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J Hofer

Publications and source records attributed to J Hofer.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Oesophagoscopy and detection of viral nucleic acids in oesophageal biopsies--A contribution to BVDV diagnosis.

The endoscopic appearance of the oesophagus of animals infected with bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) but without signs of acute mucosal disease (MD) was investigated for any common or 'early warning' lesions. Thirty-seven BVDV-infected animals [36 persistently infected (PI) and one transiently infected] were examined clinically and endoscopically for typical erosions of the oronasal and oesophageal mucosa, respectively. During oesophagoscopy, mucosal biopsies were taken and tested for pestivirus-specific nucleic acids by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results were compared with those of RT-PCR with various sample materials (blood, nasal and conjunctival swabs and faecal samples) usually used for routine diagnosis of BVDV infection. The average age of the 36 PI animals was 13.5 months, eight animals were 24 months or older. None of the PI animals had clinically visible erosions of the oronasal mucous membranes. During oesophagoscopy, all animals showed a reddening but unexpectedly no erosions or ulcerations of the oesophageal mucosa. Although in 21 of 36 PI animals all samples tested positive, the oesophageal biopsies were with no exception constantly RT-PCR positive in contrast to all other materials investigated. Remarkably, in the transiently infected animal all samples tested negative except for the oesophageal biopsy. Hence, this infection would have been missed by conventional diagnostic sampling.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Endothelial dysfunction in patients with chronic heart failure: systemic effects of lower-limb exercise training.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to analyze the systemic effects of lower-limb exercise training (ET) on radial artery endothelial function in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). BACKGROUND: Local ET has the potential to improve local endothelial dysfunction in patients with CHF. However, it remains unclear whether the systemic effects can be achieved by local ET. METHODS: Twenty-two male patients with CHF were prospectively randomized to either ET on a bicycle ergometer (ET group, n = 11; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] 26 +/- 3%) or an inactive control group (group C, n = 11; LVEF 24 +/- 2%). At the beginning of the study and after four weeks, endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation of the radial artery was determined by intra-arterial infusion of acetylcholine (ACh-7.5, 15 and 30 microg/min) and nitroglycerin (0.2 mg/min). The mean internal diameter (ID) of the radial artery was assessed using a high resolution ultrasound system (NIUS-02, Asulab Research Laboratories, Neuchâtel, Switzerland) with a 10-MHz probe. RESULTS: After four weeks of ET, patients showed a significant increase in the baseline-corrected mean ID in response to ACh (30 microg/min), from 33 +/- 10 to 127 +/- 25 microm (p < 0.001 vs. control group at four weeks). In the control group, the response to ACh (30 microg/min) remained unchanged. Endothelium-independent vasodilation was similar in both groups at the beginning of the study and at four weeks. In the training group, increases in agonist-mediated, endothelium-dependent vasodilation correlated to changes in functional work capacity (r = 0.63, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable CHF, bicycle ergometer ET leads to a correction of endothelial dysfunction of the upper extremity, indicating a systemic effect of local ET on endothelial function.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Expression of a class 1 knotted1-like homeobox gene is down-regulated in pea compound leaf primordia.

Differences in knotted1-like (knox) gene expression may account for some of the diversity of leaf forms seen in nature. Class 1 knox genes are expressed in the compound leaf primordia of tomato but not in the simple leaf primordia of a range of species examined so far. In order to test the hypothesis that all compound leaves differ from simple leaves in this way, we isolated a class 1 knox cDNA from pea, Pskn1 (Pisum sativum knotted1) and examined its expression pattern. The encoded homeodomain of Pskn1 shares 88% identical residues with KNOTTED1 from maize and an adjacent ELK domain is present. The protein sequence of PSKN1 is 69% identical to TKN2, its nearest related sequence in tomato. Unlike TKn2, Pskn1 was not expressed in newly initiated compound leaves. The expression pattern of Pskn1 resembled those of other class 1 knox genes described in maize and Arabidopsis. Transcripts were detected in the shoot apical meristem and developing vasculature of the vegetative shoot, but expression was not detected in newly initiated and developing compound leaf primordia. The same pattern of expression was observed in the afila mutant, which is characterised by highly ramified compound leaves. Our results suggest that tomato and pea use different developmental processes in the generation of their compound leaves.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Stamina pistilloida, the Pea ortholog of Fim and UFO, is required for normal development of flowers, inflorescences, and leaves.

Isolation and characterization of two severe alleles at the Stamina pistilloida (Stp) locus reveals that Stp is involved in a wide range of developmental processes in the garden pea. The most severe allele, stp-4, results in flowers consisting almost entirely of sepals and carpels. Production of ectopic secondary flowers in stp-4 plants suggests that Stp is involved in specifying floral meristem identity in pea. The stp mutations also reduce the complexity of the compound pea leaf, and primary inflorescences often terminate prematurely in an aberrant sepaloid flower. In addition, stp mutants were shorter than their wild-type siblings due to a reduction in cell number in their internodes. Fewer cells were also found in the epidermis of the leaf rachis of stp mutants. Examination of the effects of stp-4 in double mutant combinations with af, tl, det, and veg2-2-mutations known to influence leaf, inflorescence, and flower development in pea-suggests that Stp function is independent of these genes. A synergistic interaction between weak mutant alleles at Stp and Uni indicated that these two genes act together, possibly to regulate primordial growth. Molecular analysis revealed that Stp is the pea homolog of the Antirrhinum gene Fimbriata (Fim) and of UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS (UFO) from Arabidopsis. Differences between Fim/UFO and Stp mutant phenotypes and expression patterns suggest that expansion of Stp activity into the leaf was an important step during evolution of the compound leaf in the garden pea.

Arabidopsis Proteins↗
PubMed2000

Oxygen-isotope effect on the In-plane penetration depth in underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystals

We report measurements of the oxygen-isotope effect (OIE) on the in-plane penetration depth lambda(ab)(0) in underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystals. A highly sensitive magnetic torque sensor with a resolution of Deltatau approximately 10(-12) N m was used for the magnetic measurements on microcrystals with a mass of approximately 10 &mgr;g. The OIE on lambda(-2)(ab)(0) is found to be -10(2)% for x = 0.080 and -8(1)% for x = 0.086. It arises mainly from the oxygen-mass dependence of the in-plane effective mass m(*)(ab). The present results suggest that lattice vibrations are important for the occurrence of high temperature superconductivity.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Effect of exercise on coronary endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Studies of the cardioprotective effects of exercise training in patients with coronary artery disease have yielded contradictory results. Exercise training has been associated with improvement in myocardial perfusion even in patients who have progression of coronary atherosclerosis. We therefore conducted a prospective study of the effect of exercise training on endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease. METHODS: We randomly assigned 19 patients with coronary endothelial dysfunction, indicated by abnormal acetylcholine-induced vasoconstriction, to an exercise-training group (10 patients) or a control group (9 patients). To reduce confounding, patients with coronary risk factors that could be influenced by exercise training (such as diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and smoking) were excluded. In an initial study and after four weeks, the changes in vascular diameter in response to the intracoronary infusion of increasing doses of acetylcholine (0.072, 0.72, and 7.2 microg per minute) were assessed. The mean peak flow velocity was measured by Doppler velocimetry, and the diameter of epicardial coronary vessels was measured by quantitative coronary angiography. RESULTS: In the initial study, the two groups had similar vasoconstrictive responses to acetylcholine. After four weeks of exercise training, coronary-artery constriction in response to acetylcholine at a dose of 7.2 microg per minute was reduced by 54 percent (from a mean [+/-SE] decrease in the luminal diameter of 0.41+/-0.05 mm in the initial study to a decrease of 0.19+/-0.07 mm at four weeks; P<0.05 for the comparison with the change in the control group). In the exercise-training group, the increases in mean peak flow velocity in response to 0.072, 0.72, and 7.2 microg of acetylcholine per minute were 12+/-7, 36+/-11, and 78+/-16 percent, respectively, in the initial study. After four weeks of exercise, the increases in response to acetylcholine were 27+/-7, 73+/-19, and 142+/-28 percent (P<0.01 for the comparison with the control group). Coronary blood-flow reserve (the ratio of the mean peak flow velocity after adenosine infusion to the resting velocity) increased by 29 percent after four weeks of exercise (from 2.8+/-0.2 in the initial study to 3.6+/-0.2 after four weeks; P<0.01 for the comparison with the control group). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise training improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation both in epicardial coronary vessels and in resistance vessels in patients with coronary artery disease.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1997

UNIFOLIATA regulates leaf and flower morphogenesis in pea.

BACKGROUND: The vegetative phenotype of the pea mutant unifoliata (uni) is a simplification of the wild-type compound leaf to a single leaflet. Mutant uni plants are also self-sterile and the flowers resemble known floral meristem and organ identity mutants. In Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis, mutations in the floral meristem identity gene FLORICAULA/LEAFY (FLO/LFY) affect flower development alone, whereas the tobacco FLO/LFY homologue, NFL, is expressed in vegetative tissues, suggesting that NFL specifies determinacy in the progenitor cells for both flowers and leaves. In this paper, we characterised the pea homologue of FLO/LFY. RESULTS: The pea cDNA homologue of FLO/LFY, PEAFLO, mapped to the uni locus in recombinant-inbred mapping populations and markers based on PEAFLO cosegregated with uni in segregating sibling populations. The characterisation of two spontaneous uni mutant alleles, one containing a deletion and the other a point mutation in the PEAFLO coding sequences, predicted that PEAFLO corresponds to UNI and that the mutant vegetative phenotype was conferred by the defective PEAFLO gene. CONCLUSIONS: The uni mutant demonstrates that there are shared regulatory processes in the morphogenesis of leaves and flowers and that floral meristem identity genes have an extended role in plant development. Pleiotropic regulatory genes such as UNI support the hypothesis that leaves and flowers derive from a common ancestral sporophyll-like structure. The regulation of indeterminancy during leaf and flower morphogenesis by UNI may reflect a primitive function for the gene in the pre-angiosperm era.

Alleles↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Postmodern illness.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Pain, independence and subjective attitude to aging--an empirical contribution from the study "Possibilities and limits of independent living by the elderly"].

In a study on chances and limits of independent life in old age, we collected data about sensations of pain in 990 participants. Information about intensity and frequency of pain sensations was combined to differentiate empirically between five patterns of pain sensations. According to severity, these patterns can be ordered hierarchically. 873 persons could be grouped into the five patterns of pain sensations. There was no relationship between chronological age and patterns of pain sensations. The relationship between patterns of pain sensations and degree of independence in everyday life was only weak. Comparing the five patterns of pain sensations in seven psychological variables, we found only few statistically significant differences, mainly between people who had no pain and those who suffered from strong or very strong pain most of the time or permanently. In KLC-measures of external and internal control beliefs related to health and body, in PGC-dimensions attitude towards age, lonely dissatisfaction and agitation as well as in PGC-score for life satisfaction, we found only few and weak differences between patterns of pain sensations. Stepwise multiple regression analysis with the independent variables degree of independence in everyday life, pattern of pain sensations and chronological age could explain 1.4% to 6.7% of variance in those psychological variables. In contrast, patterns of pain sensations greatly differed in NAF-measures of subjective aging. A stepwise multiple regression with the independent variables degree of independence in everyday life and pattern of pain sensations could explain 24.6% of variance. Degree of independence in everyday life alone could explain 17.9% of variance. We hypothesize that effects in most psychological variables are weak, because what people mean by a "good" or personally satisfying life is only partly influenced by their health status.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Elderly patients requiring help and nursing care: instrumental support by chief caregiver and professional helping services].

The study "Chances and Limits of Independent Living in Old Age" ("MUGSLA") interviewed 1092 frail people (60 years and older), as well as 406 of their primary caregivers. This paper examines the intensity of help provided, size and composition of task support networks, level of distress, and changes experienced by the primary caregiver as a result of taking care of the elderly. We also analyze which conditions support the inclusion of formal providers. The main results of the study are: the lower the functional status of the frail person the more likely they are taken care of by a primary caregiver. Assistance for the elderly is mainly provided by family members. Professional providers are part of the support system when the degree of need of care is extremely high and/or the primary caregiver reported extremely high levels of burden. We found that lack of information about services only partly explains the low rate of service utilization. Their role as caregiver affects virtually all areas of life.

Activities of Daily Living↗