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Biomedical subjects

M Rossignol

Publications and source records attributed to M Rossignol.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Risk factors for the development of low back pain in adolescence.

A previous history and earlier onset of low back pain are associated with chronic low back pain in adults, implying that prevention in adolescence may have a positive impact in adulthood. The study objectives were to determine the incidence of low back pain in a cohort of adolescents and to ascertain risk factors. A cohort of 502 high school students in Montreal, Canada, was evaluated during 1995-1996 at three separate times, 6 months apart. The outcome was low back pain occurrence at a frequency of at least once a week in the previous 6 months. Of the 377 adolescents who did not complain of low back pain at the initial evaluation, 65 developed low back pain over the year (cumulative incidence, 17 percent). Risk factors associated with development of low back pain were high growth (odds ratio = 3.09; 95 percent confidence interval (CI): 1.53, 6.01), smoking (odds ratio = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.50), tight quadriceps femoris (odds ratio = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.05), tight hamstrings (odds ratio = 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.06), and working during the school year (odds ratio = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.71). Modifying such risk factors as smoking and poor leg flexibility may potentially serve to prevent the development of low back pain in adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Radiofrequency facet joint denervation in the treatment of low back pain: a placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess efficacy.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial was performed. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency articular facet denervation for low back pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Uncontrolled observational studies in patients with low back pain have reported some benefits from the use of facet joint radiofrequency denervation. Because the efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency had not been clearly shown in previous studies, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of the technique for improving functional disabilities and reduce pain. METHODS: For this study, 70 patients with low back pain lasting of more than 3 months duration and a good response after intraarticular facet injections under fluoroscopy were assigned randomly to receive percutaneous radiofrequency articular facet denervation under fluoroscopic guidance or the same procedure without effective denervation (sham therapy). The primary outcomes were functional disabilities, as assessed by the Oswestry and Roland-Morris scales, and pain indicated on a visual analog scale. Secondary outcomes included spinal mobility and strength. RESULTS: At 4 weeks, the Roland-Morris score had improved by a mean of 8.4% in the neurotomy group and 2.2% in the placebo group, showing a treatment effect of 6.2% (P = 0.05). At 4 weeks, no significant treatment effect was reflected in the Oswestry score (0.6% change) or the visual analog pain score (4.2% change). At 12 weeks, neither functional disability, as assessed by the Roland-Morris scale (2.6% change) and Oswestry scale (1.9% change), nor the pain level, as assessed by the visual analog scale (-7.6% change), showed any treatment effect. CONCLUSIONS: Although radiofrequency facet joint denervation may provide some short-term improvement in functional disability among patients with chronic low back pain, the efficacy of this treatment has not been established.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[Successful endovascular embolization in the vertebral artery after failed surgery in a patient with severe hemorrhagic shock].

Injury of the vertebral artery following penetrating trauma is rare and treatment is usually a surgical double ligation. We report a case of a 19-year old man, suffering from potentially fatal haemorrhage related to a penetrating trauma of the left vertebral artery. After failure of surgery, bleeding has been successfully stopped by endovascular embolization. The patient did not suffer any ischaemic cerebral complication and was discharged from intensive care unit 24 hours later.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

NKBOR, a mini-Tn10-based transposon for random insertion in the chromosome of Gram-negative bacteria and the rapid recovery of sequences flanking the insertion sites in Escherichia coli.

We have constructed an R6K-based suicide vector that permits the random insertion of a mini-transposon named NKBOR into the chromosome of Gram-negative bacteria and the subsequent rapid cloning of sequences flanking the insertion site in Escherichia coli. This mini-transposon contains a conditional R6K plasmid origin of replication, a kanamycin resistance gene and unique restriction sites between the IS10 inverted repeats. NKBOR can be propagated by replication in an E. coli strain containing the R6K replicase pi protein. Alternatively the mini-transposon can be replicated in a pSC 101 derivative that is thermosensitive for its replication so that the mini-transposon acts as a suicide plasmid at nonpermissive temperatures. Efficient NKBOR transposition is ensured by expression of an adjacent transposase gene and has been demonstrated in E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Erwinia carotovora. Sequences flanking the insertion sites in these strains can be rapidly recovered and identified in E. coli strains expressing the R6K pi protein.

Chromosomes, Bacterial↗
PubMed2001

Analysis of the plant proteome.

For many years the analysis of plant proteomes has been restricted to the construction of descriptive catalogues or the search for markers. The analysis of plant proteomes is now gaining a functional dimension, however, because the focus has shifted onto well-defined plant-specific tissues and organelles, the simultaneous mining of proteomic and physiological data and specific methodological efforts.

Biotechnology↗
PubMed2001

Risk factors for development of lower limb pain in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Although many clinicians believe high growth leads to inflexibility, which may lead to lower extremity pain, the only prospective data suggest growth is unrelated to flexibility. However, it is still possible that growth and/or flexibility are related to pain even if they are not related to each other. We investigated the incidence of leg pain in adolescents to determine whether high growth spurt and/or poor flexibility are risk factors for the development of lower extremity pain. METHODS: Repeated measures, prospective cohort study of urban high school students aged 12-18. Subjects were measured at baseline and at 6 and 12 months for flexibility of hamstrings and quadriceps and with the sit-and-reach test. Participants completed a detailed questionnaire on recreational activity, occupational activities, psychosocial variables, and musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: Poor hamstring flexibility (odds ratio 0.99, confidence interval 0.97-1.01), poor quadriceps flexibility (OR 1.01, CI 0.99-1.03), poor sit-and-reach flexibility (OR 0.99, CI 0.99-1.01), and growth (OR 0.93, CI 0.50-1.71) were not related to the development of lower extremity pain. There was an association between lower extremity pain and occupational activities (OR 2.08, CI 1.45-2.98) and poor mental health (per 1 SD change, OR 1.41, CI 1.19-1.67). CONCLUSION: Neither growth nor flexibility is related to the development of lower extremity pain in adolescents. A poor mental health score and occupational activities may be associated with the development of lower extremity pain.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Genomic organization of human neuropilin-1 and neuropilin-2 genes: identification and distribution of splice variants and soluble isoforms.

Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) and neuropilin-2 (NRP2) are both receptors for semaphorins, which regulate neuronal guidance, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an angiogenic factor. The two human NRP1 and NRP2 genes were cloned, and the exon-intron boundaries were determined. The NRP1 and NRP2 genes span over 120 and 112 kb, respectively, and are composed of 17 exons. Five of the exons are identical in size in the two genes, suggesting that they arose by gene duplication. Both NRP genes are characterized by multiple alternatively spliced variants. Two NRP2 isoforms, NRP2a and NRP2b, were cloned. A striking feature of these two isoforms is that they have identical extracellular domains but have divergent transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains. In these domains, NRP2a is closer in sequence identity to NRP1 than to NRP2b. As determined by Northern blot analysis, both NRP2a and NRP2b are expressed in a variety of tissues, mostly in a nonoverlapping manner. Within NRP2a and NRP2b, there are several alternatively spliced species: NRP2a(17), NRP2a(22), NRP2b(0), and NRP2b(5). In addition to full-length NRPs, there are truncated NRPs as well, which contain only the extracellular a/CUB and b/coagulation factor domains. These genes encode proteins that are soluble (sNRP) and released by cells. In addition to s12NRP1, which was previously cloned, s11NRP1 and s9NRP2 have now been cloned. These sNRP molecules are characterized by having intron-derived sequences at their C-termini. Altogether, eight NRP isoforms are described in this report. It was concluded that there are multiple NRP1 and NRP2 isoforms including intact and soluble forms. Characterization of these isoforms should help to elucidate the function of NRPs in neuronal guidance and angiogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

PPMdb: a plant plasma membrane database.

PPMdb is a proteome database dedicated to proteins from plant plasma membranes. It provides comprehensive two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) maps, partial amino acid sequences and expression data. All this information is gathered and structured in a relational database, after being analyzed and annotated. PPMdb includes active links to related biological databases (EMBL, GenBank, GenPep, and SWISS-PROT and TrEMBL) as well as to MEDLINE abstracts. Information on specific protein spots can be displayed by clicking on the 2-D maps. In addition, users can query the database by accession number, protein name, pI and MW, and cellular location. Access to PPMdb is available at the following URL: http://sphinx.rug. ac.be:8080.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Coordination of primary health care for back pain. A randomized controlled trial.

STUDY DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial comparing usual care with a program for the coordination of primary health care (CORE) for the treatment of subacute low-back pain patients. OBJECTIVES: To measure the effectiveness of the CORE program as a mean for implementing clinical practice guidelines for low-back pain in an urban community. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Clinical practice guidelines have been developed for primary care physicians and patients on the clinical management of low-back pain. The implementation of the guidelines in a large community is difficult with the multiplicity of medical and nonmedical back care providers and products. The CORE program was designed to make the guidelines fit in this complex environment. METHODS: One hundred ten workers compensated for low-back pain for 4 to 8 weeks in metropolitan Montreal were randomized in two groups: usual care (N = 56) and the CORE program (N = 54). Coordination of primary health care was performed by two primary care physicians and a nurse in liaison with the treating physicians, and included a complete examination, recommendations for the clinical management, and support to carry out the recommendations. All workers were followed for 6 months. Back pain and functional status were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. RESULTS: In the 6-month follow-up, the CORE group returned to work 6.6 days (standard error = 8.9) quicker than the control group, a difference that was not statistically significant. However, the CORE group showed a sustained improvement in pain and functional status with two-fold differences at the end of the 6 months of follow-up. This represented nine points on the Oswestry scale (P = 0.02) and 12 points on the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (P = 0.01). The CORE group also used three times less specialized imaging tests of the spine at 3 months (P < 0.01) and exercised twice as much at 6 months (P < 0.05) than the controls. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic results for workers with low-back pain could be improved by implementing the clinical practice guidelines with primary care physicians in a large community, without delaying the return to work. The CORE intervention for back pain patients is highly relevant to primary care practice. It is simple in its application, flexible to accommodate physicians' and- patients' preferences in health care, and it is effective on patients' clinical outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Occupational disability related to back pain: application of a theoretical model of work disability using prospective cohorts of manual workers.

BACKGROUND: A new model of work disability was developed based on the assumption that four different groups of workers are present at the beginning of a prospective epidemiologic study: one group of workers without back pain, and three groups of workers with back pain and a gradient of work disability. The goal of this research was to verify if these groups comprise workers at different levels of risk of occurrence of complete work disability related to back injury. METHODS: Prospective cohorts of manual workers (n=578) were followed for 1 year to document the risk of occurrence of complete disability related to back injury. RESULTS: The results showed that the workers who presented with back pain without work disability at the beginning of the study were at less risk compared to all the other workers in the cohort. Moreover, an effect modification was found between the workers who initially presented with back pain without work disability and a past history of compensation for back injury, adding credence to the non-similarity of these workers to the others. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, further studies should focus on improving the knowledge of the characteristics of these workers leading to a better understanding of how to prevent occupational low-back pain.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Informational suppressor alleles of the eEF1A gene, fertility and cell degeneration in Podospora anserina.

Mutations that increase readthrough at a UGA stop codon (informational suppressor mutations) were created in the gene (AS4) that encodes translation elongation factor eEF1A in the filamentous fungus Podospora amserina. The results strongly suggest that the net charge of the eEF1A protein controls the accuracy of translation. Physiological analysis of the mutant strains shows that some of the alleles dominantly increase life span, while only one drastically modifies fertility. This exceptional allele (AS4-56) causes a wide array of phenotypes, including a new growth cessation phenomenon that is different from Senescence or Crippled Growth, previously known degenerative syndromes that are both controlled by AS4. The data emphasise the fact that eEF1A exerts a complex control over cellular physiology.

Alleles↗
PubMed2000

Deletion and dosage modulation of the eEF1A gene in Podospora anserina: effect on the life cycle.

eEF1A is encoded by a unique gene in the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina. We show here that (1) this gene is essential for vegetative growth, (2) readthrough at UGA stop codon level is positively correlated with eEF1A level, (3) eEF1A level is regulated in P. anserina. (4) Increasing eEF1A gene dosage does not modify P. anserina life cycle parameters, especially longevity is not changed. These data confirm and extend those previously obtained in yeast and Drosophila.

Gene Deletion↗
PubMed2000

Poisoning-induced acute atraumatic compartment syndrome.

Acute Atraumatic Compartment Syndrome (AACS) can be a potentially life and limb threatening complication of either drug abuse or medication injection. Prompt recognition followed by emergency fasciotomy is required to avoid permanent disability. A better understanding of the different clinical presentations may lead to improved outcomes through more expedient diagnosis and treatment. We describe five new cases of AACS caused by illicit drug abuse within the McGill University Hospitals, with a review of all 102 similar patients previously documented in the literature between January 1970 and May 1997. The average age for all cases was 29 years, with 74% being male. The presence of edema, pain, tension, and skin changes were the most frequent symptoms and signs reported. There appear to be two distinct mechanisms of poisoning-induced AACS: (1) direct vasotoxicity and (2) limb compression caused by prolonged comatose state. Direct vasotoxicity is more likely to lead to eventual amputation, whereas prolonged limb compression is more likely to progress to systemic complications such as azotemia, hypotension, cardiac arrhythmia, and renal failure (Crush Syndrome). Long-term sequelae of motor loss, sensory disruption, and development of contracture were common in AACS of both causes. Because Compartment Syndrome is a surgical emergency, primary care and emergency physicians must have a high index of suspicion to promptly recognize and treat this problem.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Observation procedures characterizing occupational physical activities: critical review.

The first objective of this paper is to compare the observation procedures proposed to characterize physical work. The second objective is to examine the following 3 methodological issues: reliability, observer training, and internal validity. Seventy-two papers were reviewed, 38 of which proposed a new or modified observation grid. The observation variables identified were broken down into 7 categories as follows: posture, exertion, load handled, work environment, use of feet, use of hands, and activities or tasks performed. The review revealed the variability of existing procedures. The examination of methodological issues showed that observation data can be reliable and can present an adequate internal validity. However, little information about the conditions necessary to achieve good reliability was available.

Canada↗
PubMed2000

The pre-symbiotic growth of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is induced by a branching factor partially purified from plant root exudates.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is an association between obligate biotrophic fungi and more than 80% of land plants. During the pre-symbiotic phase, the host plant releases critical metabolites necessary to trigger fungal growth and root colonization. We describe the isolation of a semipurified fraction from exudates of carrot hairy roots, highly active on germinating spores of Gigaspora gigantea, G. rosea, and G. margarita. This fraction, isolated on the basis of its activity on hyphal branching, contains a root factor (one or several molecules) that stimulates, directly or indirectly, G. gigantea nuclear division. We demonstrate the presence of this active factor in root exudates of all mycotrophic plant species tested (eight species) but not in those of nonhost plant species (four species). We negatively tested the hypothesis that it was a flavonoid or a compound synthesized via the flavonoid pathway. We propose that this root factor, yet to be chemically characterized, is a key plant signal for the development of AM fungi.

Daucus carota↗
PubMed2000

[Uterine artery embolization: anatomical and technical considerations, indications, results, and complications].

The first reported use of transcatheter arterial embolization in the management of intractable bleeding related to pelvic trauma appeared in the literature in 1973. Other indications for pelvic embolization in women include postoperative and postpartum hemorrhage and bleeding related to gynecologic malignancy. Recently, the use of uterine artery embolization in the management of symptomatic leiomyoma has been reported as an alternative to surgery. The widespread acceptance of this procedure necessitates greater knowledge of the arterial anatomy of the female genital tract. In this paper, main arterial variations in uterine vascularization and procedure-relevant technical considerations will be discussed. Indications, results and potential complications of uterine artery embolization will be listed and explained.

Angiography↗