Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Montgomery.
The Attitudes Toward Male Nurses Scale was modified and then administered to a stratified-by-sex sample of 149 members of a state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Analysis suggests suitable internal consistency for the modified 15-item measure and provides empirical support for the scale's convergent-discriminant validity.
Construction of sequence-ready clone map is an essential step toward sequencing the human genome. We chose a region that is frequently amplified in liposarcoma between D12S350 and D12S106 in chromosome 12q15-21 to build a PAC/BAC clone contig map. This region was spanned by 4 YACs and contained 30 STS on the YAC and radiation hybrid (RH) framework maps, providing an average STS spacing of 160 kb if each YAC is approximately 1.2 Mb in size. To convert a STS-based YAC map to a STS-based contig map of bacterial clones, 22 non-polymorphic STS markers were used as probes to screen the high density gridded arrays of PAC and BAC clones by filter hybridizations, followed by assembly of clones into contigs by marker content. Contigs have been extended and joined by direct end sequencing of appropriate clones, generating new STSs and rescreening the library as necessary. Using these approaches, we have constructed 5 contigs covering the region with the largest single contig being 1.4 Mb and a final size estimation of 3.6 Mb. The map is comprised of 17 YACs, 187 PACs, 160 BACs, and 17 cosmids; onto this, 6 polymorphic, 97 non-polymorphic, 24 ESTs, and 4 gene-based markers are now placed in a unique order, providing an average resolution of approximately 28 kb. Of a total of 131 markers, 97 were developed in the present study. The sequence-ready map should provide a framework to generate complete DNA sequence and ultimately gene map of this segment of chromosome 12.
BACKGROUND: Current methods available to assess a passenger's life threatening medical condition during in-flight emergencies are inadequate. Critical communication channels between the airplane and ground control rely only on voice communication via a two-way radio. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of cellular telephone technology via the Internet as a cost-effective way to obtain the "linking" pathway from an aircraft to a ground medical facility by conducting a simulated on line triage. METHODS: On July 31, 1997, we transmitted vital signs from a Boeing 757, flying from Chicago to Los Angeles, simultaneously to: The Saddle Back Memorial, in Laguna Hills, CA; Hospital Santojanni in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and the Medical Department of American Airlines in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX. Three lead EKG, heart rate, BP, arterial oxygen saturation, end tidal CO2, respiratory rate body temperature and real time video images were collected from a passenger and transmitted to each facility from the aircraft via the Internet. Access to the Internet was gained via the cellular phone aboard the aircraft. RESULTS: A total of 20 different simulated scenarios of an medical emergency condition were successfully transmitted, simultaneously, to all health care facilities. All data was received without any corruption with an average delay time of 1 s. CONCLUSIONS: Close monitoring of the patient can lead to a better understanding and assessment of a medical condition, improve in-flight patient care, accelerate the decision making process by making an early diagnosis, and correct a life-threatening condition before the patient arrives at the destination.
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Myosin heavy chains (MyHCs) are highly conserved ubiquitous actin-based motor proteins that drive a wide range of motile processes in eukaryotic cells. MyHC isoforms expressed in skeletal muscles are encoded by a multigene family that is clustered on syntenic regions of human and mouse chromosomes 17 and 11, respectively. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the genomic organization of the skeletal MyHC genes and its effects on the regulation, function, and molecular genetics of this multigene family, we have constructed high-resolution physical maps of both human and mouse loci using PCR-based marker content mapping of P1-artificial chromosome clones. Genes encoding six MyHC isoforms have been mapped with respect to their linear order and transcriptional orientations within a 350-kb region in both human and mouse. These maps reveal that the order, transcriptional orientation, and relative intergenic distances of these genes are remarkably conserved between these species. Unlike many clustered gene families, this order does not reflect the known temporal expression patterns of these genes. However, the conservation of gene organization since the estimated divergence of these species (approximately 75-110 million years ago) suggests that the physical organization of these genes may be significant for their regulation and function.
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Cytogenetic and molecular genetic analyses have shown that the 12q22 region is recurrently deleted in male germ cell tumors (GCTs), suggesting that this site may harbor a tumor suppressor gene (TSG). Previous loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analyses identified a consensus minimal deleted region between the markers D12S377 and D12S296, and a YAC clone contig covering the region was generated. Here, we describe a high-resolution sequence-ready physical map of this contig covering a 3-Mb region. The map comprised of 52 cosmids, 49 PACs, and 168 BACs that were anchored to the previous YAC contig; 99 polymorphic, nonpolymorphic, EST, and gene-based markers are now placed on this map in a unique order. Of these, 61 markers were isolated in the present study, including one that was polymorphic. In addition, we have narrowed the minimal deletion to approximately 830 kb between D12S1716 (proximal) and P382A8-AG (distal) by LOH analysis of 108 normal-tumor DNAs from GCT patients using 21 polymorphic STSs. These physical and deletion maps should prove useful for identification of the candidate TSG in GCTs, provide framework to generate complete DNA sequence, and ultimately generate a gene map of this segment of the chromosome 12. [The sequence data described in this paper have been submitted to the Genome Survey Sequence under accession nos. AQ254896-AQ254955 and AQ269251-AQ269266. Online supplementary material is available at http://www.genome.org]
Narrative analysis is well established as a means of examining the subjective experience of those who suffer chronic illness and cancer. In a study of perceptions of the outcomes of treatment of cancer of the colon, we have been struck by the consistency with which patients record three particular observations of their subjective experience: (1) the immediate impact of the cancer diagnosis and a persisting identification as a cancer patient, regardless of the time since treatment and of the presence or absence of persistent or recurrent disease; (2) a state of variable alienation from social familiars, expressed as an inability to communicate the nature of the experience of the illness, its diagnosis and treatment; and (3) a persistent sense of boundedness, an awareness of limits to space, empowerment and available time. These subjectivities were experienced in varying degree by all patients in our study. Individual responses to these experiences were complex and variable. The experiences are best understood under the rubric of a category we call "liminality". We believe that all cancer patients enter and experience liminality as a process which begins with the first manifestations of their malignancy. An initial acute phase of liminality is marked by disorientation, a sense of loss and of loss of control, and a sense of uncertainty. An adaptive, enduring phase of suspended liminality supervenes, in which each patient constructs and reconstructs meaning for their experience by means of narrative. This phase persists, probably for the rest of the cancer patient's life. The experience of liminality is firmly grounded in the changing and experiencing body that houses both the disease and the self. Insights into the nature of the experience can be gained from the Existentialist philosophers and from the history of attitudes to death. Understanding liminality helps us to understand what it is that patients with cancer (and other serious illnesses) seek from the system to which they turn for help. Its explication should therefore be important for those who provide health care, those who educate health care workers and those concerned to study and use outcomes as administrative and policy making instruments.
This report describes the three-dimensional imaging and virtual environment technologies developed in NASA's Biocomputation Center for scientific purposes that have now led to applications in the field of medicine. A major goal is to develop a virtual environment surgery workbench for planning complex craniofacial and breast reconstructive surgery, and for training surgeons.
OBJECTIVE: To present the risks of aeroball, a new sport played by either two or four players on a trampoline court surrounded by specially constructed fabric walls, and to propose ways to increase awareness and reduce the incidence of injury, in particular, ankle injury. METHOD: A study was carried out to document the nature of aeroball related incidents, between 1991 and 1995, at Lancaster University Sports Centre. Lace-up ankle supports were introduced in April 1992, and their effect on the incidence of ankle injury was recorded. RESULTS: The lower limb received most injuries (90%), followed by the upper limb (6%), then the face (3%) and cervical spine (1%). The most common category of injuries was sprains (83%), followed by fractures (8%), contusions (5%), and dislocations (4%). The most common site of injury was the ankle (73%). It is during doubles play that injury is most likely to occur. Since the introduction of ankle supports, there has been a gradual decline in the incidence of ankle injury, 31 in 1991 to nine in 1995. CONCLUSION: Aeroball has become a popular sport, but it is not without risks. Leaflets have been produced to promote the objectives, rules, and safety of the game. Trained full-time staff should be present to explain the nature of the game. The use of prophylactic ankle stabilisers in aeroball is strongly recommended.
A fusion gene between nucleophosmin (NPM) and myelodysplasia/myeloid leukemia factor 1 (MLF1) is formed by a recurrent t(3;5)(q25.1;q34) in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. Here we report the identification of a novel gene, MLF2, which contains an open reading frame of 744 bp encoding a 248-amino-acid protein highly related to the previously identified MLF1 protein (63% similarity, 40% identity). In contrast to the tissue-restricted expression pattern of MLF1, the MLF2 messenger RNA is expressed ubiquitously. The MLF2 gene locus was mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization to human chromosome 12p13, a chromosomal region frequently involved in translocations and deletions in acute leukemias of lymphoid or myeloid lineage. In a physical map of chromosome 12, MLF2 was found to reside on the yeast artificial chromosome clone 765b9. Southern blotting analysis of malignant cell DNAs prepared from a series of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases with translocations involving chromosome arm 12p, as well as a group of acute myeloid leukemias with various cytogenetic abnormalities, failed to reveal MLF2 gene rearrangements.
In STS-content mapping of a region, multiple optimal or near-optimal putative orders of markers exist. Determining which of the markers in this region can be placed reliably on the physical map of the chromosome and which markers lack sufficient evidence to be placed requires software that facilitates exploratory sensitivity analysis and interactive reassembly with different subsets of the imput data and that also assists the evaluation of any arbitrary (user-specified) marker order. We describe CONTIG EXPLORER, a package for interactive assembly of STS-content maps that provides the user with various ways of performing such analyses, thereby facilitating the design of laboratory experiments aimed at reducing ambiguity in STS order. We then compare the output of CONTIG EXPLORER with two other assembly programs, SEGMAP and CONTIGMAKER, for a region of chromosome 12p between 21 and 38 cM on the sex-averaged CEPH/Généthon linkage map.
OBJECTIVE: The study tests a path model for the effects on organizational influence of an organization's centrality in four resource exchange networks in order to gain insight into the network relations that may affect coordination and effectiveness of outpatient health and mental health service systems. DATA SOURCES: Primary data are used from face-to-face interviews with the directors of every organization in the predefined service systems in three urbanized counties in Oregon. Each system consisted of 19 to 20 organizations. Data were collected during 1986 and 1987. STUDY DESIGN: The path model contains five variables: the major dependent variable is attributed organizational influence; the independent variables are three sets of primary resource exchanges: funds allocation, client referrals, and client inflow. An intervening variable of general network contacts, as an informational resource, is modeled as an outcome of the three primary resource exchanges, as well as one of the predictors of influence. DATA COLLECTION: Organizations were identified as system members through a modified snowball sampling procedure. Measures of organizational influence and centrality in each of the exchange networks were derived from interviews with all directors about their interactions with each organization in the system. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the path model. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The most important resource in predicting centrality in a general contact network is centrality in a client referral network, while contacts and funds allocation centrality are significant predictors of organizational influence. CONCLUSIONS: The organization with the greatest influence within the system (because of its ability to allocate funds) may not be the organization that takes the largest role in terms of coordinating routine contacts (because of its ability to refer clients). This disjuncture may signal a weakness in the coordination network and system effectiveness, since the more influential organization may not be the most knowledgeable one in terms of the needs of the system.
Human chromosome 12 constitutes approximately 4.5% of the human genome and has an estimated size of 135 million base pairs (Mb). We have started to construct a high-resolution physical map of chromosome 12 as overlapping yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs), using as a foundation the first-generation physical map of this chromosome covers nearly 102 Mb of DNA and includes 426 highly polymorphic, monomorphic and gene-based markers. We also mapped 119 of the YACs, most of which are part of the physical map, by cytogenetic methods. Thus the map integrates genetic, physical and cytogenetic data and provides information about the organization of this chromosome and will help in the localization and cloning of disease-related genes. The strategy used here to generate the chromosome-12 map could be applied for the rapid construction of physical and expression maps for other human chromosomes.
We examined unequal homologous DNA recombination between human repetitive DNA elements located on a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) and transforming plasmid molecules. A plasmid vector containing an Alu element, as well as a sequence identical to a unique site on a YAC, was introduced into yeast and double recombinant clones analyzed. Recombination occurs between vector and YAC Alu elements sharing as little as 74% identity. The physical proximity of an Alu element to the unique DNA segment appears to play a significant role in determining the frequency with which that element serves as a recombination substrate. In addition, cross-over points of the recombination reaction are largely confined to the ends of the repetitive element. Since a similar distribution of crossover sites occurs during unequal homologous recombination in human germ and somatic tissue, we propose that similar enzymatic processes may be responsible for the events observed in our system and in human cells. This suggests that further examination of the enzymology of unequal homologous recombination of human DNA within yeast may yield a greater understanding of the molecular events which control this process in higher eukaryotes.
The p27Kip1 gene codes for a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor implicated in G1 arrest by transforming growth factor beta, cell-cell contact, agents that elevate cyclic AMP, and the growth-inhibitory drug rapamycin. p27 binds to and inhibits complexes formed by cyclin E-cdk2, cyclin A-cdk2, and cyclin D-cdk4. The involvement of p27 in the negative regulation of cell proliferation suggests that it may also function as a tumor suppressor gene. Using a combination of somatic cell hybrid panels and fluorescence in situ hybridization p27Kip1 has been mapped to the short arm of chromosome 12 at the 12p12-12p13.1 boundary, reported to harbor deletions and rearrangements in leukemia and mesotheliomas. In order to assess potential p27Kip1 gene alterations, we have screened a total of 147 human primary solid tumors and found no detectable cancer-specific mutations. These results argue that the often observed loss of antimitogenic transforming growth factor beta responsiveness in human cancer cells is not due to structural defects in p27Kip1.
This article conceptualizes employees' fears for their health on the job as a form of stress with a collective, detrimental impact on work behavior. It tests a job-control of stress reduction that focuses on reducing uncertainty. Results indicate that fear levels are lower in organizations that have policies providing employees with certain types of information about the stressor. Analysis reveals that mechanisms conveying explicit information, rather than information that is indirect or implied, have the strongest association with lower fear levels. Hypotheses are tested in the context of nursing staff fears of contagion from HIV-infected patients, using data from 558 randomly selected hospitals nationwide. Implications for the policymaking dilemma of conflicting rights to privacy and disclosure are discussed.
The consistent involvement of the region 12q13-q15 in numerous human tumors speaks in favor of the presence of genes that may contribute to oncogenesis. Mapping genes within this region of chromosome 12 is a necessary step toward the identification of those that play a role in this process. We have undertaken a multiplex analysis using translocation breakpoint mapping to order from the centromere to the telomere a series of 24 loci from the region 12q12-q22. Thirteen adipose tissue tumors with seven different chromosome changes involving the long arm of chromosome 12 (12q) were used. Since most of these loci are genes or anonymous DNA segments largely available to the scientific community, this map should be useful for investigation of genetic disorders associated with chromosome 12q. While these breakpoints were used as natural landmarks to order groups of loci, this work has positioned them more accurately, leading to a better chromosomal definition of the translocations than the one derived from standard cytogenetic studies.