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Biomedical subjects

J Berner

Publications and source records attributed to J Berner.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Freebase cocaine and memory.

Despite the seriousness of acute medical and psychological consequences of cocaine abuse, little knowledge exists about the chronic effects of the drug. Investigation of a sample of abstinent freebase (crack) abusers in the Bahamas provides the first research evidence that prolonged cocaine abuse may result in persistent short-term memory disturbances.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reduced primacy and related features in schizophrenia.

Subtle memory disturbances are widely reported in schizophrenia. We investigated one such disturbance, reduced primacy in serial position recall among 20 schizophrenic patients, 20 depressed patients, and 20 normal controls. The main finding is that schizophrenic subjects show reduced primacy and middle position performance, but are able to match the recency recall of controls. We further demonstrate that primacy performance is associated with another memory anomaly frequently noted in schizophrenia, decreased context associated gain in recall. Among schizophrenic subjects, primacy performance is also related to increased repetition in speech, a feature associated with formal thought disorder in schizophrenia. These observations suggest that memory deviances and disordered speech may have a common pathogenesis.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Histological and morphometric studies of femurs with stable hip joint replacement. An autopsy study with special reference to factors leading to late loosening].

To gain insight into the tissue reactions leading to non-infectious loosening 25 autopsy specimens of femurs with well-fixed cemented femoral components of hip prostheses were analysed histomorphologically and morphometrically. The implant duration ranged from one month to 15 years. With the exception of some focal bone-cement contacts bone and cement were separated by a fibrohistiocytic soft tissue membrane. This membrane contained wear particles predominantly of the bone cement mantle and--less abundant--of the polyethylene cups. The amount of wear particles as well as histiocytes and necroses within the membrane statistically significantly increased with advancing time in situ. The cancellous bone adjacent to the soft tissue membrane often revealed a mainly histiocytic infiltration too, accompanied by bone remodeling in this area. The histiocytic inflammatory reaction at the bone cement interface, which is mainly caused by the accumulation of wear particles is considered to be of major importance for the non infectious late loosening of cemented prostheses.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Molecular characterization of cellular proteins from colorectal tumors.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Recent evidence has suggested that progressive stages of colorectal tumorigenesis can be defined by a sequence of genetic events characterized by altered expression of certain genes and the appearance of cancer-specific proteins. Although the significance of these events is still not clear, expression of cancer-specific protein components may be directly involved in the neoplastic transformation. The purpose of the present study was to compare molecular characteristics of cellular proteins from human colorectal tumors and normal colonic mucosa. METHODS: Normal mucosa and colorectal tumors from 18 patients were fractionated by a differential centrifugation scheme into four cellular fractions, i.e., nuclear, mitochondrial (10P), microsomal (100P) and cytosolic (100S). The proteins of these fractions from normal and tumorigenic mucosa were analyzed by one-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by Coomassie brilliant blue R-250 and silver nitrate staining. Nuclear proteins from normal and neoplastic tissues which had revealed the most significant diversities were further characterized by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Electrophoretically cancer-specific nuclear proteins in the molecular mass zone 35-40 kDa were used as immunogen to produce rabbit polyclonal antibodies. RESULTS: Electrophoretic analysis by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed clear differences in molecular characteristics of cellular proteins between normal and tumorigenic mucosa, especially among nuclear fractions. The latter were also confirmed by their two-dimensional electrophoresis results. Rabbit antibodies raised against electrophoretically specific nuclear proteins characterized by molecular mass of 35-40 kDa cross-reacted with 36 kDa polypeptide in 15 of 18 (83.3%) studied nuclear fractions of colorectal tumors but not with any normal mucosa. In some cases, nuclear cancer-associated components of 38 and 40 kDa were also recognized by these antibodies. CONCLUSIONS: During colorectal carcinogenesis, specific expression of several nuclear proteins takes place. One of them, the polypeptide of 36 kDa not found in normal colonic epithelium, was shared by over 83% of the studied carcinomas despite variations in detailed cancer properties. This particular nuclear protein may be considered as a potential marker for the colon malignancy.

Carcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pneumococcal vaccination in a remote population of high-risk Alaska Natives.

In response to an increasing prevalence of serious pneumococcal disease among adult Alaska Natives of northwest Alaska, a 3-year program was begun in 1987 to identify residents of that remote region who were at high risk for developing invasive pneumococcal disease, to determine their pneumococcal vaccination status, and to deliver vaccine to at least 80 percent of those at risk. After reviewing public health nursing and Indian Health Service data bases, the authors identified 1,337 persons, 20 percent of the 6,692 residents of the region, at high risk for invasive pneumococcal infection, defined either by having a specific chronic disease or by age criteria. Cardiovascular disease and alcoholism were the two most common chronic diseases. Only 30 percent of those determined to be at high risk had received one or more doses of pneumococcal vaccine previously. Half of those persons had received their most recent vaccination 6 or more years earlier. The program used both customary and innovative methods to deliver 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine to 1,046 of those at high risk (78 percent), including 388 persons who were revaccinated. At the completion of the project, 1,123 persons, 84 percent of those at high risk, had received at least 1 dose. They included 1,088 persons, 81 percent of those at high risk, with vaccination within the previous 5 years as a result of the project, compared with a 15-percent rate prior to the vaccination phase of the project. The program demonstrated that high levels of vaccination against pneumococcal disease, exceeding Year 2000 objectives of 60 percent, are attainable in a remote rural Alaskan population.

Adolescent↗