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Biomedical subjects

J R Driscoll

Publications and source records attributed to J R Driscoll.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Diagnostic tools in tuberculosis. Present and future.

Leadership will play a major role in the management of tuberculosis in the future. Many populations, such as immunocompromised patients and immigrants from countries with a higher prevalence of tuberculosis, create a challenge for care and diagnosis. Mycobacterial laboratory testing has undergone many changes in the past 10 years with the advent of nucleic acid probes for identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and more recently nucleic acid amplification and beyond where computer technology meets molecular biology. In the past, changes for tuberculosis testing were not incorporated rapidly, sometimes taking 20 years or more to be fully implemented. The dynamics of acceptance of change and more rapid implementation need to be understood. With the use of such programs as Fast Track for Tuberculosis Testing, this can be accomplished more readily. New technologies can be provided to all users of such a network within a short amount of time and health care providers can equally benefit from this novel approach. The tuberculosis laboratory cannot stand alone. It must work together with other players, in order to eliminate tuberculosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Drug resistance in tuberculosis.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a worldwide problem. New laboratory methods have improved our ability to more rapidly identify resistant strains, but the most effective approach is to prevent the appearance of resistance by appropriate choice of antibiotics and directly-observed therapy. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is treated with familiar and unique drugs; consequently, mechanisms of resistance have some unique features. All drug resistance thus far identified develops by mutational events rather than acquisition of resistance genes from other bacteria. An agenda is presented for countering the appearance of further drug resistance in mycobacteria.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1992

Wavelet-encoded MR imaging.

Wavelet encoding is presented and compared to phase encoding. In wavelet encoding a distribution of spins is excited by a slice selective RF pulse; for each repetition time the distribution excited has the profile of a wavelet at different scale and translation. The spin density can be reconstructed with an inverse wavelet transform. Wavelet encoding has three advantages over phase encoding: (1) there is no Gibb's ringing from partial volume effects, (2) the effective repetition time can be 36 times the repetition time for a 256 x 256 image, and (3) motion artifacts are local and dramatically reduced. Using wavelet encoding, a 256 x 256 T2-weighted projection image can be acquired in 33 s.

Artifacts↗
PubMed1992

Sequence organization and regulation of the Bacillus subtilis menBE operon.

Menaquinone (MK) plays a central role in the respiratory chain of Bacillus subtilis. The biosynthesis of MK requires the formation of a naphthoquinone ring via a series of specific reactions branching from the shikimate pathway. "Early" MK-specific reactions catalyze the formation of o-succinylbenzoate (OSB) from isochorismate, and "late" reactions convert OSB to dihydroxynaphthoate, by utilizing an OSB-coenzyme A intermediate. We have cloned and sequenced the B. subtilis menE and menB genes encoding, respectively, OSB-coenzyme A synthase and dihydroxynaphthoate synthase. The MenB open reading frame encodes a potential polypeptide of 261 amino acid residues with a predicted size of 28.5 kDa, while the MenE open reading frame could encode a 24.4-kDa polypeptide of 220 amino acid residues. Probable promoter sequences were identified by high-resolution primer extension assays. Organization of these genes and regulatory regions was found to be menBp menB menEp menE. Expression of menE was dependent on both menEp and menBp, indicating an operonlike organization. A region of dyad symmetry capable of forming a stable RNA secondary structure was found between menB and menE. Culture cycle-dependent expression of menB and menE was measured by steady-state transcript accumulation. For both genes, maximal accumulation was found to occur within an hour after the end of exponential growth. The menBp and menEp promoters have sequences compatible with recognition by the major vegetative form of B. subtilis RNA polymerase, E sigma A. Both promoter regions also were found to contain homologies to a sequence motif previously identified in the menCDp region and in promoters for several B. subtilis tricarboxylic acid cycle genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗