Biomedical subjects

V Florian

Publications and source records attributed to V Florian.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

A new member of the sorting nexin family interacts with the C-terminus of P-selectin.

P-selectin is a cell adhesion molecule found in platelets and endothelial cells mediating binding of leukocytes. It is stored in secretory granules and expressed at the plasma membrane after cell activation. After rapid internalisation P-selectin recycles or is degraded. The 35 amino acid cytoplasmic domain of P-selectin contains signals for sorting into secretory granules, for endocytosis and for delivery to lysosomes. To investigate protein-protein interactions, we performed two-hybrid screening using the cytoplasmic domain of P-selectin as bait. KIAA0064 was identified as a putative intracellular P-selectin binding protein. Because the protein contains a phox homology (PX) domain in the N-terminus which is a characteristic feature of the sorting nexin (SNX) family, it was named SNX17. The PX domain is not required for binding of P-selectin in the two-hybrid system. Expression of a fusion protein between SNX17 and green fluorescent protein demonstrated localisation of SNX17 in the cytosol and to membranes.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Mental health and marital adaptation among mothers of children with cerebral palsy.

Employing a theoretical model that emphasizes risk-resistance factors for maternal adaptation, this study compared 80 mothers of children with cerebral palsy to 80 mothers of children without physical disabilities. Results revealed differences between the two groups, and indicated that, among mothers of children with cerebral palsy, self-esteem, self-mastery, and family network size were the main variables that contributed to mothers' psychological and marital adaptation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2001

An existentialist view on mortality salience effects: personal hardiness, death-thought accessibility, and cultural worldview defence.

Two studies examined the possible moderating role of hardiness on reactions to mortality salience inductions. A sample of 240 Israeli undergraduate students completed a hardiness scale, were exposed to a mortality salience or control induction, and then either rated the severity and punishment of 10 social transgressions (Study 1, N = 120) or performed a word-stem completion task, which tapped the accessibility of death-related thoughts (Study 2, N = 120). Results indicated that a mortality salience induction led to more severe judgments of social transgressions as well as to more severe punishments than a control induction only among participants scoring low in the hardiness scale. However, a mortality salience induction led to a higher cognitive accessibility of death-related thoughts than a control condition regardless of participants' hardiness scores. The discussion emphasizes the importance of considering inner resources when examining reactions to mortality reminders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Does a threat appeal moderate reckless driving? A terror management theory perspective.

A series of two studies examined the effects of threat appeals on reckless driving from a terror management theory perspective. In both studies, all the participants (N = 109) reported on the relevance of driving to their self-esteem, and, then, half of them were exposed to a road trauma film and the remaining to a neutral film. In Study 1, the dependent variable was the self-report of intentions to drive recklessly in hypothetical scenarios. In Study 2, the dependent variable was actual behavior (driving speed) in a driving simulator. Findings indicated that a road trauma film led to less reported intentions of reckless driving, but to higher driving speed than a neutral film. These effects were only found among participants who perceived driving as relevant to their self-esteem. The discussion emphasized the self-enhancing mechanisms proposed by the terror management theory.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed2000

Exploring individual differences in reactions to mortality salience: does attachment style regulate terror management mechanisms?

Five studies examined the contribution of attachment style to mortality salience effects. In Study 1, mortality salience led to more severe judgments of transgressions only among anxious-ambivalent and avoidant persons but not among secure persons. In addition, whereas anxious-ambivalent persons showed immediate and delayed increases in severity judgments, avoidant persons showed this response only after a delay period. In Study 2, anxious-ambivalent persons showed immediate and delayed increases in death-thought accessibility after death reminders. Avoidant and secure persons showed this effect only after a delay period. Study 3 revealed that worldview defense in response to mortality salience reduced death-thought accessibility only among avoidant persons. Studies 4-5 revealed that mortality salience led to an increase in the sense of symbolic immortality as well as in the desire of intimacy only among secure persons, but not among avoidant and anxious-ambivalent persons.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Psychosocial adjustment in patients after a first acute myocardial infarction: the contribution of salutogenic and pathogenic variables. Israel Study Group on First Acute Myocardial Infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the differential and independent impact of sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables assessed at patients' hospital discharge on these patients' psychosocial adjustment in several domains of life 3 to 6 months later. DESIGN: Two-hundred ninety Israeli male patients, aged 30 to 65 years, with a documented first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were interviewed once before discharge and again 3 to 6 months postinfarct. Sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic data were elicited at the first interview and completed from medical information in the hospital files. Psychosocial adjustment in seven significant life domains was evaluated by the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self-Report Version (PAIS-SR) at the second interview. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relation between the sociodemographic, medical, and psychologic variables at discharge to psychosocial adjustment in the different life domains 3 to 6 months later. RESULTS: Psychologic variables, such as depression, sense of coherence, and social support, and the sociodemographic variable of educational level at discharge predicted a relatively substantial amount of variance in psychosocial adjustment in most PAIS-SR-measured life domains. Low to moderate relations were found between such medical variables as Killip class, heart disease before AMI, other medical conditions, and perceived health before first AMI and psychosocial adjustment in specific life domains. The results also raised the possibility that part of the impact of the medical variables at discharge on psychosocial adjustment 3 to 6 months later may have been mediated by the psychologic variables. The centrality of the psychologic and domestic life domains to psychosocial adjustment in post-AMI patients was also suggested by the results. CONCLUSIONS: Both external and internal pathogenic (depression) and health proneness variables (sense of coherence and social support) at discharge predict psychosocial adjustment in most life domains 3 to 6 months after AMI.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1999

The impact of mortality salience on reckless driving: a test of terror management mechanisms.

A series of 4 studies, based on terror management theory (TMT), examined the effects of mortality salience on risk taking while driving. In all the studies, participants (N = 603) reported on the relevance of driving to their self-esteem. Then half of them were exposed to various mortality salience inductions, and the remaining to a control condition. The dependent measures were either self-reported behavioral intentions of risky driving or driving speed in a car simulator. In Study 4, half of the participants in each condition received positive feedback about their quality of driving. Findings showed that mortality salience inductions led to more risky driving than the control condition only among individuals who perceived driving as relevant to their self-esteem. The introduction of positive feedback about driving eliminated this effect. The results were discussed in light of the self-enhancing mechanisms proposed by TMT.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1999

The association between spouses' self-reports of attachment styles and representations of family dynamics.

The current research assesses the association between spouses' self-reports of attachment style and their perceptions of family dynamics. The sample included 93 Israeli married couples with young children. Both husbands and wives completed the adult attachment style scale and the perceived and ideal versions of FACES III. Findings showed that spouses whose self-reports endorsed the secure style perceived relatively high levels of family cohesion and adaptability; persons who endorsed the anxious-ambivalent style reported high levels of family cohesion but low levels of adaptability; and persons who endorsed the avoidant style reported relatively low levels of both family dimensions. In addition, significant associations were found between reports of attachment styles, on the one hand, and ideal representations of family dynamics, the marital partner's representations of family dynamics, and spouses' discrepancies in these representations, on the other. Findings are discussed in terms of attachment theory.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

The association between parental reports of attachment style and family dynamics, and offspring's reports of adult attachment style.

This research assessed the association between parents' reports of attachment styles and their perceptions of family environment, on the one hand, and offspring's reports of adult attachment styles, on the other. The sample included 98 Israeli young adults who completed the adult attachment style scale, and their mothers and fathers who completed this scale, as well as FACES III, and the conflict and expressiveness subscales of the Family Environment Scale. Findings revealed associations between parents' and offspring's reports of attachment styles, which were qualified by gender matching. They also indicated independent and differential contributions of the examined dimensions of perceived family environment to offspring's attachment styles. The discussion attempts to integrate attachment theory with a family system perspective.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Alteration of the ADP/ATP translocase isoform pattern improves ATP expenditure in developing rat liver mitochondria.

The expression of adenine nucleotide translocase isoforms (AAC) during perinatal development of the rat was studied by measuring mRNA transcript levels of AAC1 and AAC2 genes in liver, heart and brain tissue. In contrast to heart and brain, AAC1 mRNA is not present in adult liver tissue, but is transiently expressed around birth. AAC1 expression in liver did not respond to cold stress (examined with adult rats), therefore a possible involvement of AAC1 in the liver thermogenesis of newborns is excluded. Measurement of the [3H]ADP uptake by liver mitochondria revealed that the molecular activity of the AAC protein was significantly higher in mitochondria from 4-day-old neonates compared with adults. We suggest that the transient AAC1 gene expression in the perinatal liver helps to accommodate the mitochondrial ATP supply to the increased cytosolic ATP consumption initiated at birth.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed1998

Flagellin genes of Methanococcus vannielii: amplification by the polymerase chain reaction, demonstration of signal peptides and identification of major components of the flagellar filament.

The highly conserved nature of the 5'-termini of all archaeal flagellin genes was exploited by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to amplify the sequence of a portion of a flagellin gene family from the archaeon Methanococcus vannielii. Subsequent inverse PCR experiments generated fragments that permitted the sequencing of a total of three flagellin genes, which, by comparison with flagellin genes that have been sequenced, from other archaea appear to be equivalent to flaB1, flaB2, and flaB3 of M. voltae. Analysis of purified M. vannielii flagellar filaments by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) revealed two major flagellins (Mr = 30,800 and 28,600), whose N-terminal sequences identified them as the products of the flaB1 and flaB2 genes, respectively. The gene product of flaB3 could not be detected in flagellar filaments by SDS-PAGE. The protein sequence data, coupled with the DNA sequences, demonstrated that both FlaB1 and FlaB2 flagellins are translated with a 12-amino acid signal peptide which is absent from the mature protein incorporated into the flagellar filament. These data suggest that archaeal flagellin export differs significantly from that of bacterial flagellins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1998

Symbolic immortality and the management of the terror of death: the moderating role of attachment style.

Three studies were designed to examine the contribution of R. J. Lifton's (1979) symbolic immortality construct to the management of the terror of death and to investigate whether attachment style may underlie this contribution. Using a sample of 420 Israeli students, Study 1 revealed an inverse correlation between self-reports of symbolic immortality and fear of personal death. This finding was validated in Study 2 (N = 120), which found that high symbolic immortality reduced the effects of a death salience manipulation on the level of punishment given to a social transgressor. Study 3 (N = 270) refined the association between symbolic immortality and fear of death. The inverse correlation found in Study 1 was revealed only among securely attached persons. The discussion emphasizes the interconnectedness between personality, symbolic immortality, and the management of the terror of death.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1998

The impact of mothers' sense of empowerment on the metabolic control of their children with juvenile diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between mothers' sense of empowerment as a psychological resource and the level of adherence to treatment and metabolic control of their adolescent children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). METHODS: Eighty-eight mothers filled out the Family Empowerment Scale, the Mastery Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Demographic Questionnaire. Their children with IDDM filled out the Self-Care Behaviors Questionnaire. At the same time, the level of glycohemoglobin was retrieved from their medical files. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed that mothers' sense of empowerment contributes significantly to their children's adherence to treatment. Moreover, mothers' sense of empowerment and their education explain a significant proportion of the variance in their children's metabolic control. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the importance of developing and enhancing the parents' sense of empowerment toward better adherence and metabolic control of their children's IDDM.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Sexual activity after first acute myocardial infarction in middle-aged men: demographic, psychological and medical predictors.

The study examined important diverse sociodemographic, medical and psychological variables as potential predictors of sexual activity frequency/satisfaction in male patients following a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The sample comprised 276 Israeli male patients, age range 30-65 years, with a documented first AMI who were admitted to any of eight medical centers in Israel. All patients were sexually active prior to AMI. Data were elicited from interviews and medical charts on two occasions: before discharge and 3-6 months after AMI. The research variables explained a greater extent of the variance in sexual activity frequency than in satisfaction 3-6 months after AMI (32 and 23%, respectively). Sexual activity frequency/satisfaction prior to AMI were the major contributors to frequency/satisfaction after AMI. Of the other variables, age and education were the major contributors to sexual activity frequency; of these two variables, age was the sole contributor to sexual satisfaction. Medical and psychological variables (diabetes and depression) were minor contributors.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Fear of death and the judgment of social transgressions: a multidimensional test of terror management theory.

The purpose of the research was to integrate a multidimensional approach to fear of personal death with terror management theory. In Study 1, 190 students were divided according to the manipulation of death salience and the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of fear of death and were asked to judge transgressions that have either intrapersonal or interpersonal consequences. Study 2 was a conceptual replication of Study 1, with the exception that the manipulation of mortality salience included conditions that made salient either intrapersonal or interpersonal aspects of death. Findings indicate that the effects of mortality salience depend on the aspect of death that is made salient, the aspect of death that individuals most fear, and the type of the judged transgression. More severe judgments of transgressions after death salience manipulation were found mainly when there was a fit between these 3 factors. Findings are discussed in light of terror management theory.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

A nascent micronuclear pseudogene in the ciliate Euplotes crassus.

The macronuclear genome of Euplotes crassus contains two different genes, EFA1 and EFA2, encoding EF-1alpha proteins. They are derived from micronuclear precursors in the course of a sexual process termed conjugation. We have found that two apparent micronuclear precursors exist for EFA1. They differ in their potential coding sequences and in the internal sequences interrupting the genes, which are normally removed during the processing from micronuclear into macronuclear genes. One of these genes is not processed into a macronuclear gene and has accumulated C-->T transitions in a limited section of the coding region. The gene obviously constitutes a recent duplication which has lost its ability to be processed into a macronuclear gene and has therefore become a micronuclear pseudogene. The true EFA1 precursor harbours a novel type of internal sequence in addition to a classical AT-rich IES. As usual, only one micronuclear EFA2 precursor gene was found. Its coding sequence is interrupted by a 79 bp TeIIES.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1996

Two different macronuclear EF-1 alpha-encoding genes of the ciliate Euplotes crassus are very dissimilar in their sequences, copy numbers and transcriptional activities.

Genes (EFA) encoding the translation elongation factor EF-1 alpha (EFA) or the prokaryotic homolog EFTu frequently occur in multiple copies in the same organism. This has been interpreted either in terms of a potential of differential gene expression during different phases of development, or as gene dosage adaptation to the need of high-level production of the gene products. Since ciliates can differentially amplify their genes, the latter argument would lead to the expectation of only one EFA gene in the macronucleus. However, we have found two such genes which strongly differ in both copy number and codon usage. Both transcripts are detectable at very different levels. The expression of the genes takes place both in the vegetative and sexual phases, i.e.,during conjugation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1996

Isolation and characterization of insertional mutations in flagellin genes in the archaeon Methanococcus voltae.

Methanococcus voltae is a flagellated member of the Domain Archaea that has four flagellin genes arranged in two transcriptional units. One transcriptional unit encodes only flaA while the second is a multi-cistronic unit encoding three flagellin genes (flaB1, flaB2, and flaB3) as well as at least seven other open reading frames downstream. The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify an internal fragment of the flaA gene which was subsequently cloned into an insertion vector developed for M. voltae. Transformation of protoplasts with this vector led to the isolation of mutant strains that had insertions in flaA or flaB2. Mutant strains carrying insertions in flaA had flagelia that were similar to wild-type cells in both number and appearance when viewed using the electron microscope. In addition, some of these mutant strains had profiles identical to the wild type in immunoblots developed with antisera raised against the 31 kDa flagellin of M. voltae. All flaA mutant strains and the wild-type cells showed immuno-cross-reactive bands at 33 and 31 kDa (corresponding to purified flagellins) as well as at 18 kDa. Some flaA mutant strains also showed an immuno-cross-reactive band at 27 kDa which probably represents a truncated flagellin produced by the insertion vector. However, both types of flaA mutant strains were less motile than the wild type in semi-swarm plate experiments. The mutant strain with an insertion in flaB2 was non-flagellated when examined by electron microscopy and it was non-motile in semi-swarm plate experiments. It represents the first structural mutant strain isolated in a methanogen. This mutant strain lacked the 33, 31, and 18 kDa immuno-cross-reactive bands observed in the wild type and flaA mutant strains, and instead had a novel band at 20 kDa. This band may represent an unmodified flagellin which still has an attached leader peptide. If so, then one of the downstream genes in the multi-cistronic transcriptional unit may encode a leader peptidase for the flagellin system.

Archaeal Proteins↗