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Biomedical subjects

J Seltzer

Publications and source records attributed to J Seltzer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Implementing a nonlatex surgical glove study in the OR.

Sterile surgical gloves are used to protect patients and health care workers (HCWs) from infection during surgery and to shield HCWs from exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Based on increased reports of latex allergy, many HCWs now use nonlatex surgical gloves as a substitute for natural rubber gloves. Little is known, however, about the performance of nonlatex gloves in surgery. This article describes a study that currently is being performed to test the barrier performance of nonlatex surgical gloves after they have been used in surgery and to determine HCW satisfaction. To date, 12,703 latex and nonlatex gloves from all surgical services have been collected and tested for barrier quality. This article describes the project and challenges encountered by the collaborative team of perioperative staff members and nurse researchers as they collect data.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed2000

Agrobacterium-mediated sorghum transformation.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to genetically transform sorghum. Immature embryos of a public (P898012) and a commercial line (PHI391) of sorghum were used as the target explants. The Agrobacterium strain used was LBA4404 carrying a 'Super-binary' vector with a bar gene as a selectable marker for herbicide resistance in the plant cells. A series of parameter tests was used to establish a baseline for conditions to be used in stable transformation experiments. A number of different transformation conditions were tested and a total of 131 stably transformed events were produced from 6175 embryos in these two sorghum lines. Statistical analysis showed that the source of the embryos had a very significant impact on transformation efficiency, with field-grown embryos producing a higher transformation frequency than greenhouse-grown embryos. Southern blot analysis of DNA from leaf tissues of T0 plants confirmed the integration of the T-DNA into the sorghum genome. Mendelian segregation in the T1 generation was confirmed by herbicide resistance screening. This is the first report of successful use of Agrobacterium for production of stably transformed sorghum plants. The Agrobacterium method we used yields a higher frequency of stable transformation that other methods reported previously.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens↗
PubMed1999

Early carotid endarterectomy in selected stroke patients.

Although there are several reports suggesting the safety of performing carotid endarterectomy (CE) within 4 weeks (early) of a nondisabling stroke, at many institutions it is not standard practice. Benefits of early surgery may include reduction in the number of strokes or carotid occlusions during the time between stroke and surgery, as well as a reduction in the cost of medical care due to the elimination of interval anticoagulation and close follow-up. This review examines the outcomes of early CE in selected patients after a nondisabling stroke. A total of 1065 CEs were performed between November 1991 and April 1998. Seventy-five patients were identified by computerized hospital record and office chart review as having CE after a nondisabling stroke. Criteria for early surgery included 1) nondisabling stroke ipsilateral to a carotid stenosis >50%, 2) neurological stability, and 3) no evidence of hemorrhagic stroke or significant cerebral edema by CT/MRI evaluation. This review suggests that early CE can be performed in selected patients with an acceptable perioperative morbidity and mortality.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Validation of an asthma symptom diary for interventional studies.

OBJECTIVE: The Pediatric Asthma Diary was developed and validated to assess efficacy of interventions in children with asthma. DESIGN, PATIENTS, AND SETTING: Diary validation was performed in a three week, prospective study of 106 children aged 6-14 years with asthma. Children were classified at baseline as either stable (requiring no additional asthma treatment) or new onset/worse (requiring either addition of or increase in anti-inflammatory treatment). RESULTS: A daytime symptom scale and "day without asthma" were defined from diary questions. Both measures demonstrated significant validity and responsiveness to anti-inflammatory treatment. The stable group experienced a higher percentage of days without asthma during week 1 compared with the new onset/worse group (39.6% v 11.6%, respectively). The new onset/worse patients experienced significant improvement in days without asthma (24.5%) compared with stable patients (6.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The Pediatric Asthma Diary daytime symptom scale and day without asthma are acceptable measures for use in asthma intervention studies of children aged 6-14 years.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1998

A placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study of montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene-receptor antagonist. Montelukast Asthma Study Group.

BACKGROUND: The cysteinyl leukotrienes are important mediators of bronchial asthma. The clinical effect of montelukast, a potent cysteinyl leukotriene-receptor antagonist, was investigated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter, parallel-group, dose-ranging study. METHODS: After a 3-week, single-blind, placebo run-in period, 343 asthmatic patients (FEV1 40% to 80% of the predicted value with an improvement in FEV1 of at least 15% [absolute value] after receiving inhaled beta-agonists on at least two occasions) were randomly assigned to one of six treatment groups: placebo; 10, 100, or 200 mg once daily montelukast in the evening; or 10 or 50 mg twice daily montelukast for a 6-week, double-blind treatment period followed by a 1-week placebo washout period. All patients used inhaled, short-acting beta-agonists as needed. RESULTS: All montelukast doses caused similar and significant differences compared with placebo in asthma control endpoints. The least-square mean difference between pooled montelukast groups and placebo in the percentage change from baseline in morning FEV1 (10.30%; 95% CI: 5.56 to 15.04), as-needed beta-agonist use (-0.98 puffs; 95% CI: -1.53 to -0.44), morning peak expiratory flow rate (18.80 L/min; 95% CI: 8.62 to 28.98), physicians' and patients' global evaluations, and asthma-specific quality-of-life scores were all significant (p < or = 0.050). The incidence of adverse experiences was not dose related and was similar between placebo and montelukast treatment. CONCLUSION: Montelukast caused a significant improvement in chronic asthma at an oral, once daily evening dose as low as 10 mg.

Acetates↗
PubMed1997

Neuropsychological profiles in schizophrenia: paranoid versus undifferentiated distinctions.

Research on schizophrenia has searched for subtype-specific cognitive dysfunction to elucidate the neurodevelopmental underpinnings of the disorder. The neuropsychological distinctions between 21 paranoid and 15 undifferentiated schizophrenics were studied. The paranoid group had significantly better Verbal IQ, executive functioning on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and memory for spoken language on the Sentence Repetition Test compared to undifferentiated schizophrenics. While the paranoid subtype showed trends toward better performance on a wide variety of tasks, both subtypes showed impairments on tasks requiring continuous auditory attention and fine motor speed and coordination. Despite the paranoid subjects' more intact verbal skills, both groups showed significant deficits in verbal learning on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. This suggests that temporal-hippocampal system dysfunction may be a common denominator in both schizophrenic subtypes. These findings were not accounted for by subtype differences in the level of education, depression or severity of illness.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Psychoneuroimmunology.

This paper develops hypotheses regarding the interactions among stress, immunity, and chemical sensitivities and gives an overview of the questions and hypotheses generated by a working group exploring the application of psychoneuroimmunology to chemical sensitivities. Consideration is given to prospective longitudinal studies designed to find cases among at-risk exposed populations. Relevant immune parameters to be measured longitudinally and in challenge studies for patients with MCS are discussed. Immune system changes in response to the chronic stress of having MCS and as primary responses to chemical exposure also are considered.

Environment, Controlled↗
PubMed1997

Neuropsychological rehabilitation in the treatment of schizophrenia.

The Schizophrenia Rehabilitation Center at the Institute of Living has begun to develop rehabilitation techniques based on a neuropsychological approach to ameliorate the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. A study was designed to test the hypothesis that patients receiving attention skills training would demonstrate improved performance on neuropsychological tests measuring concentration. Five out of the seven subjects significantly improved on more than half of the neuropsychological measures. In the two case studies reviewed, significant increases in test scores were observed more frequently during cognitive rehabilitation then when psychoeducation classes were substituted for the attention skills training. In addition, patients showed improvement on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Quality of Life Scale. The data support the efficacy of attention skills training using a process specific approach. However, it is uncertain if attention skills rehabilitation is a necessary or sufficient factor in producing the therapeutic change.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Developmental pattern of expression and genomic organization of the calponin-h1 gene. A contractile smooth muscle cell marker.

Calponin-h1 is a 34-kDa myofibrillar thin filament, actin-binding protein that is expressed exclusively in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in adult animals. To examine the molecular mechanisms that regulate SMC-specific gene expression, we have examined the temporal, spatial, and cell cycle-regulated patterns of expression of calponin-h1 gene expression and isolated and structurally characterized the murine calponin-h1 gene. Calponin-h1 mRNA is expressed exclusively in SMC-containing tissues in adult animals. During murine embryonic development, calponin-h1 gene expression is (i) detectable in E9.5 embryos in the dorsal aorta, cardiac outflow tract, and tubular heart, (ii) sequentially up-regulated in SMC-containing tissues, and (iii) down-regulated to non-detectable levels in the heart during late fetal development. In addition, the gene is expressed in resting rat aortic SMCs, but its expression is rapidly down-regulated when growth-arrested cells reenter phase G1 of the cell cycle and proliferate. Calponin-h1 is encoded by a 10.7-kilobase single copy gene composed of seven exons, which is part of a multigene family. Transient transfection analyses demonstrated that 1.5 kilobases of calponin-h1 5'-flanking sequence is sufficient to program high level transcription of a luciferase reporter gene in cultured primary rat aortic SMCs and the smooth muscle cell line, A7r5. Taken together, these data suggest that the calponin-h1 gene will serve as an excellent model system with which to examine the molecular mechanisms that regulate SMC lineage specification, differentiation, and phenotypic modulation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Structure and expression of a smooth muscle cell-specific gene, SM22 alpha.

SM22 alpha is expressed exclusively in smooth muscle-containing tissues of adult animals and is one of the earliest markers of differentiated smooth muscle cells (SMCs). To examine the molecular mechanisms that regulate SMC-specific gene expression, we have isolated and structurally characterized the murine SM22 alpha gene. SM22 alpha is a 6.2-kilobase single copy gene composed of five exons. SM22 alpha mRNA is expressed at high levels in the aorta, uterus, lung, and intestine, and in primary cultures of rat aortic SMCs, and the SMC line, A7r5. In contrast to genes encoding SMC contractile proteins, SM22 alpha gene expression is not decreased in proliferating SMCs. Transient transfection experiments demonstrated that 441 base pairs of SM22 alpha 5'-flanking sequence was necessary and sufficient to program high level transcription of a luciferase reporter gene in both primary rat aortic SMCs and A7r5 cells. DNA sequence analyses revealed that the 441-base pair promoter contains two CArG/SRF boxes, a CACC box, and one potential MEF-2 binding site, cis-acting elements which are each important regulators of striated muscle transcription. Taken together, these studies have identified the murine SM22 alpha promoter as an excellent model system for studies of developmentally regulated, lineage-specific gene expression in SMCs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Cytostatic gene therapy for vascular proliferative disorders with a constitutively active form of the retinoblastoma gene product.

Vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation in response to injury is an important etiologic factor in vascular proliferative disorders such as atherosclerosis and restenosis after balloon angioplasty. The retinoblastoma gene product (Rb) is present in the unphosphorylated and active form in quiescent primary arterial SMCs, but is rapidly inactivated by phosphorylation in response to growth factor stimulation in vitro. A replication-defective adenovirus encoding a nonphosphorylatable, constitutively active form of Rb was constructed. Infection of cultured primary rat aortic SMCs with this virus inhibited growth factor-stimulated cell proliferation in vitro. Localized arterial infection with the virus at the time of balloon angioplasty significantly reduced SMC proliferation and neointima formation in both the rat carotid and porcine femoral artery models of restenosis. These results demonstrate the role of Rb in regulating vascular SMC proliferation and suggest a gene therapy approach for vascular proliferative disorders associated with arterial injury.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1989

Catholicism and fertility in Puerto Rico.

This paper examines the association between fertility and religious affiliation among Puerto Ricans. Bongaarts' proximate determinants framework is used to compare religious categories on behaviors that directly affect fertility. We found no difference in recent fertility between Catholics and non-Catholics in Puerto Rico (total fertility rate = 2.5). We also found Catholics and non-Catholics to be similar on age at first marriage (23.3 and 23.4 years, respectively), contraceptive use (71 percent and 69 percent of married women currently contracepting), and breast-feeding practices (mean duration of breast-feeding of 4.4 and 4.3 months). Differences were observed between less committed and more committed Catholics in total fertility rate, age at first marriage, and contraceptive use, but these differences were not large and were in the opposite direction from the expected. Our findings support the theory of convergence of Catholic and non-Catholic fertility for the US. Our discrepancy with findings from the National Survey of Family Growth is evidence of the cultural diversity in the US Hispanic population and indicates the importance of disaggregating by ethnicity or national origin when studying this population.

Adolescent↗