T-cell receptor analysis by flow cytometry.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P McCoy.
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Results of a complete survey of the more than 2-million-member Pharmacopeia compound collection in a 1536-well microvolume screening assay format are reported. A complete technology platform, enabling the performance of ultra-high throughput screening in a miniaturized 1536-well assay format, has been assembled and utilized. The platform consists of tools for performing microvolume assays, including assay plates, liquid handlers, optical imagers, and data management software. A fluorogenic screening assay for inhibition of a protease enzyme target was designed and developed using this platform. The assay was used to perform a survey screen of the Pharmacopeia compound collection for active inhibitors of the target enzyme. The results from the survey demonstrate the successful implementation of the ultra-high throughout platform for routine screening purposes. Performance of the assay in the miniaturized format is equivalent to that of a standard 96-well assay, showing the same dependence on kinetic parameters and ability to measure enzyme inhibition. The survey screen identified an active class of compounds within the Pharmacopeia compound collection. These results were confirmed using a standard 96-well assay.
This study involved a comparison of scores on the Commitment to Physical Activity Scale and the Social Physique Anxiety Scale by 258 women athletes, kinesiology majors, and a control group. Mean commitment to physical activity of the control group was significantly lower than the means of the other groups; the mean on anxiety about social physique was significantly higher.
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Investigation into the immunobiology of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) would be facilitated by the development of a suitable experimental system. The recent use of mice with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) as a vehicle to study the human immune system prompted us to try to establish CTCL in SCID mice. We found that a CD4+ lymphocytic infiltrate characteristic of CTCL was maintained within patient skin grafts in place on natural killer cell depleted SCID mice for the month of observation. CTCL cells were not found outside the human skin graft. This chimeric model using SCID mice and patient lesional skin should provide a useful tool to characterize CTCL/skin microenvironmental interactions and to test new therapeutic approaches.
beta-Hemolytic streptococci (BHS) of Lancefield group F were isolated in moderate to heavy growth from throat cultures taken from 46 children and adolescents with symptomatic pharyngitis. In most instances, oxygen deprivation by means of an anaerobe jar was required for these beta-hemolytic organisms to grow. In relation to a comparison group of children with throat cultures positive for group A BHS, children with group F isolates were more likely to be adolescents and less likely to have fever and cervical adenopathy. It appears that group F BHS are not a major cause of nonepidemic pharyngitis in the pediatric age group. More precise determination of how commonly these organisms cause pharyngitis will require either comparison of isolation rates of group F BHS from the throats of both sick and well children, or further elucidation of the serologic response to these organisms so as to distinguish invasive infection from asymptomatic carriage.
The optimal atmosphere of incubation for the isolation of group A beta-hemolytic streptococci from throat cultures has been the subject of considerable debate. To resolve this issue, we examined 5992 consecutive throat cultures performed at a private pediatric office in children with acute upper respiratory tract infections. All throat cultures were streaked onto duplicate blood agar plates, one of which was then incubated anaerobically and the other aerobically. beta-Hemolytic streptococci were isolated in cultures from 1885 (31.5%) of the patients; 1479 (24.7%) were identified as group A, and 406 (6.8%) were identified as non-group A. Group A streptococci were recovered significantly more often from the plates incubated anaerobically than from those incubated aerobically (1467 vs. 1054; anaerobic only, 425; aerobic only, 12; P less than 0.01). Non-group A streptococci were also recovered significantly more often from the plates incubated anaerobically than from the plates incubated aerobically (397 vs. 170; anaerobic only, 236; aerobic only, 9;P less than 0.01). Anaerobic incubation maximizes the yield of the throat culture. The additional cost and effort of anaerobic incubation are small, and would appear to be justified by the increased isolation rate of group A beta-hemolytic streptococci. The significance of the increased isolation rate of non-group A beta-hemolytic streptococci with anaerobic incubation needs to be investigated further.
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Campylobacter jejuni has been recognized as a frequent cause of bacterial diarrhea in infants and children. C. jejuni is a fastidious, Gram-negative, comma-shaped or sea gull-shaped, curved rod which is capable, particularly during the summer months, of causing slimy mucoid, blood diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever. In our pediatric office laboratory we found over a 12-month period that 14 (10%) of 126 stool specimens contained this pathogen. All but two children were diagnosed during the late spring and summer. There was no common source for Campylobacter infections in the patients. In 8 (66%) of 12 patients, C. jejuni infection was immediately detected by examining a 1% aqueous basic fuchsin-stained stool smear. Uncontrolled observations from this study suggest that erythromycin therapy, if started within 2 to 3 days of the onset of illness, is clinically effective.
The diagnostic accuracy and practicality of a latex agglutination test for the rapid diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis directly from throat swabs were evaluated in two private pediatric practices. Compared with anaerobic throat culture the latex agglutination method had a sensitivity of 93.4%, a specificity of 90.2% and an overall accuracy of 91.8%. Even used as a while-you-wait test, the rapid method fit easily into the routine of busy office practice. Latex agglutination testing for the rapid diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis may prove to be a valuable adjunct to the office microbiology laboratory.
We evaluated 2401 patients with suspected streptococcal pharyngitis with the Culturette 10-minute Group A Strep ID test during a 6-month period in order to determine its suitability for rapid diagnosis in a busy private office practice. Duplicate throat swabs were obtained for each child, and latex agglutination was performed within 15 minutes. In children with negative latex agglutination results, the second swab was cultured. All latex agglutination results were available within 20 minutes of collection, while the patients waited in the office. Seven hundred thirty-eight specimens were positive by latex agglutination. Seventy-eight of the 1663 latex negative specimens contained group A streptococci on culture (sensitivity 90 percent). Approximately 60 percent of these latex-negative, culture-positive specimens demonstrated 3(+)-4+ growth in culture, unlike previous studies ascribing false-negative latex results to low colony count specimens. Fifty percent of bacitracin-susceptible streptococci tested were not group A, indicating a relatively high occurrence of nongroup A beta-hemolytic streptococcal carriage in this patient population. The use of latex agglutination for detection of group A streptococcal pharyngitis was well-suited to our office practice, even during an extremely busy winter season. Although this assay appears to have a relatively high sensitivity, it is still prudent to culture latex-negative swabs to exclude group A streptococcal infection. The significance of nongroup A beta-hemolytic streptococci in our patient population was unclear. Further refinements are necessary.