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Biomedical subjects

K Jacobs

Publications and source records attributed to K Jacobs.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

The corporatization of health care: an evaluation and an alternative.

The corporatization of health care organizations has become a significant international trend. This paper examines that trend, comparing the development of corporate health care in the USA with the impact of the New Zealand health reforms. The paper traces the evolution of the organizations of health care systems and explains the emergence of the corporate form. We argue that the corporate model of work organization is unsuited to the complex and ambiguous nature of the medical task as it ignores inherent interdependencies. An alternative is needed which addresses work practices rather than just participation in decision making and is based on a concept of mutual interdependence and support in the execution of work.

Employment↗

The stroke syndrome of cortical vein thrombosis.

Cortical vein thrombosis without sinus involvement is rarely diagnosed, although it may commonly be overlooked. We report four cases of cerebral venous thrombosis limited to the cortical veins. The diagnosis was made on surgical intervention in one patient and by angiography in three patients. Together with a survey of the published cases, the clinical and neuroimaging patterns of our patients allow delineation of several features suggestive of cortical venous stroke. Focal or generalized seizures followed by hemiparesis, aphasia, hemianopia, or other focal neurologic dysfunction in the absence of signs of increased intracranial pressure should suggest this possibility. Neuroimaging (CT, MRI) shows an ischemic lesion that does not follow the boundary of arterial territories and often has a hemorrhagic component, without signs of venous sinus thrombosis. Conventional angiography demonstrates no arterial occlusion but may show cortical vein thrombosis corresponding to the infarct, although these may also be nonspecific findings. The role of MR angiography, which is well-established in sinus thrombosis, remains to be assessed in patients with brain ischemia due to isolated cortical vein occlusion.

Adult↗

Isometric cervical extension strength of recreational and experienced cyclists.

The effect for cyclists of the typical forward sitting position on neck strength and its possible relationship to neck pain have not been examined. The purpose of this study was to measure the peak isometric cervical extension strength (PICES) of both recreational and experienced road cyclists and to compare these values to those of noncyclists. Subjects, 45 men between the ages of 18 and 40, were tested for voluntary PICES through a 126 degrees range of motion on a MedX cervical extension machine. No significant differences were found between the three groups in PICES at any angle. When expressed relative to body weight, significant differences in PICES were found at 126 degrees between the control group and the recreational cyclist group (p < 0.05), and between the control group and the experienced cyclist group (p < 0.01), but not at any other angle. Furthermore, no significant differences in strength were found between cyclists experiencing neck pain and those who did not. These data indicate that the cervical muscles of cyclists have not adapted by increasing maximal isometric strength above that of noncyclists, and that the neck pain frequently reported may be due to fatigue from sustained muscular contractions associated with time spent cycling, rather than from muscle weakness.

Adolescent↗

The hypE gene completes the gene cluster for H2-oxidation in Azotobacter vinelandii.

The nucleotide sequence was obtained for the hypE gene in the cluster of structural and accessory genes required for the assembly and functioning of the membrane-bound, dimeric, (NiFe)hydrogenase in Azotobacter vinelandii. The hypE gene encodes a polypeptide of 341 amino acid residues which is rich in alanine, glycine, valine and proline and appears to be involved in maturation of the enzyme because chromosomal mutations in hypE block O2-dependent H2-oxidation and affect the amount, processing and localization of the (NiFe) hydrogenase alpha-subunit. The complete nucleotide sequence for the hydrogenase gene cluster in A. vinelandii has now been assembled into a contiguous sequence of 13,914 bp containing 16 potential genes which appear to be transcribed undirectionally. They are arranged in the order hoxK, hoxG, hoxZ, hoxM, hoxL, hoxO, hoxQ, hoxR, hoxT, hoxV, hypA, hypB, hypF, hypC, hypD and hypE. This cluster closely resembles those described for comparable (NiFe) hydrogenases in other bacteria.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Human dento-gnathic metric variation in mesolithic/neolithic Ukraine: possible evidence of demic diffusion in the Dnieper Rapids region.

Dental and gnathic metrics from a series of Mesolithic and Neolithic cemetery samples in the Dnieper River valley (Ukraine) are compared. Both male and female Neolithic samples have larger dental dimensions, wider dental arcades, and a more robust mandibular corpus than do the Mesolithic samples. In addition, the relative variances (RVs) of bucco-lingual dental breadths (as measured by modified Levene's Tests) show an intriguing pattern of change from the Mesolithic into and through the Neolithic. Female RVs show a clear tenency to increase through time, while male RVs show more mixed tendencies. Such a pattern indicates that the increases in Ukrainian Neolithic dento-gnathic dimensions are plausibly attributable to low intensity gene flow (demic diffusion). Seen in the light of new chronometric, paleodietary, and paleolinguistic information, as well as in the context of recent archaeological models for agro-pastoralist origins in the North Pontic, these data suggest that gene flow via population interactions originating in or transient through the circum-Caucasus may have played an important role in producing the Ukrainian Neolithic dental increase.

Anthropology, Physical↗

In vivo sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine in rural areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

In vivo testing of Plasmodium falciparum sensitivity to chloroquine was carried out in four rural sites of differing socio-geographical environment in Côte d'Ivoire. Of a total of 1282 patients of all ages with fever or previous history of fever, 649 were slide positive, with 435 patients with a pure P. falciparum infection; 191 fulfilled all the criteria for inclusion in this study, and 113 completed it. Treatment failure rates ranged from 9.7% (Djébonoua) to 38.1% (Tiéviéssou), and were most often associated with higher degrees of resistance (RII = 54.2%; RIII = 37.5%). Blood chloroquine levels measured by ELISA test suggest that many people take chloroquine routinely; furthermore 37.5% of resistance cases occurred in subjects who had high blood chloroquine concentrations on day 0. Twenty-three out of 24 cases of resistance were found in children under 7 years of age. Nearly all children with persisting parasitaemia were afebrile on day 7, even those (7/8) with RIII resistance. Children aged < 7 years represent the the best sentinel group for monitoring P. falciparum sensitivity to chloroquine in Côte d'Ivoire.

Adolescent↗

Work hardening: past, present, and future--the work programs special interest section national work-hardening outcome study.

OBJECTIVES: A review of outcome research conducted between 1982 and 1992 revealed return-to-work rates for industrial rehabilitation programs that ranged from 50% to 88%. Variations in outcome statistics appeared to reflect discrepancies in factors such as type of research design, initial characteristics of the client sample, and clients excluded from the study group. METHOD: A work-hardening outcome study involving 36 programs was conducted by the Work Programs Special Interest Section to address questions left unanswered by existing studies regarding (a) rates of program nonacceptance or noncompletion, (b) basic client characteristics and outcome, (c) length of disability and outcome, (d) breakdown of client disposition after program completion, and (e) program characteristics and return to work. RESULTS: Findings included the following: (a) 11.5% of clients were not accepted into work hardening and 24.6% did not complete the program; (b) outcome was not related to client age, gender, area of injury, or physical demand level of job before injury; (c) as duration of disability increased, return to work decreased significantly; (d) at discharge, 48.2% of clients returned to the usual and customary job and 30.5% to alternate or modified work, whereas 13.6% were referred to a vocational counselor; and (e) there was no relationship between number of visits or number of professionals seen and return to work. CONCLUSION: The authors suggest a need for uniform standards in collection of outcome data to establish a basis for comparison of efficacy among programs. Recommendations include tracking comparison or control groups, grouping clients in terms of length of disability, computing success rate on the basis of number of clients who completed their program, using relevant subcategories when reporting return to work, and consistency of the postdischarge interval for follow-up.

Accidents, Occupational↗

Selenium distribution in egg white proteins.

The present studies were undertaken to characterize selenium distribution in egg white. Ion-exchange chromatography fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) and flow injection atomic (absorption) spectrometry (FIAS) were used to separate egg white proteins and to determine the selenium content of different fractions. After purification, nine different proteins were identified with sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 56% of the total selenium content was found to be associated with ovalbumin-1 and -2 (+/- 500 ng/g), which is the main protein in egg white. Flavoprotein was determined to be the richest selenium-containing protein (1800 ng/g). The selenium content of the other proteins (lysozyme, conalbumin, globulins and ovomucoid) ranged from 359 to 1094 ng/g.

Animals↗

Expression of TTK, a novel human protein kinase, is associated with cell proliferation.

We have isolated the full-length sequence for a unique human kinase, designated TTK. TTK was initially identified by screening of a T cell expression library with anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. The kinases most closely related to TTK are the SPK1 serine, threonine and tyrosine kinase, the Pim1, PBS2, and CDC2 serine/threonine kinases, and the TIK kinase which was also identified through screening of an expression library with anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. However, the relationships are distant with less than 25% identity. Nevertheless, TTK is highly conserved throughout phylogeny with hybridizing sequences being detected in mammals, fish, and yeast. TTK mRNA is present at relatively high levels in testis and thymus, tissues which contain a large number of proliferating cells, but is not detected in most other benign tissues. Freshly isolated cells from most malignant tumors assessed expressed TTK mRNA. As well, all rapidly proliferating cell lines tested expressed TTK mRNA. Escherichia coli expressing the complete kinase domain of TTK contain markedly elevated levels of phosphoserine and phosphothreonine as well as slightly increased levels of phosphotyrosine. Taken together, these findings suggest that expression of TTK, a previously unidentified member of the family of kinases which can phosphorylate serine, threonine, and tyrosine hydroxyamino acids, is associated with cell proliferation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Estimating femur and tibia length from fragmentary bones: an evaluation of Steele's (1970) method using a prehistoric European sample.

Steele's (1970) regression method for estimating femur and tibia length from fragmentary bones is tested on a sample of complete femora (female N = 26; male N = 33) and tibiae (female N = 16; male N = 22) from a number of European Mesolithic and Neolithic sites. Over half of the regression equations given by Steele for predicting maximum length of the bone from the length(s) of one or more of its constituent segments are shown to produce inaccurate predictions in this test sample. However, a closer evaluation of these results, including calculation of regression equations for the test sample itself, reveals that this inaccuracy does not derive from any inherent flaw in Steele's method. Rather, it is shown that differential distribution of maximum bone length among the various bone segments as defined by Steele may occur due to variation in muscular activity pattern and intensity. This argues for the retention of Steele's basic method, with care being taken to match closely the activity pattern typical of the sample from which regression equations are derived with that of the population to which the equations are to be applied. The equations calculated in this study thus are provided for use where deemed appropriate.

Europe↗

Statement: occupational therapy services in work practice.

Occupational therapy practitioners focus on the individual's ability to participate in productive occupations throughout their life span. Through prevention, assessment, and intervention strategies, occupational therapy practitioners often collaborate with other members of the health care team and assist persons to optimize their ability to engage in purposeful occupation while facilitating a safe and successful entry into or return to work.

Accidents, Occupational↗

Integrating the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 into client intervention.

Testimony provided by Kemp (1991) before the Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities of the U.S. House of Representatives provided occupational therapists with an open invitation to become involved with the implementation of the ADA: [The] EEOC's [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's] Office of General Counsel anticipates that a significant portion of the ADA cases will require the use of medical, architectural, ergonomics or vocational specialists. These experts will be called on to provide advice and guidance on general and specific ADA issues and to provide specific advice and testimony in certain cases. (Kemp, 1991 [no page no.]) We need to rally to this opportunity. Occupational therapists' knowledge and understanding of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 is an important component to providing comprehensive services to clients. It is crucial that we as occupational therapists become sophisticated regarding the implications of the ADA and advocate for its implementation for our clients.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Occupational therapy work-hardening programs: a demographic study.

A survey was conducted of 192 work-hardening and work-adjustment programs to gain an overview of practice patterns. The questionnaire covered program affiliation, services offered, staffing, program scheduling, average length of treatment per client, equipment used, physical settings, program status, number of clients seen each week, and types of functional outcome studies and research. The results demonstrate the tremendous growth of the involvement of occupational therapy in work hardening. This demographic study provides baseline information that can assist in the examination of trends and the development of new programs.

Demography↗