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Biomedical subjects

J Martin

Publications and source records attributed to J Martin.

At least 541 records · Page 30Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Hydatid disease of the soft tissues of the lower limb: findings in three cases.

Three cases of hydatid disease are reported, all presenting as soft tissue lesions in the lower extremities. All three cases were studied with ultrasound (US), two with computed tomography (CT), and two with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques. Two patients presented with multivesicular lesions which were considered diagnostic of hydatid disease. The third patient showed a lesion with a predominantly solid pattern, closely mimicking a soft-tissue neoplasm. US was not diagnostic, but MR outlined vesicular structures and a fibrous pericyst. Hydatid disease presenting in the soft tissues can therefore be diagnosed with confidence when it shows multivesicular lesions but MR may be the most useful imaging technique when a complex or solid pattern is present.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Homosexual orientation in twins: a report on 61 pairs and three triplet sets.

Twin pairs in which at least one twin is homosexual were solicited through announcements in the gay press and personal referrals from 1980 to the present. An 18-page questionnaire on the "sexuality of twins" was filled out by one or both twins. Thirty-eight pairs of monozygotic twins (34 male pairs and 4 female pairs) were found to have a concordance rate of 65.8% for homosexual orientation. Twenty-three pairs of dizygotic twins were found to have a concordance rate of 30.4% for homosexual orientation. In addition, three sets of triplets were obtained. Two sets contained a pair of monozygotic twins concordant for sexual orientation with the third triplet dizygotic and discordant for homosexual orientation. A third triplet set was monozygotic with all three concordant for homosexual orientation. These findings are interpreted as supporting the argument for a biological basis in sexual orientation.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Characteristics of advanced-level dietetics practice: a model and empirical results.

This article, which is the first of a two-part series, presents results for the first objective of The American Dietetic Association (ADA) 1991 Dietetic Practice Study: to determine the characteristics of advanced-level dietetics practice. A nationwide mail survey of ADA members was conducted on a stratified random sample of 8,012 beyond-entry-level (registered before April 1988) registered dietitians who were members of dietetic practice groups (DPGs). The sample was supplemented with two randomly selected control groups of 1,000 entry-level and 1,000 beyond-entry-level registered dietitians. The overall response rate was 63.1%. The 5,852 usable returns were representative of the dietetics population surveyed. A model of advanced-level professional practice was developed that specified minimum necessary requirements for advanced practitioners on five components: education and experience, professional achievement, approach to practice, professional role positions, and professional role contacts; measurement of a sixth component, advanced-level practice performance, was unsuccessful. A series of validation analyses found the model to be a statistically sound and reliable means of distinguishing advanced practitioners from other groups of dietitians in 8 of every 10 cases. A total of 461 (8.9%) dietitians met all requirements of the model and were classified as advanced practitioners. Projected estimations of advanced practitioners in the population of beyond-entry-level ADA members who are also members of DPGs ranged between 2,126 and 2,640 dietitians (3.5% to 4.3% of the ADA membership).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1993

Specialty practice in dietetics: empirical models and results.

This article, which is the second of a two-part series, presents results for the second and third objectives of The American Dietetic Association (ADA) 1991 Dietetic Practice Study: to distinguish the task activities among registered dietitians practicing in renal nutrition, pediatric nutrition, and metabolic nutrition care; and to investigate the relationship between advanced-level practice and specialty practice. A nationwide mail survey of advanced-level practice was conducted on a stratified random sample of 8,012 beyond-entry-level (registered before April 1988) registered dietitians who were members of ADA and of dietetic practice groups (DPGs). The sample was supplemented with two randomly selected control groups of 1,000 entry-level and 1,000 beyond-entry-level registered dietitians. The operational definition for specialty practice was met by 1,925 sample members who were also included in the survey on practice in the three specialty areas. The overall response rate was 63.1%, and the total number of usable returns was 5,852. The results from a discriminant analysis of 121 specialty job tasks, administered in common to practitioners in each specialty, found that 84 tasks could be used to construct a generic model of specialty practice from which specific task lists were derived that defined practice in renal nutrition, pediatric nutrition, and metabolic nutrition care. Validation analyses found the generic model to be a reliable means of distinguishing the job activities in renal nutrition and in pediatric nutrition; it was somewhat less reliable for metabolic nutrition care. A weak relationship was found between advanced-level practice and practice in the three specialty areas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dietetics↗
PubMed1993

Anxiety and depression over the first year of spinal cord injury: a longitudinal study.

The literature concerning the psychological consequences following spinal cord injury (SCI) indicates a discordance between clinical impressions and empirical research. Although many studies report that psychological morbidity is not an inevitable consequence of SCI, much of this research is characterised by methodological inadequacies and the conclusions are therefore tenuous. The present study assessed 41 persons with SCI for depression and anxiety using objective psychological measures on three occasions over the first year of SCI and compared them with 41 able bodied controls matched for age, sex, education and, as far as possible, occupation. Results demonstrated significant differences between the two groups, with the SCI group being more anxious and depressed. However, psychological morbidity was not an inevitable consequence of SCI, with group means reflecting mild levels of depression and anxiety. No significant differences were found across time and no interactions between groups and time were detected. Implications for the treatment of SCI are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Measurement of phosphocreatine in cutaneous tissue by high pressure liquid chromatography.

A high pressure liquid chromatography technique for measuring phosphocreatine and adenine nucleotides in human cutaneous tissue is described. The presence of phosphocreatine in human skin was confirmed by this analytic method. Molar concentration of phosphocreatine and adenine nucleotides were determined in normal skin and in benign and malignant skin lesions. The preliminary results suggest that absolute amounts of phosphocreatine and adenine nucleotides and phosphocreatine/adenosine triphosphate ratios in malignant skin neoplasms and benign cutaneous lesions are different from those measured in normal nonischemic human skin.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1993

Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse experiences in a community sample of women.

OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to ascertain the prevalence and nature of sexual abuse in childhood for a community sample of women. METHOD: A two-stage design, using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, was employed, providing information on prevalence rates, types of abuse, ages of victims, relationship to the abuser, and cohort effects. RESULTS: Nearly one woman in three reported having one or more unwanted sexual experiences before age 16 years. A significant number of these experiences (70%) involved genital contact or more severe abuse, and 12% of those abused were subjected to sexual intercourse. The abusers were usually known to the victim, being family members in 38.3% of cases and acquaintances in another 46.3%. Stranger abuse accounted for 15% of all abuse experiences. Most of the abusers were young men, disclosure of the abuse was infrequent, and only 7% of all abuse was ever officially reported. Prevalence rates showed no urban/rural differences, no cohort effect with subject age, and no age differences in disclosure rates. CONCLUSIONS: Child sexual abuse is common, serious, infrequently reported, and the abuser is usually known to the child. Preadolescent girls are at greatest risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

C3 and C4 gene expression and interferon-gamma-mediated regulation in human glomerular mesangial cells.

The glomerular mesangial cell (GMC) plays a key role in the maintenance of glomerular structure and function and in the mediation of glomerular injury. To explore the potential of this cell to produce complement and react to local inflammatory signals, we studied the synthesis and regulation of the third and fourth components of complement in cultured human GMC. Using metabolic labelling and immunoprecipitation, we found that C3 and C4 polypeptide chains were synthesized and secreted by GMC. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) led to an increase in C4 protein synthesis, but not C3 synthesis. There was a corresponding increase in C4 mRNA in IFN-gamma-activated cells, but no increase in C3 mRNA, as determined by semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) estimation. These results demonstrate that human GMC can synthesize C3 and C4 proteins, and that regulation of expression of the C4 gene is mediated by IFN-gamma. We hypothesize that GMC production of complement could influence the clearance of immune aggregates by the kidney and the mediation of glomerular injury.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

The management of acute bronchiolitis. Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

The management of acute bronchiolitis is mainly supportive, but infants require minimal handling. Of those who are hospitalized, less than 3% require intensive care and ventilation but in these children the condition is life threatening. Oxygen, fluid replacement and careful observation remain the cornerstones of management. Bronchodilators should be avoided in young infants and antiviral therapy should only be considered in critically ill infants who have an underlying cardiopulmonary condition.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1993

p53 expression and clinical outcome in prostate cancer.

Abnormally high levels of expression of p53 protein are found in many human cancers. In most cases increased expression is associated with point mutations in one allele of the p53 gene and loss of the other allele. Accumulation of the protein product can be detected by immunohistochemistry. p53 protein expression in 68 men with prostate cancer, followed up for at least 8 years or until death, was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The aim of the study was to determine the association between p53 protein expression, cell cycling and clinical outcome. Nine (13%) of 68 tumours stained positively for p53; all 9 tumours were category T3 or T4. p53 positive tumours had a significantly greater Gleason score than p53 negative tumours. Eight of the 9 p53 positive tumours had > 10% cells in G2 + mitosis, compared with 61% of p53 negative tumours. All 17 patients with p53 positive tumours available for follow-up progressed clinically, compared with 28 of 38 patients (74%) with p53 negative tumours. The median time to progression was 12 months in p53 positive tumours and 24 months in p53 negative tumours. Median survival in p53 positive tumours was 40 months, compared with 76 months in p53 negative tumours. This study demonstrates that overexpression of p53 in a small population of prostate cancers is associated with a poor prognosis in terms of progression and survival.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

A bifunctional enzyme, with separate xylanase and beta(1,3-1,4)-glucanase domains, encoded by the xynD gene of Ruminococcus flavefaciens.

Adjacent regions of a Ruminococcus flavefaciens 17 DNA fragment were found to encode xylanase and beta(1,3-1,4)-glucanase activities. Sequencing of this fragment showed that both activities are encoded by a single 2,406-bp open reading frame corresponding to the xynD gene. The predicted product has a characteristic signal sequence that is followed by an amino-terminal domain related to family G xylanases, while the carboxyterminal domain is related to beta(1,3-1,4)-glucanases from several other bacterial species. These two domains are connected by a region of unknown function that consists of 309 amino acids and includes a 30-amino-acid threonine-rich sequence. A polypeptide having a molecular weight of approximately 90,000 and exhibiting xylanase and beta(1,3-1,4)-glucanase activities was detected in Escherichia coli cells carrying the cloned xynD gene. This is one of the first cases in which a microbial polysaccharidase has been shown to carry separate catalytic domains active against different plant cell wall polysaccharides within the same polypeptide. xynD is one of a family of related genes in R. flavefaciens that encode enzymes having multiple catalytic domains, and the amino terminus of XYLD exhibits a high degree of similarity with the corresponding regions of another xylanase, XYLA, which carries two different xylanase catalytic domains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

A double blind randomised trial of low power laser treatment in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To define the value of low power laser treatment in small joint rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: Twenty five women with active disease were recruited. The metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints of one hand were treated with 12 J/cm2 for 30 s with a gallium-aluminium-arsenate laser. The other hand received a sham laser treatment designed so that neither therapist nor patient could distinguish the active laser from the sham laser. Each patient received 12 treatments over four weeks. The following parameters were measured: pain as assessed by visual analogue scale; range of joint movements; grip strength; duration of early morning stiffness, joint circumference, Jebsen's hand assessment; drug usage; total swollen joint counts; Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales; three phase bone scans; haematological and serological tests. RESULTS: A total of 72% of patients reported pain relief but this reduction was reported equally in both hands. No significant changes were seen in other clinical, functional, scintigraphic, or laboratory features. Neither patients nor staff were able to detect which hand was treated with the active laser. CONCLUSION: When this specific laser and dose regimen was used, low power laser treatment had no objective effect on patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It did appear to produce analgesia through a powerful placebo effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Correlates and determinants of bone mineral content and density in healthy adolescent girls.

The relationships between whole-body and lumbar spine bone mineral content and density, and measures of chronologic age, body composition, physical activity, cardiorespiratory and strength fitness, gynecologic attributes, sexual maturity, and endocrine status were studied in 35 healthy menarcheal girls (14-18 years of age). Body mass (0.464 < r < 0.704), growth hormone (-0.34 < r < -0.42), and one-repetition maximum double-leg press strength (0.343 < r < 0.467) were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with each of the five bone mineral measures. Multiple regression analysis indicated that body mass accounted for the largest significant proportion of the explained variance (30.2-68.2%) in each of the five bone mineral measures. Age at first menses accounted for a smaller but still significant proportion of the variance in whole-body bone mineral content (4.05%) and lumbar spine bone mineral content (8.06%). Growth hormone entered the regression model as an important predictor of whole-body bone mineral content, accounting for 3.51% of the explained variance in this variable. Age, cardiorespiratory fitness, level of habitual activity, and strength did not contribute significantly to the explained variance in any of the bone mineral measures. Body mass appears to be the single most important determinant of bone mineral among females during this developmental period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Weight-training-induced attenuation of the circulatory response of older males to weight lifting.

We examined the effects of 12 wk of dynamic strength training on the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure of older male subjects during 10 repetitions of single-arm curl and single- and double-leg press at 60 and 80% of both the pre- and posttraining maximum capacities and during single maximum lifts (1 RM). The circulatory responses were greater at 80% of 1 RM than at 60% and increased with active muscle mass. After training, the 1 RMs increased by 24 (legs) to 54% (arms) and there was a marked attenuation of HR and arterial pressure during exercise when subjects lifted the same absolute load. Greatest reductions in HR (108 +/- 4 to 94 +/- 2 beats/min), systolic blood pressure (BPs, 247 +/- 14 to 206 +/- 9 Torr), diastolic pressure (156 +/- 9 to 116 +/- 5 Torr), mean arterial pressure (143 +/- 6 to 131 +/- 5 Torr), and rate-pressure product (268 +/- 22 to 196 +/- 12 HR.BPs/100) occurred during double-leg press at 80% of the pretraining 1 RM. After training, during lifting at 60, 80, and 100% of the posttraining 1 RMs, the HRs and arterial pressures were the same as those during pretraining testing when the same relative, but lighter, absolute loads were used. These observations are consistent with a significant part of the circulatory response to weight lifting being mediated by a feedforward "central command" mechanism coupled to the relative intensity rather than to the absolute level of force.

Aged↗