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Biomedical subjects

S Watt

Publications and source records attributed to S Watt.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Systematic screening tests for Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in urogenital specimens of infertile couples].

We conducted a prospective study on 100 couples consulting for infertility at the teaching Hospital of Tours, with the scope to determine if there is a benefit for systematic screening of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum among genito-urinary specimen when exploring couples infertility. C. trachomatis was detected by PCR on sperm, endocervix and urine specimen. M. hominis and U. urealyticum were detected by culture on A7 agar medium and with minigaleries on sperm and endocervix specimen. Standard cultures were also performed on sperm, endocervix, vaginal and urine specimen. Only one specimen (sperm) was positive for C. trachomatis. Three percent of the specimen were positive for U. urealyticum (from which 2,5% of the sperm specimen). No specimen was positive for M. hominis. Our results show that screening of C. trachomatis, M. hominis and U. urealyticum is not systematically required for among check up of infertile couples, given the prevalence of chlamydiosis among the population studied. However, it would be interesting to perform it on a targeted population, according to anamnestic or clinical criteria. In addition, an important modification of vaginal flora was observed in 12% of cases, and 2 vaginosis were diagnosed; the putative consequences of this disequilibrium has to be further investigated.

Cervix Uteri↗
PubMed2004

Outbreak in France of Neisseria meningitidis B:15:P1.12 belonging to sequence type 1403.

This report describes a meningococcal outbreak in France caused by Neisseria meningitidis B:15:P1.12 of sequence type 1403, which affected eight young patients, between November 2000 and February 2002. Epidemiological typing confirmed that a single strain was responsible. Favourable outcome, sequelae or death resulted in similar proportions as in other cases of meningococcal disease in France during the same period, but purpura was observed in all eight cases. The patients were aged between 14 and 28 years, whereas the median age of patients affected by other meningococcal strains during this period in the same area was 60.4 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Viral and bacterial DNA in carotid atherosclerotic lesions.

Atherosclerosis is a major health problem in industrialised countries. Several studies have suggested an association exists between certain microorganisms and the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of the study presented here was to assess the presence of viral or bacterial DNA in carotid atherosclerotic lesions. Nucleic acids were extracted from 18 carotid atherosclerotic lesions that had been collected surgically. Polymerase chain reaction was used to screen for specific genomic DNA from Chlamydia pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2. An original approach, based on the amplification by PCR of conserved bacterial 16S rDNA nucleotide sequences was also used to detect any bacterial species. The amplification product was identified by sequencing. Chlamydia pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex 2 DNA were not detected in any of the samples. Herpes simplex 1 DNA was detected in 3 of the 18 samples. Genes encoding bacterial 16S rRNA were amplified and sequenced in eight atherosclerotic lesions. DNA sequences were identified by comparison with sequences registered in the GenBank database. These eight carotid atherosclerotic lesions were shown to contain several bacterial species belonging to human flora or the environment. The exact role of these microorganisms in the genesis or development of the atherosclerotic lesions remains unclear, but they may increase the inflammatory process or be an epiphenomenon.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Genetic relationship between Escherichia coli strains isolated from the intestinal flora and those responsible for infectious diseases among patients hospitalized in intensive care units.

The exact origin of strains of Escherichia coli responsible for infectious diseases in intensive care units (ICUs) remains partly unknown. Our aim was to determine the nature of the link between strains from the intestinal flora of hospital staff, strains from the intestinal flora of patients hospitalized in ICUs and strains isolated from ICU patients with invasive diseases. For this purpose, 77 strains of E. coli were genetically characterized by exploring their entire genomes by random amplified polymorphism of DNA (RAPD), and by determining their phylogenetic position in ECOR (E. coli reference) groups, the virulence factors harboured (pap, sfa, afa, hly, aer and cnf) and their ability to mutate. The strains isolated from the intestinal flora of hospital staff were found to constitute a genetically heterogeneous population compared with the strains isolated from ICU carriers, which were highly clustered. The latter strains harboured numerous virulence factors, and 80% belonged to the group ECOR B2. The strains isolated from infected patients harboured fewer virulence factors than those from the ICU carriers, and only half belonged to ECOR B2. Moreover, these strains were more genetically related to strains from hospital staff than to strains from ICU carriers. Thus, the exogenous origin of the E. coli strains is probably almost as important as translocation from intestinal flora in ICUs. Moreover, a strong mutator phenotype had a minor, or no, role in the rapid adaptation to modifications in the ecological environment.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2002

An intracranial neoplasm complicating labour.

We present a case in which a 27-year-old primigravida was found to have an intracranial tumour during the first stage of labour. We review previous reports of similar cases and discuss the management options.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

[Obstetrical management of Streptococcus agalactiae].

S. agalactiae is the main cause of maternal and neonatal infections. Correct bacteriological explorations of pregnant women and neonates with risk factors may allow early and effective antibiotherapy. The screening of S. agalactiae vaginal carriage at 34-38 weeks of amenorrhea and the administration of penicillin at delivery is considered as the best strategy for preventing S. agalactiae infections for asymptomatic patients.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2001

The Ontario Mother and Infant Survey: breastfeeding outcomes.

A cross-sectional survey of postpartum women following discharge from five hospitals in Ontario, Canada, examined breatfeeding patterns and risk factors for early discontinuation. Consenting mothers completed self-administered questionnaires prior to discharge (n = 1250) and telephone interviews at 4 weeks postdischarge (n = 875). Breastfeeding initiation rates for women completing the interview varied from 82% to 96% across the sites. Continuation rates rapidly declined, with 13% to 24% of women who had initiated breastfeeding switching to formula by 4 weeks postpartum. Perceived inadequate milk supply, difficulty with breastfeeding techniques, and sore nipples were the main reasons reported. Risk factors for breastfeeding cessation included not completing high school; intention to breastfeed less than 4 months; not anticipating the use of a "mom's group" or "drop-in center"; one or more maternal visits to a family physician; length of postpartum stay greater than 48 hours; unmet need for care or help with breastfeeding; and received advice, information, or support about formula feeding.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Costs of postpartum care: examining associations from the Ontario mother and infant survey.

A cross-sectional survey of 1,250 mothers of "normal" newborn infants was conducted to assess mother and infant characteristics as well as the costs of health and social services used in the first 4 weeks after discharge from hospital in the province of Ontario, Canada. Each mother was asked to recall use of services for herself and her infant. This utilization was multiplied by the unit cost of each service and summed to arrive at the total cost of services used. Although re-admission rates were low (1% for mothers, 4% for infants), costs associated with hospital and emergency room care ($194 on average per mother/infant dyad) accounted for the greatest proportion of total health-care costs. Physician or midwife visits, which were received by almost all mothers, were the next most costly service ($128 on average per dyad). Mothers with incomes under $20,000 had more medical costs than those with higher incomes. Costs of community nursing care ($86 on average per dyad) were higher for mothers with more than 5 self-identified learning needs (e.g., infant feeding, infant care and behaviour, emotional changes in self, signs of illness in infant); perception of their own health as poor; perception of inadequate help and support at home; many signs and symptoms of depression; and postpartum hospital stay of 48 hours or less. Costs for social work visits were higher for mothers with depression and mothers with low incomes. Total health and social service costs were double for mothers with family incomes under $20,000 ($788 vs. $399 on average per dyad) and for mothers with clinical depression ($845 vs. $413). Specifically, nursing care costs were greater for mothers with high depression scores ($135 vs. $81).

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Production of cloned pigs from in vitro systems.

Here we describe a procedure for cloning pigs by the use of in vitro culture systems. Four healthy male piglets from two litters were born following nuclear transfer of cultured somatic cells and subsequent embryo transfer. The initiation of five additional pregnancies demonstrates the reproducibility of this procedure. Its important features include extended in vitro culture of fetal cells preceding nuclear transfer, as well as in vitro maturation and activation of oocytes and in vitro embryo culture. The cell culture and nuclear transfer techniques described here should allow the use of genetic modification procedures to produce tissues and organs from cloned pigs with reduced immunogenicity for use in xenotransplantation.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Well-adjusted children: an alternate view of children with inflammatory bowel disease and functional gastrointestinal complaints.

Previous studies have suggested impaired psychosocial adjustment in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We examined 62 subjects referred to a regional Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic with IBD or functional gastrointestinal (FGI) complaints. Characteristics of the clinic include a unified team approach, regularly scheduled appointments at 3-month intervals, proactive medical care emphasizing maintenance of full functioning, and close medical-surgical interaction (joint clinics). A research assistant administered a questionnaire regarding children's perceptions of their illness, as well as the Child Depression Inventory (CDI), the Piers-Harris (PH) test of self-concept, and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). The 36 children with IBD (25 Crohn's disease, 11 ulcerative colitis, mean age 13.3 +/- 3.0 years) were compared with 26 patients with FGI complaints (16 recurrent abdominal pain, 10 functional megacolon, mean age 11.4 +/- 2.8 years). The scores on the standardized tests were not clinically significant for either group. In comparison, however, children with IBD were less depressed and had fewer behaviour problems than the FGI group. Surprisingly, only 19% (7 of 36) of children with IBD described their illness as a problem to them, compared with 65% (17 of 26) of children with FGI symptoms. The latter children also considered themselves significantly sicker than did those with IBD. We conclude that normal psychosocial adjustment is possible in pediatric patients with IBD. We speculate that this group benefitted from the professional supports that our clinic specifically provides to patients with IBD. The FGI group may have suffered from a lack of such professional supports, as well as from the absence of a specific diagnosis.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed1999

SHP-1 regulates Lck-induced phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase phosphorylation and activity.

Ligation of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) activates the Src family tyrosine kinase p56 Lck, which, in turn, phosphorylates a variety of intracellular substrates. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 are two Lck substrates that have been implicated in TCR signaling. In this study, we demonstrate that SHP-1 co-immunoprecipitates with the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K in Jurkat T cells, and that this association is increased by ligation of the TCR complex. Co-expression of SHP-1 and PI3K with a constitutively activated form of Lck in COS7 cells demonstrated the carboxyl-terminal SH2 domain of PI3K to inducibly associate with the full-length SHP-1 protein. By contrast, a truncated SHP-1 mutant lacking the Lck phosphorylation site (Tyr(564)) failed to bind p85. Wild-type but not catalytically inactive SHP-1 induced dephosphorylation of p85. Furthermore, expression of SHP-1 decreased PI3K enzyme activity in anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates and phosphorylation of serine 473 in Akt, a process dependent on PI3K activity. These results indicate the presence of a functional interaction between PI3K and SHP-1 and suggest that PI3K signaling, which has been implicated in cell proliferation, apoptosis, cytoskeletal reorganization, and many other biological activities, can be regulated by SHP-1 in T lymphocytes.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed1999

The Src-homology domain 2-bearing protein tyrosine phosphatase-1 inhibits antigen receptor-induced apoptosis of activated peripheral T cells.

Restimulation of Ag receptors on peripheral T lymphocytes induces tyrosine phosphorylation-based signaling cascades that evoke Fas ligand expression and induction of Fas-mediated programmed cell death. In view of the role for the Src homology domain 2-bearing protein tyrosine phosphatase-1 (SHP-1) in modulating TCR signaling, we investigated the influence of SHP-1 on TCR-mediated apoptosis by assaying the sensitivity of peripheral T cells from SHP-1-deficient viable motheaten (mev) mice to cell death following TCR restimulation. The results of these studies revealed mev peripheral T cells to be markedly more sensitive than wild-type cells to induction of cell death following TCR stimulation. By contrast, PMA/ionophore and anti-Fas Ab-induced apoptotic responses were no different in mev compared with wild-type activated cells. Enhanced apoptosis of TCR-restimulated mev lymphocytes was associated with marked increases in Fas ligand expression as compared with wild-type cells, but was almost abrogated in both mev and wild-type cells by Fas-Fc treatment. Thus, the increased sensitivity of mev T cells to apoptosis following TCR restimulation appears to reflect a TCR-driven phenomenon mediated through up-regulation of Fas-Fas ligand interaction and induction of the Fas signaling cascade. These findings, together with the hyperproliferative responses of mev peripheral T cells to initial TCR stimulation, indicate that SHP-1 modulation of TCR signaling translates to the inhibition of both T cell proliferation and activation and, as such, is likely to play a pivotal role in regulating the expansion of Ag-stimulated T cells during an immune response.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Effects of reducing attentional resources on implicit and explicit memory after severe traumatic brain injury.

Implicit and explicit memory were examined in individuals with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) under conditions of full and divided attention. Participants included 12 individuals with severe TBI and 12 matched controls. In Experiment 1, participants carried out an implicit test of word-stem completion and an explicit test of cued recall. Results demonstrated that TBI participants exhibited impaired explicit memory but preserved implicit memory. In Experiment 2, a significant reduction in the explicit memory performance of both TBI and control participants, as well as a significant decrease in the implicit memory performance of TBI participants, was achieved by reducing attentional resources at encoding. These results indicated that performance on an implicit task of word-stem completion may require the availability of additional attentional resources that are not preserved after severe TBI.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Economic evaluations of community-based care: lessons from twelve studies in Ontario.

A series of 12 studies (five historic cohort and seven randomized trials) examined clients in community settings in Southern Ontario suffering from a variety of chronic physical and mental health conditions. These studies are appraised using a framework for evaluating possible outcomes of economic evaluation. In the 12 studies, sample composition and size varied. Each study was designed to quantify the well-being outcomes and expenditures associated with different community-based approaches to care provided in the context of a system of national health insurance. As a collective, these studies represent increasing methodological rigour. Multiple-perspective client well-being outcome measures were used. In two studies, caregiver burden also was analysed. A common approach to quantification and evaluation of expenditures for service consumption was used in all 12 studies. The nature of community-based health services (health vs. disease care orientation) was found to have direct and measurable impact on total expenditures for health service utilization and client well-being outcomes. In most cases, a recurring pattern of equal or better client outcomes, yet lower expenditures for use of community based health services, was associated with well-integrated health oriented services. Integrated services aimed at factors which determine health are superior when compared to individual, fragmented, disease oriented, and focused approaches to care. The main lessons from the 12 studies are that it is as or more effective and as or less expensive to offer complete, proactive, community health services to persons living with chronic circumstance than to provide focused, on-demand, piecemeal services. Complete services would have a psychosocial and mental health focus included with the physical care approach. Furthermore, people with coexisting risk factors (age, living arrangements, mental distress and problem-solving ability) are the ones who most benefit at lower expense from health oriented, proactive interventions.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1999

Community care for people with chronic conditions: an analysis of nine studies of health and social service utilization in Ontario.

A series of studies conducted in the same region found that programmatic, community-based health and social service interventions have a positive impact on client well-being. These proactive interventions, designed to address the full range of health and social needs, were usually provided at the same--or even lower--costs as uncoordinated, illness-focused care. The results of this series suggest that across-the-board health care reduction, at least in a system of national health insurance, will produce poorer results, at higher cost, for people with chronic conditions living in the community. Policy planners need more research that concentrates on comparisons of outcomes between and within different models of health and social service delivery. The studies should be designed to help them determine who benefits from different service configurations carried out within a range of policy environments at various costs.

Canada↗
PubMed1998

Unusually severe heterozygous beta-thalassemia: evidence for an interacting gene affecting globin translation.

A common beta-thalassemia mutation in Asian populations is the C --> T substitution at position 654 of intron 2, which leads to the activation of two cryptic splicing sites and the incorporation of 73 extra nucleotides into the mutant mRNA. Like most beta-thalassemia mutations, it normally exhibits recessive inheritance. We investigated the unusually severe phenotype in two heterozygotes for this mutation, father and son, who had thalassemia intermedia and an apparent dominant mode of inheritance. An increased level of aberrantly spliced transcript in the reticulocytes of the probands compared with asymptomatic beta654 heterozygotes led us to investigate the production and processing of beta654 RNA. We showed that large amounts of the aberrant beta654 transcript were detectable in erythroblasts from one of the asymptomatic cases. The translation product of this mRNA was not detectable in vivo, and we were unable to demonstrate the translation of the mutant mRNA in a cell-free translation system. Although the reticulocyte alpha:beta mRNA ratios in the two probands were within the range observed in the asymptomatic heterozygotes, globin chain biosynthesis studies showed that the probands had considerably greater alpha:beta chain imbalance. These results imply that the more severe phenotype may be due to a second defect, possibly unlinked to the beta-globin cluster, that acts at the translational or posttranslational level.

Adult↗