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Biomedical subjects

K Kavanagh

Publications and source records attributed to K Kavanagh.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Self-assessment of tuberculin skin test reactions by New York City firefighters: reliability and cost-effectiveness in an occupational health care setting.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether self-assessment of purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD) skin test reactions, done using a simple two-choice approach, is an effective screening method for tuberculosis. DESIGN: Double-blind comparison between self-assessments and trained professional readings of PPD skin test reactions, done 72 hours after test administration. SETTING: The New York City Fire Department's Bureau of Health Services. PARTICIPANTS: 2011 New York City firefighters and fire officers were given PPD skin tests during a mandatory retraining course. Thirty-seven persons were excluded because of a history of a positive PPD skin test result or a bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination. All others agreed to participate in testing and self-assessment done using simple written instructions. Self-assessment results were submitted just before trained professional readings were done. MEASUREMENTS: Self-assessments and trained professional readings of PPD skin test reactions. RESULTS: 1833 participants (91%) interpreted their test reactions as flat. Of these interpretations, 1824 (99.5%) matched the professional reading and 9 (0.5%) did not. One hundred seventy-eight participants (9%) interpreted their test reactions as not flat; 136 of these interpretations (76.4%) matched the professional reading and 42 (23.6%) did not (kappa = 0.828; lower 95% confidence limit = 0.790). The predictive value of a negative self-assessment reading was 99.5%, and the specificity was 97.7%. CONCLUSION: In this occupational health care setting, we follow (and recommend to others with similar populations) a tuberculin screening program based on self-assessment. Repeated tests with follow-up are required for all persons who do not report their results. All persons with self-assessments of "not flat" should return for readings by trained professionals, counseling, and treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Absence of correlation between chemo- and radioresistance in a range of human tumour cell lines.

The correlation between cellular resistance to radiation and to chemotherapeutic drugs has been investigated in a number of solid tumour cell lines, and preliminary results indicate no direct relationship. The acquisition of a multidrug resistance (MDR) profile by adriamycin-selected variants of a human squamous lung carcinoma, an ovarian carcinoma, a cervical carcinoma and by a colchicine-selected variant of a Chinese hamster ovarian carcinoma resulted in alterations to their radiosensitivity. However, the degree of change in the radiosensitivity of the MDR cell lines could not be predicted from their level of resistance to adriamycin. Clonal populations derived from DLKP-A, an adriamycin-selected MDR variant of the human lung carcinoma cell line DLKP, exhibited individual radiosensitivity profiles, which did not correlate with their chemoresistance. Exposure of DLKP to consecutive increasing doses of radiation did not confer cross-resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Analysis of hybrids of Candida albicans formed by protoplast fusion.

A number of hybrids obtained by fusion of protoplasts of complementary auxotrophic strains of Candida albicans were analysed for growth rates, cell volume, DNA content, stability and adherence to human buccal epithelial cells. SDS-PAGE analysis of the cell wall proteins indicated that the hybrid cell walls contained many more of the proteins associated with one parent than the other. The adherence values of the hybrids were closest to the parent with which they shared most cell wall proteins and it is suggested that the hybrids contain the genome of this parent along with one or more of the chromosomes of the other.

Candida albicans↗
PubMed1993

Parenting during the second year: effects of children's age, sex, and attachment classification.

70 2-parent families with 12-month-old infants and 67 2-parent families with 18-month-old toddlers participated in the study. Mothers and fathers participated in separate interviews and filled out questionnaires on family and child behaviors. Mothers and their children participated in the Ainsworth Strange Situation, and the families were observed for a total of 4 hours in their homes. Families were compared on composite measures of family environment variables, parents' perception of their children, and on process variables from home observations. Family differences in environmental stress and marital adjustment showed no effects for attachment classifications, although parents of 12-month-olds reported greater marital adjustment and more pleasure in parenting than parents of 18-months-olds. Both mothers and fathers reported that children classified as resistant were more difficult on several temperament measures. During home observations, 12-month-old children received more positive responses from mothers, and 18-month-old children received more instructions and directions from both parents. Insecure boys (both avoidant and resistant) received the least instructions and directions from both parents, but insecure-avoidant girls received the most instruction from fathers.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Multiple transformation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by protoplast fusion.

A technique for the multiple transformation of yeast by protoplast fusion is described. This involved the PEG-induced fusion of protoplasts from cells which had been treated with chromosome-fragmenting agents (in this case cupferron and hydroxylamine) with protoplasts of triply auxotrophic cells. The recovery of transformants was increased significantly if one of the amino acid requirements of the recipient strain was included in the selection medium. Transformants isolated on supplemented media remained auxotrophic for that requirement. Prototrophic, uninucleate transformants had a DNA content and cellular volume similar to that of the parental strains. Possible mechanisms of gene transfer are discussed. This technique offers the possibility of transferring desirable characteristics from one yeast strain to another without altering the ploidy level of the recipient strain.

Hydroxylamine↗
PubMed1992

Thrombolytic therapy for right heart lesions.

Thrombolytic agents are accepted therapy for occlusion of coronary and peripheral arteries as well as for venous thromboses. Although the treatment of left heart prosthetic valve thrombosis has been evaluated, there are limited data showing the benefit of thrombolysis of right heart clots. Two patients with past histories of multiple cardiac operations were given fibrinolytic therapy for thrombosis involving right heart structures. The first patient had thrombosis of a prosthetic pulmonary valve. The second patient was a type IB tricuspid atresia who developed a Fontan duct stenosis and right atrial clot. Thrombolytic therapy may provide a safe alternative to surgical intervention for thrombosis of right heart structures and, even when incompletely effective, may provide additional time to prepare patients for surgical correction and possible protection against distal embolization during surgical intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Enhanced intraspecific protoplast fusion in yeast.

Intraspecific hybrid production from the polyethylene glycol induced fusion of yeast protoplasts was greatly increased when calcium propionate was included as the source of the requisite Ca2+. The use of calcium propionate, as opposed to the more commonly employed calcium chloride, resulted in substantially greater yields of hybrids from intraspecific fusions of protoplasts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans. It is postulated that the ability of calcium propionate to enhance the fusion frequency is due to the anion binding to the etheric oxygen of PEG and potentiating the fusogenicity of the polymer.

Acetates↗
PubMed1990

The prediction of antisocial behavior from avoidant attachment classifications.

109 Children were classified using the Ainsworth Strange Situation at 18 months. 81 children who were unequivocally classified as insecure/avoidant (A1, A2) or securely attached (B1, B2, B3) were used in this study. The children's parents reported on occurrences of problem behaviors at 24 months, 27 months, 30 months, and 48 months using several methods. The children were observed at 18 and 30 months in their homes with their families and in toddler playgroups during the same period. The only significant effect for attachment classification was that teachers and observers of the playgroups rated girls classified as insecure/avoidant as more difficult to deal with and as having more difficulty with peers than girls rated as securely attached.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1987

Abusive parents' perceptions of child problem behaviors: an example of parental bias.

The behavior of children in 21 child abusive and 21 nonabusive matched comparison families were compared using home observations performed by professional independent observers and parental report measures (Becker Bipolar Adjective Checklist, Child Behavior Checklist, Parent Daily Report). Parental report measures of child conduct problems differed significantly between the two groups, independent observations showed few significant differences in rates of either child or parental behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the validity of parental perceptions and reports of child problem behaviors, the informativeness of differing reports for diagnosis and clinical treatment, and the need to gather corroboration across various sources and settings before clinical decisions are made that may irrevocably alter a child's future development.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Membrane changes associated with the early stages of apoptosis in HEp-2 cells decrease susceptibility to adherence by Candida albicans.

The aim of the present work was to establish whether apoptotic HEp-2 cells demonstrated an altered susceptibility to adherence by the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. Cultures of HEp-2 cells were treated with concentrations of three chemotherapeutic agents sufficient to induce cell death by apoptosis and this was confirmed by microscopic examination and by the loss of membrane asymmetry (as indicated by phosphatidylserine externalization) and the fragmentation of nuclear DNA into distinct subunits. Cells in the early stages of apoptosis demonstrated a reduced susceptibility to adherence by a number of strains of C. albicans. A correlation between the decrease in yeast adherence and the loss of membrane asymmetry, associated with the early stages of apoptosis, was established.

Annexin A5↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hospital nurses' perceptions of discharge planning for medical patients.

Hospital nurses' perceptions of discharge planning were investigated through semi-focused interviews conducted with 12 nurses who worked in five medical wards of a large, metropolitan, teaching hospital. The findings revealed that the nurses' perceptions of discharge planning were influenced by their work experience, their knowledge of patients, the priority they gave to patients' needs, their understanding of the discharge planning process and their awareness of community resources. The nurses' role in discharge planning was not clearly delineated and their involvement in the process was inhibited by organisational factors such as short hospital stays and high patient turnover.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗