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Biomedical subjects

N Pal

Publications and source records attributed to N Pal.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Effects of health insurance and race on early detection of cancer.

BACKGROUND: The presence and type of health insurance may be an important determinant of cancer stage at diagnosis. To determine whether previously observed racial differences in stage of cancer at diagnosis may be explained partly by differences in insurance coverage, we studied all patients with incident cases of melanoma or colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer in Florida in 1994 for whom the stage at diagnosis and insurance status were known. METHODS: The effects of insurance and race on the odds of a late stage (regional or distant) diagnosis were examined by adjusting for an individual's age, sex, marital status, education, income, and comorbidity. All P values are two-sided. RESULTS: Data from 28 237 patients were analyzed. Persons who were uninsured were more likely diagnosed at a late stage (colorectal cancer odds ratio [OR] = 1.67, P =.004; melanoma OR = 2.59, P =.004; breast cancer OR = 1.43, P =.001; prostate cancer OR = 1.47, P =.02) than were persons with commercial indemnity insurance. Patients insured by Medicaid were more likely diagnosed at a late stage of breast cancer (OR = 1.87, P<.001) and melanoma (OR = 4.69, P<.001). Non-Hispanic African-American patients were more likely diagnosed with late stage breast and prostate cancers than were non-Hispanic whites. Hispanic patients were more likely to be diagnosed with late stage breast cancer but less likely to be diagnosed with late stage prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Persons lacking health insurance and persons insured by Medicaid are more likely diagnosed with late stage cancer at diverse sites, and efforts to improve access to cancer-screening services are warranted for these groups. Racial differences in stage at diagnosis are not explained by insurance coverage or socioeconomic status.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

University students' knowledge and awareness of HPV.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of university students regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV). METHODS: A random sample of 500 university students was mailed a self-administered questionnaire that elicited their knowledge and awareness about HPV and compared their knowledge and attitudes with those of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Among the 480 deliverable addresses, 289 students responded (response rate 60%). RESULTS: Only 37% of respondents had ever heard of HPV, and the median score on a 13-item knowledge scale was only 3. Of seven STDs assessed, respondents indicated they knew the least about HPV and perceived that this STD has received the least educational effort. In multivariate analyses, predictors of lower knowledge and awareness about HPV were male gender and sexual behavior (having multiple partners, not using condoms). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the high prevalence of HPV among young adults, most students knew very little about this infection. Implementing HPV educational programs and measuring their effectiveness should be a priority.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Prostate cancer screening in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the actual frequency with which men have prostate screening in primary care settings, nor are the determinants of screening understood. METHODS: We examined the records of 50 consecutive primary care office visits by men aged 50 or older. Men were asked to complete a brief questionnaire outlining their previous use of prostate screening services and the factors that influenced screening. RESULTS: Screening in the previous year with digital rectal examination (DRE) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) was reported by 46% and 30% of respondents, respectively. Most respondents (86%) had heard of prostate screening and most (78%) believed it was effective. The only factor predictive of screening with DRE in multivariate analysis was a doctor's discussion of screening (odds ratio, 4.8). Two factors were predictive of PSA screening--knowing someone who had prostate cancer (odds ratio, 12.8) and advancing age (odds ratio [per year], 1.1). CONCLUSIONS: Many men are not having annual prostate screening. Men who were older, who reported knowing someone with prostate cancer, and whose doctors discussed screening, were more likely to have been screened in the past year.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1999

The effects of physician supply on the early detection of colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Policymakers question whether there is a relationship between the number and distribution of physicians and the outcomes for important health conditions. We hypothesized that increasing primary care physician supply would be related to earlier detection of colorectal cancer. METHODS: We identified incident cases of colorectal cancer occurring in Florida in 1994 (n = 8,933) from the state cancer registry. We then obtained measures of physician supply from the 1994 American Medical Association Physician Masterfile and examined the effects of physician supply (at the levels of county and ZIP code clusters) on the odds of late-stage diagnosis using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: For each 10-percentile increase in primary care physician supply at the county level, the odds of late-stage diagnosis decreased by 5% (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92 - 0.99; P = .007). For each 10-percentile increase in specialty physician supply, the odds of late-stage diagnosis increased by 5% (adjusted OR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02-1.09; P = .006). Within ZIP code clusters, each 10-percentile increase in the supply of general internists was associated with a 3% decrease in the odds of late-stage diagnosis (OR = 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95 - 0.99; P = .006), and among women, each 10-percentile increase in the supply of obstetrician/gynecologists was associated with a 5% increase in the odds of late-stage diagnosis (OR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01 - 1.08; P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: If the relationships observed were causal, then as many as 874 of the 5463 (16%) late-stage colorectal cancer diagnoses are attributable to the physician specialty supply found in Florida. These findings suggest that an appropriate balance of primary care and specialty physicians may be important in achieving optimal health outcomes.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Use of inhalation to study the effect of ethanol and ethanol dependence on neonatal mouse development without maternal separation: a preliminary study.

This study explored the use of ethanol inhalation as a model to study the effects of ethanol and ethanol dependence on neonatal brain development in mice without maternal separation. In these experiments two day old Swiss Webster mice with their mothers were put in an inhalation chamber and continuously exposed to ethanol vapors for 12 days. The results indicate that: (a) the neonates developed substantial blood ethanol levels (160 to 290 mg/dl); (b) the mothers had minimal blood ethanol concentrations (BECs < 10mg/dl); (c) no mortality was observed during ethanol exposure; (d) physical dependence to ethanol was produced in the neonates, as evidenced by typical withdrawal symptoms.; (e) exposure to ethanol vapors did not affect the weight gain of the neonates indicating that nutrition and suckling ability was not significantly altered; the body weight of the mothers were also not affected; (f) 12 days of neonatal ethanol exposure significantly reduced whole brain and cerebellar weights on postnatal day 45 as compared to the controls; (g) neonatal ethanol exposure resulted in behavioral changes on postnatal day 40 to 41. Twelve days of ethanol exposure significantly impaired habituation, but did not alter spontaneous locomotion and (h) ethanol sensitivity on postnatal day 45 measured by Loss of Righting Reflex (LORR) was not affected. Although further studies are necessary, the results demonstrate that exposure to ethanol vapors can cause high BECs in the neonates without causing meaningful BECs in the mothers. Collectively, the results indicate that the ethanol inhalation technique can be used to investigate the effects of ethanol and ethanol dependence on neonatal development in mice during the rodent equivalent of the human third trimester.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1994

Role of mycelium and extracellular protein in the biodegradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol by Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

The biodegradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium was studied in batch systems. In experiments with mycelial suspension, the degradation of 2,4,6-TCP was found to occur in the absence of ligninase. Chloride ion was recovered in nearly stoichiometric amounts at the end of the process. The microorganism did not retain its degradation ability for more than 6 days under substrate-deficient conditions. Neither the mycelium nor the extracellular protein alone could degrade 2,4,6-TCP; both were required for complete degradation to occur. In experiments in which 2,4,6-TCP was exposed to the culture supernatant separated from its mycelium, negligible degradation was obtained and no chloride ion was recovered. No degradation was observed even when the supernatant was supplemented with hydrogen peroxide as a possible cosubstrate. In experiments performed with washed mycelium separated from its supernatant, no degradation took place until the mycelium released additional extracellular protein 5 to 6 h into the incubation. Additions of washed mycelium separated from its supernatant to active cultures also produced an increase in the rate of degradation in correspondence with the protein release. The protein release was independent of the presence of 2,4,6-TCP. The addition of cycloheximide to inhibit the synthesis of de novo proteins completely suppressed the release of protein by the mycelium and resulted in no 2,4,6-TCP degradation. Additions of culture supernatants containing a high concentration of extracellular protein to active cultures produced an increase in the rate of 2,4,6-TCP degradation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Basidiomycota↗
PubMed1991

Drug resistance pattern of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

A total of 404 methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from pus, CSF, blood and sputum of various hospitalized cases were analyzed. The resistance pattern of these strains were gentamicin (51.8%), erythromycin (80.1%) and co-trimoxazole (89.6%). All these strains were sensitive to vancomycin. The isolation rate was maximum from various surgical specialties (General surgery-28.5%; Neurosurgery-16.3% and Cardio-thoracic unit-10.5%) followed by Children Ward, Premature Nursery and Gynecology Ward, respectively. Use of cloxacillin needs to be restricted since vancomycin, the drug of choice is not available in our country.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Antiribitol-teichoic acid antibody (ARTA) in diagnosis of deep seated Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Antiribitol-teichoic acid antibody (ARTA) was detected in sera of 30 out of 50 patients (60%) with various acute deep seated Staphylococcus aureus infections and 5 out of 10 chronic osteomyelitis cases, whereas none of the sera from 50 patients with superficial Staphylococcus aureus infections as well from 50 patients without Staphylococcus aureus infections showed antibody response (p less than 0.01). This test is a definite advantage in diagnosis of deep seated staphylococcal infections like endocarditis, lung disease, meningitis and specially in osteomyelitis cases where organisms cannot be isolated and therefore helps in predicting the need for long term antimicrobial therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

On a test of non-random segregation under linkage for autosomal recessive diseases.

To test the null hypothesis of random segregation of marker haplotypes from an unaffected parent to affected offspring for a one-locus autosomal recessive disease, Majumder proposed a test statistic which was shown to be locally most powerful against the alternative hypothesis of non-random segregation due to linkage between the disease and marker loci. The test procedure relied on a chi-squared approximation to the null distribution of the test statistic. In the present study, we show that the chi-squared approximation is poor for most practical situations and derive the exact null distribution of a function of the test statistic. We illustrate the method using published data on tuberculoid leprosy and HLA. We show that the test procedure is invariant, and extend the method to the case of a two-locus recessive disease.

Chi-Square Distribution↗
PubMed1990

Preferential loss of maternal alleles in sporadic Wilms' tumour.

Loss of heterozygosity at loci on the short arm of chromosome 11 has been reported in 31% (11/38) of Wilms' tumours in our series. Lymphoblastoid cell lines were prepared from the parents of 10/11 of the patients showing allele loss in their tumours. In 9 of the cases, where the parental origin of the alleles could be followed, it was the paternal alleles which were retained in the tumour. This preferential loss of the maternal alleles implies a role for genomic imprinting in the pathogenesis of Wilms' tumour.

Alleles↗
PubMed1990

Loss of heterozygosity in Wilms' tumour involves two distinct regions of chromosome 11.

Pairs of tumour and normal DNA samples from 38 Wilms' tumour patients have been investigated for loss of heterozygosity using 12 probes from chromosome 11. Allele loss was detected in only 11 cases (31%). Densitometric analysis showed that allele loss was not due to non-disjunction or hemizygous deletion, but rather to mitotic recombination or non-disjunction plus reduplication. Although the development of homozygosity sometimes involved the whole of the short arm of chromosome 11, in a few tumours allele loss was restricted to band 11p15 or 11p13 and distal sequences. This suggests mutations in two distinct regions play an important role in Wilms' tumorigenesis. There was no apparent correlation between loss of heterozygosity and tumour stage, age of presentation, or prior exposure to chemotherapy.

Alleles↗
PubMed1989

Species identification & methicillin resistance of coagulase negative staphylococci from clinical specimens.

A total of 75 strains of coagulase negative staphylococci were isolated in pure culture from different specimens from patients suffering from various deep seated staphylococcal infections undergoing treatment between November, 1985 and December, 1986. Using the Baird Parker classification system, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the commonest isolate found (60%) of which biotype 1 was the most frequent (51.1%). Twenty seven (36%) untypable strains could be typed using Kloos and Schleifer's classification system. These strains were identified as Staph. cohnii (10), Staph. hominis (8), Staph. capitis (4), Staph. haemolyticus (3), Staph. simulans (1), and Staph. warneri (1). Three Staph. saprophyticus strains were isolated from patients of urinary tract infection. Methicillin resistant strains (14.6%) were isolated mainly from patients of meningitis, urinary tract infections and endocarditis. All these strains were sensitive to vancomycin. Coagulase negative staphylococci thus can cause a number of human infections and should no longer be regarded as harmless commensals.

Humans↗
PubMed1988

Insulin effect on [14C]-valine incorporation and its relation to hexokinase activity in developing brain.

Using minced brain cortex from fetal and postnatal rats, we studied the incorporation of [14C]-valine into protein in the presence of insulin. We also assayed the "particle bound" and soluble hexokinase in these tissues. Insulin significantly stimulated the incorporation of [14C]-valine into brain proteins from fetal stage upto 2 days of life. After this period the insulin effect was minimal, with no effect by day 5. The "particle bound" (40,000g pellet) brain hexokinase, on the other hand, remained low till about 2 days of life and then increased to almost adult level by 5 days. Our results show that there is an inverse relation between this anabolic effect of insulin and the "particle bound" hexokinase activity in the cortex of developing rat brain.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

Nonrandom segregation: uniformly most powerful test and related considerations.

When nonrandom segregation of marker haplotypes from parents to offspring is detected, leading to an increased parental haplotype sharing by affected offspring, an association between the disease and the marker loci is often inferred. In this paper, we provide the uniformly most powerful test for testing nonrandom segregation, and compare the power of this test with another test that is available in the literature. Other statistical properties of the two tests are also discussed. Further, since nonrandom segregation can result from linkage of the disease and marker loci, when the hypothesis of random segregation is rejected, it is of interest to estimate the underlying parameter assuming linkage. We provide an estimation procedure.

Biometry↗
PubMed1987

Zinc feeding and conception in the rats.

When the diet was supplemented with 4,000 ppm zinc as ZnSO4 for 18 days, the incidence of conception was lower in a group of rats as compared to an unsupplemented group treated as control. The number of implantation sites calculated by adding the number of resorption sites and of fetuses was reduced in the zinc ingested group as expressed per mated female. Additional zinc intake was interpreted to interfere with implantation of the fertilised ova. But institution of zinc administration at the same dose 21 to 26 days prior to coitus and continued throughout gestation for 18 days did not affect the incidence of conception and implantation sites per mated female. The observation was probably due to an adaptation to precoital treatment with zinc. In both experiments stillbirth and malformed fetuses were absent and the number of resorption sites was negligible in the zinc ingested rats and their controls suggesting no major untoward effect of added zinc to fetal growth. This was further corroborated by unaffected fetal and placental weights.

Animals↗