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S Best

Publications and source records attributed to S Best.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The molecular basis of beta-thalassemia in Thailand: application to prenatal diagnosis.

To enable the prenatal diagnosis of beta-thalassemia by direct detection of the mutant beta-globin genes, we have determined the spectrum of mutations causing this disease in Thailand. The techniques employed included a combination of synthetic oligonucleotide probe hybridization, direct sequencing of genomic DNA enzymatically amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, and cloning and sequencing of the beta-globin genes. A total of 116 beta-thalassemia genes from 78 Hb E/beta-thalassemia patients and from 19 homozygous beta-thalassemia patients were analyzed, and the mutation was characterized in 112/116 (97%) of them. Eleven mutations were found, of which four (-CTTT in codon 41/42, AAG----TAG in codon 17, C----T in position 654 of the IVS-2 region, and A----G in position -28 upstream of the beta-globin gene) accounted for 83%; two previously undescribed mutations have been identified. The spectrum of beta-thalassemia mutations is similar to that reported among the Chinese. However, within the Thai population itself, patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia show a wider spread of mutations in comparison with the Hb E/beta-thalassemia group, in whom the frameshift 41/42 mutation predominates at a frequency of 62%. This difference in distribution may reflect the difference in ethnic origin of the two groups. Characterization of these mutations should aid the planning of a prenatal diagnosis program for beta-thalassemia in Thailand.

Base Sequence↗

Can psychiatric nurses 'catch' schizophrenia?

The incidence of schizophrenia among psychiatric and general trained nurses was investigated for the period 1955-1979 in Northern Ireland. No difference was found. These results do not support the hypothesis of schizophrenia as a horizontally transmitted infectious disease.

Adult↗

Fatty acyl chain specificity of phosphatidylcholine hydrolysis catalyzed by lipoprotein lipase. Effect of apolipoprotein C-II and its (56-79) synthetic fragment.

Mixed acyl chain phosphatidylcholine molecules in Triton N-101 micelles were employed as substrates for lipoprotein lipase to test which substrate acyl chain has the greatest effect on activation of the enzyme by apolipoprotein C-II. The phospholipase A1 activity of lipoprotein lipase was measured by pH-stat. The activation factor (lipoprotein lipase activity plus apolipoprotein C-II/activity minus apolipoprotein C-II) increased monotonically with apolipoprotein C-II concentration up to 1 microM apolipoprotein C-II at an enzyme concentration of 0.01 microM. The maximal activation factor for phosphatidylcholine substrate molecules with sn-2 acyl chain lengths of 14 averages 14.8. By contrast, for sn-2 acyl chain lengths of 16 the activation factor was 29.2. Varying the sn-1 acyl chain length had no significant effect on the activation factor. The chain-length dependence of the activation factor is similar with the apolipoprotein C-II peptide fragment comprising residues 56-79, which does not include the lipid-binding region of apolipoprotein C-II. These data are consistent with a model for activation of lipoprotein lipase in which residues 56-79 bind to lipoprotein lipase and alter the interaction of the sn-2 acyl chain of the phosphatidylcholine (PC) substrate or the lysoPC product within the activated state complex.

Apolipoprotein C-II↗

Characteristics of children with phonologic disorders of unknown origin.

Descriptive data are presented from three studies of children referred for assessment of a developmental speech disorder of unknown origin. Group findings indicate that these children have involvements in mechanism, cognitive, and psychosocial areas that warrant attention in theoretical explication of and early intervention for their communication deficits. The reliability, learnability, and efficiency of a diagnostic classification system that attempts to provide characteristic speech profiles for diagnostic subtypes is also considered.

Child↗

Wasting time?

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Child, Preschool↗

[The omovertebral bone--new possibility of preoperative examination by computed axial tomography (author's transl)].

After a brief review of literature a case of congenital high scapula with omovertebral bone is presented by conventional X-ray films (plain X-ray and a. p. tomography). The additional computed axial tomography is of great diagnostic value, giving the surgeon a good deal of preoperative information on the anatomy of the bony connection between cervical vertebrae and scapula. The possible pitfalls of this new diagnostic technique are discussed as well as its limitation.

Cervical Vertebrae↗

Teaching of fertility regulation in medical schools: a survey in the United States and Canada, 1964.

Fertility regulation is taught didactically in 82 of 94 medical school departments of obstetrics and gynecology in the United States and Canada, but students are given clinical experience in only 59 medical schools, according to a survey conducted in 1964 by a committee of the American Public Health Association. Legal prohibitions impeded teaching in 1964 in two States and in all of Canada. Nearly all schools teach that help with fertility regulation should be offered for medical and socioeconomic stress, and most teach that it should be offered routinely in premarital counselling and in the postpartum period, but only two-thirds teach that this help should be given to unmarried adults and only one-third teach that any person requesting help with fertility regulation should receive it.

Canada↗

[Mobility of patients with coxarthrosis].

The common methods of evaluating walking capacity of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip reported in literature are all inaccurate and are based on symptoms. It has been proved, that these informations are to uncertain and therefore have to be replaced by objective criterias. A method of assessment was developed which can easily be applied in clinical routine without great apparative means. With a pedometer and a stopwatch the time can be measured which the patient needs to pass a distance of 30 meters as quick as possible (MAX 30). Similarly the maximal walking distance (MAX DIST) is evaluated as well as the average walking distance (MEDIAN). It could be shown, that walking capacity is not dependent on the amount of degenerative changes, duration of hip disease and hip motion. Walking capacity is negatively influenced by pain, muscle atrophy and lack of training. Patients with osteoarthritis of the hip are able to walk on average 3 km without interruption, thereby they develop a speed of 4 km/h on average. So they are not much slower than healthy subjects. The two must important aims of conservative treatment of hip disease must be alleviation of pain and improvement of muscular strength. Main indication criterium for hip replacement is walking capacity, not the radiological assessed amount of degenerative changes.

Adult↗