amplitude of the plethysmogram obviously, whereas the RM had no significant influence on it. There was significant difference not only between the TM group and the central group, but also between the TM group and RM group (P less than 0.01 or P less than 0.05). The difference between the RM group and the control group was not significant (P greater than 0.05). Meanwhile, it was recommended that "mind concentration" on acupuncture manipulation is important. In conclusion, the experiment demonstrated the experimental evidence for explaining the mechanism of TM and RM. It was suggested that acupuncture manipulations are worthy to pay attention so as to improve clinical effect.

Acupuncture Therapy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Formate species in the low-temperature oxidation of dimethyl ether.

The oxidation of dimethyl ether (DME, 340 ppm in 10% O2) has been studied experimentally in an atmospheric pressure laminar flow reactor in the temperature range from 240 degrees C to 700 degrees C for residence times in the range 2-4 s. The influence of nitric oxide additions up to 620 ppm to the feed gases has also been investigated. Products of reaction were determined by FTIR. In the absence of NO, reaction is first detected at about 260 degrees C. The products in the low-temperature region include formaldehyde (HCHO), and formic acid (HCOOH). The addition of NO leads to the appearance of methyl formate (CH3OCHO). While the overall behaviour of the system can be explained qualitatively in terms of typical low-temperature hydrocarbon ignition, recently published chemical kinetic models for DME ignition do not allow for the formation of these formate species. We find no experimental evidence for the formation of hydroperoxymethyl formate (HPMF, HOOCH2OCHO) which is predicted by the models to be a significant stable intermediate at temperatures below 350 degrees C. Since both formic acid and methyl formate have potentially harmful health effects, these observations may have significant implications for use of DME as a diesel fuel.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A diagnostic cluster system for skilled nursing facilities.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Diagnostic cluster systems have been developed to assist in analyzing diagnoses in outpatient and inpatient settings but not in convalescent hospital settings. We developed a diagnostic cluster system for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) designed to include or capture a greater proportion of such diagnoses than a previously established inpatient diagnostic cluster system. METHODS: We tested the ability of the new SNF diagnostic cluster system to code diagnoses on records from SNFs in different geographic areas. Then we compared the proportion of admitting diagnoses captured by the new SNF diagnostic cluster system and by a previously established inpatient system. RESULTS: The new diagnostic cluster system captured between 92% and 96% of admitting diagnoses at the study SNFs. There was no statistically significant difference among the facilities in the proportion of diagnoses captured by the new system. By comparison, the previously established inpatient system captured only 59%-65% of these admitting diagnoses. The new system captured significantly more diagnoses than the previously established inpatient system. CONCLUSIONS: The new SNF diagnostic cluster system can be used to capture and code diagnostic data from SNFs.

Cluster Analysis↗