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Biomedical subjects

N J Williams

Publications and source records attributed to N J Williams.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

The relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and dental health knowledge and attitudes of parents with young children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if parental socio-demographic characteristics are associated with dental knowledge and attitude. DESIGN: A questionnaire survey of 500 consecutive parents with children aged approximately 8-months, attending clinics in 1999/2000, in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, for health visitor distraction-hearing tests. OUTCOME MEASURES: Scores were obtained for dental knowledge and attitudes. The socio-demographic variables of parental ethnicity, age, education and area of residence were used to determine any associations. RESULTS: Parental age ranged between 16-46 years. Child age ranged between 7-11 months. Significant differences were detected for parental dental knowledge according to ethnicity (P = 0.003), educational status (P = 0.000), and area of residence (P = 0.016). Significant differences were also found in dental attitudes; ethnicity (P = 0.000), educational status (P = 0.004) and area of residence (P = 0.005). Parental age was not significant for either knowledge or attitude. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of further education, being Asian and living in a deprived area means parents have less chances of high dental knowledge and positive dental attitudes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Telomerase and breast cancer: from diagnosis to therapy.

BACKGROUND: Telomeres are believed to be responsible for chromosomal stability during cellular proliferation. They are created by telomerase, an enzyme present in many human neoplasms. Telomerase is considered to be important in breast cancer since reactivation of the enzyme ensures cell stability allowing malignant cells to divide indefinitely. AIMS: This article aims to discuss the role of telomerase in breast cancer and explore the future of telomerase research. METHOD: We have reported on the literature to date in order to present this current review. RESULTS: Telomerase is found in significant levels in breast neoplasms and is reliably detected in fine needle aspirations aiding the diagnosis of breast cancer. There is also a correlation between telomerase and disease prognosis, and there is current work assessing if telomerase can be of benefit in monitoring the efficacy of systemic treatment. CONCLUSION: The role of telomerase in breast cancer is still being investigated however by understanding the action it has on chromosomal stability, and its detection in tumour cells, there are possibilities to enhance the methods employed to detect and treat breast cancer.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1999

Interleukin-12 administration in retroviral infection of mice increases the potential to produce functional dendritic cells from bone marrow stem cells.

Rauscher leukaemia virus (RLV) infection in mice causes production of lymph node and skin dendritic cells (DC) that fail to stimulate a primary mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR). Treatment of mice with IL-12 around the time of infection results in DC with normal stimulatory function (N.J. Williams, J.J. Harvey, I. Duncan, R.F.G. Booth, S.C. Knight, Cell Immunol. 183 (1988) 121-130). Here we derived DC from mouse bone marrow by culture with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) for 10-12 days; DC were generated from bone marrow cells taken from normal mice, from mice injected 15 days earlier with RLV or from those receiving RLV plus five daily doses of 100 ng of IL-12 starting 2 days before infection. Infection of the DC with RLV was assessed from nested PCR with doubling dilutions of DNA and the capacity of DC to stimulate a MLR was tested. DC derived from bone marrow of IL-12 treated animals showed at least twice the level of infection with RLV as those from non-treated animals although infection never exceeded 20% of the cells. DC derived from bone marrow of mice given RLV caused negligible stimulation of the MLR but those from mice additionally treated with IL-12 functioned normally. Thus, treatment of mice with IL-12 promoted the potential of stem cells taken 12 days after the last IL-12 injection to develop into functional DC despite increased infection with virus. Treatment of mice with IL-12 may have a long term effect on the potential growth of DC from stem cells which may contribute to the potency of this cytokine in promoting cell mediated immune responses.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Interleukin-12 restores dendritic cell function and cell-mediated immunity in retrovirus-infected mice.

The effects of IL-12 treatment on the defects in DC function and on the reduced cell-mediated immunity induced in mice infected with Rauscher leukemia virus (RLV) were studied. DC from RLV-infected mice failed to stimulate significant allogeneic T cell proliferation but T cells from RLV-infected mice showed normal responses to allogeneic DC. In RLV-infected mice treatment with 5 doses of 100 or 300 ng IL-12 around the time of infection resulted in DC that stimulated normal T cell proliferation. Treatment of mice with 300 ng IL-12 but not 100 ng reduced T cell responses. RLV-infected mice showed reduced delayed hypersensitivity to a contact sensitizer. Infected animals receiving the low dose of IL-12 which allowed normal DC and T cell function gave normal delayed hypersensitivity reactions; IL-12 thus resulted in both normal T cell stimulation by DC and cell-mediated immunity. A failure of T cell stimulation by DC is associated with immunosuppression in retrovirus infection and the enhanced capacity of DC to stimulate T cells after IL-12 treatment may be beneficial.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Double-blind, randomized trial of cessation of smoking after audiotape suggestion during anaesthesia.

We studied the use of intraoperative tape suggestion to improve the rate of cessation of smoking in 363 smokers who wanted to stop smoking. They were allocated randomly to hear a taped message encouraging them to stop smoking or to a blank tape, played during general anaesthesia. Overall 56 patients (15.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11.7-19.1%) had claimed to have stopped smoking at 2 months and 29 patients (8.0%, 95% CI 5.9-10.1%) were confirmed to have stopped smoking at 6 months. There was no significant difference between the groups at either 2 or 6 months (risk ratios 1.06 and 1.09, respectively, P = 0.78). A preoperative:postoperative ratio of a visual analogue scale measuring the patient's motivation to stop smoking was not significantly different (control group 1.13 vs message group 1.10, P = 0.55). This study does not support the hypothesis that intraoperative tape suggestion can change smoking behaviour.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

The use of minisatellite variant repeat-polymerase chain reaction (MVR-PCR) to determine the source of saliva on a used postage stamp.

In this paper we report the identification of an individual using the MVR-PCR technique on DNA extracted from single and multiple discs (3 mm) punched from a licked stamp attached to an envelope. The individual's code was successfully and uniquely matched to one already present within a database of 500 MVR codes which had been generated in a separate laboratory. The exercise illustrates the suitability of MVR-PCR for forensic samples and demonstrates the power of this rapid and novel identification system.

DNA, Satellite↗
PubMed1993

Microbial DNA challenge studies of variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) probes used for DNA profiling analysis.

DNA probes commonly used for forensic DNA profiling analysis were hybridized to Hinfl digested DNA isolated from various common microbial species. Extended exposures to light sensitive film failed to detect any DNA fragments of a microbial origin following hybridizations to radio-labeled DNA insert single-locus probes (SLPs) and nonisotopically labeled oligonucleotide SLPs.

DNA Fingerprinting↗