Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Smoking On The Outcome Of Anterior Cervical Arthrodesis With Interbody Or Strut-Grafting., Alan Hilibrand, Mark A. Fye, Sanford E. Emery, Mark A. Palumbo, Henry H. Bohlman

Rothman Institute Papers

BACKGROUND: An increased rate of pseudarthrosis has been documented following posterolateral lumbar spine grafting in patients who smoke. This same relationship has been assumed for anterior cervical interbody grafting, but to our knowledge it has never been proven. This study compared the long-term radiographic and clinical results of smokers and nonsmokers who had undergone arthrodesis with autogenous bone graft following multi-level anterior cervical decompression for the treatment of cervical radiculopathy or myelopathy, or both.

METHODS: One hundred and ninety patients were followed clinically and radiographically for at least two years (range, two to fifteen years). Fifty-nine of the patients had …

Induction Of Beta3-Integrin Gene Expression By Sustained Activation Of The Ras-Regulated Raf-Mek-Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signaling Pathway., Douglas Woods, Holly Cherwinski, Eleni Venetsanakos, Arun Bhat, Stephan Gysin, Martine Humbert, Paul F. Bray, Vicki L. Saylor, Martin Mcmahon

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Alterations in the expression of integrin receptors for extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are strongly associated with the acquisition of invasive and/or metastatic properties by human cancer cells. Despite this, comparatively little is known of the biochemical mechanisms that regulate the expression of integrin genes in cells. Here we demonstrate that the Ras-activated Raf-MEK-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway can specifically control the expression of individual integrin subunits in a variety of human and mouse cell lines. Pharmacological inhibition of MEK1 in a number of human melanoma and pancreatic carcinoma cell lines led to reduced cell surface expression of alpha6- and …

Thrombolytic Therapy For Acute Myocardial Infarction In The Elderly, Bernard Bun-Lap Wong, Wai-Hong Chen

Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Patients ≥75 years constitute up to 30% of the acute MI population and are associated with a 50% in-hospital mortality. Thrombolytic therapy was shown in a metaanalysis of 9 largest randomized controlled trials to reduce 35-day mortality. However, the benefit was observed mainly among patients < 75 years old. For patients ≥ 75 years, the 35-day mortality was 24.3% in those treated with thrombolytic therapy and 25.3% in the placebo group, a difference not reaching statistical significance.

Sars, A Sara Homolog Repressible By Agr, Is An Activator Of Protein A Synthesis In Staphylococcus Aureus, Ambrose L. Cheung, Katherine Schmidt, Brian Bateman, Adhar C. Manna

Dartmouth Scholarship

The expression of protein A (spa) is repressed by global regulatory loci sarA and agr. Although SarA may directly bind to the spa promoter to downregulate spa expression, the mechanism by which agr represses spa expression is not clearly understood. In searching for SarA homologs in the partially released genome, we found a SarA homolog, encoding a 250-amino-acid protein designated SarS, upstream of the spa gene. The expression of sarS was almost undetectable in parental strain RN6390 but was highly expressed in agr and sarA mutants, strains normally expressing high level of protein A. Interestingly, protein A …

Estrogen Protects Against The Synergistic Toxicity By Hiv Proteins, Methamphetamine And Cocaine, Jadwiga Turchan, Caroline Anderson, Kurt F. Hauser, Qinmiao Sun, Jiayou Zhang, Ying Liu, Phyllis M. Wise, Inna Kruman, William Maragos, Mark P. Mattson, Rosemarie Booze, Avindra Nath

Neurology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection continues to increase at alarming rates in drug abusers, especially in women. Drugs of abuse can cause long-lasting damage to the brain and HIV infection frequently leads to a dementing illness. To determine how these drugs interact with HIV to cause CNS damage, we used an in vitro human neuronal culture characterized for the presence of dopaminergic receptors, transporters and estrogen receptors. We determined the combined effects of dopaminergic drugs, methamphetamine, or cocaine with neurotoxic HIV proteins, gp120 and Tat.

RESULTS: Acute exposure to these substances resulted in synergistic neurotoxic responses as measured by …

Vital Signs, Spring 2001, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Vital Signs

A twenty-one page newsletter created by the Boonshoft School of Medicine to document the current affairs of the school. This issue includes feature articles, student notes, and more.

Flow Cytometric Analysis Of Childhood Leukemias, R. Z. Yusuf, Shahid Pervez, S. A. Aziz, Mohammad Khurshid

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To collect demographic data for childhood (less than 15 years) leukemias in Karachi, describe the accuracy of the cell surface markers routinely used in the flow cytometric analysis of leukemic cells and arrive at an ideal panel of antibodies for analyzing leukemic samiples.

Materials and Methods: Data from 62 consecutive cases of childhood leukemias referred to the Department of Pathology, Aga Khan University Hospital. (AKUH) between January 1995 and December 1998 was analyzed using Epi Info Version 6. Flow cytometry on all samples was performed using standard protocols.

Results: The mean age of patients was 8.2 years and 49 …

Oncolog, Volume 46, Number 02, February 2001, Sunni Hosemann, Kerry L. Wright, Janet M. Bruner Md

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Specialized Training and Techniques of Pathologists Lead to Targeted Therapies
• Protocols: Studies Examine High-Dose Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer
• High-Dose Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: Completion of Clinical Trials Necessary
• DiaLog: Many Specialties, One Goal, by Janet M. Bruner, MD, Chairman, Department of Pathology
• House Call: Support Groups Offer Patients a Helping Hand
• Study Reveals Types of Diagnostic Errors and Their Costs

Functions Of The Rat's Temporal Association Cortex In Higher Perceptual Functions, Summer L. Maki

The Corinthian

The role of the rodent temporal cortex in relational perception was investigated. Eighteen Long Evans rats were separated into three surgical groups (sham, partial striate, and Te2/3) and trained on a preoperative and postoperative discrimination task. The rats were then presented a series of relational judgement trials consisting of both between category judgments and within category judgments. It was hypothesized that the rats with Te2/3 lesions would perform as well as controls on the preoperative and postoperative discrimination task, but show a considerable behavioral dysfunction on the tests of visual relational perception. The results showed no differences across groups in …

Health Professions Division Catalog Academic Year 2001-2002, Nova Southeastern University

Health Professions Divisions Course Catalogs and Course Descriptions

No abstract provided.

2000 Cancer Care Annual Report, Children's Mercy Hospital

Cancer Center Annual Reports

Annual report of cancer care and oncology services at the Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City MO, a pediatric medical center.

The Process Of Clinical Trials: A Model For Successful Clinical Trial Participation, Cecile A. Lengacher, Lois L. Gonzalez, Rosemary Giuliano, Mary P. Bennett, Charles E. Cox, Douglas S. Reintgen

Nursing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hormonal And Barrier Methods Of Contraception, Oncogenic Human Papillomaviruses, And Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion Development, Ann L. Coker, Laura C. Sanders, Sharon M. Bond, Tsilya Gerasimova, Lucia Pirisi

CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles

We assessed the influence of hormonal (oral, injectable, or levonorgestrel [Norplant, Wyeth-Ayerst, Philadelphia, PA]) and barrier methods of contraception on the risk of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL), while adjusting for high-risk (HR) HPV infection. Subjects were women receiving family planning services through the state health department clinics from 1995 to 1998. We selected 60 cases with high-grade cervical/SIL (HSIL) and 316 with low-grade cervical/SIL (LSIL) and controls (427 women with normal cervical cytology) and analyzed cervical DNA for HR-HPV, using Hybrid Capture I (Digene; Gaithersburg, MD).When assessing ever use, duration, recency, latency, and age at first use, neither oral …

Cerumen Composition By Flash Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry, Craig N. Burkhart, Michael A. Kruge, Craig G. Burkhart, Curtis Black

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective: To assess the chemical composition of cerumen by flash pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Study Design: Collected earwax specimens were fractionated into residue and supernatant by means of deoxycholate. This natural bile acid produces significantly better disintegration of earwax in vitro than do presently available ceruminolytic preparations, and also has demonstrated excellent clinical results in vivo to date.

Patients: The sample for analysis was obtained from a patient with clinical earwax impaction.

Results: The supernatant is composed of simple aromatic hydrocarbons, C₅-C_{l 7} straight-chain hydrocarbons, a complex mixture of compounds tentatively identified as diterpenoids, …

Vital Signs, Winter 2001, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Vital Signs

A twenty-three page newsletter created by the Boonshoft School of Medicine to document the current affairs of the school. This issue includes feature articles, a student profile, faculty notes, and more.

Department Of Radiation Oncology And Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, The Intronic G13964c Variant In P53 Is Not A High-Risk Mutation In Familial Breast Cancer In Australia., Anna Marsh, Amanda B Spurdle, Bruce C Turner, Sian Fereday, Heather Thorne, Gulietta M Pupo, Graham J Mann, John L Hopper, Joseph F Sambrook, Georgia Chenevix-Trench

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for approximately 50% of breast cancer families with more than four affected cases, whereas exonic mutations in p53, PTEN, CHK2 and ATM may account for a very small proportion. It was recently reported that an intronic variant of p53--G13964C--occurred in three out of 42 (7.1%) 'hereditary' breast cancer patients, but not in any of 171 'sporadic' breast cancer control individuals (P = 0.0003). If this relatively frequent occurrence of G13964C in familial breast cancer and absence in control individuals were confirmed, then this would suggest that the G13964C variant plays a role in …

Oncolog, Volume 46, Number 01, January 2001, Kerry L. Wright, Dawn Chalaire, Emil J. Freireich Md

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• New Melanoma Staging System Reflects Key Prognostic Factors
• House Cell: Preventing Cancer: Food for Thought
• Educational Conferences Explore Issues Related to Cancer Care and Research
• DiaLog: Leukemia: Setting the "Stage" for Effective Treatments, by Emil J. Freireich, MD, Professor, Department of Leukemia
• Updated M. D. Anderson Website Designed to Meet the Online Needs of Patients and Physicians

Digest Of The Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine (Winter 2001), Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine

Digest

The Winter 2001 issue of the Digest of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine includes the following articles:

• Opening Remarks
• In the Mail
• PCOM Updates
• Meet the Prez
• This Doctor Gets Personal
• Founders Day Honorees
• PCOM MEDNet
• Board Profile
• Alumni Board Profile
• Off to Camp – With Some Very Special Children
• Class Notes
• In Memoriam
• My Turn: New Essay Section
• 2^nd Annual PCOM Alumni Weekend
• Coming Events

Cardiac Hypertrophy, Heart Failure, And Regulation Of Microtubule Stability, Kristie Lynn Beaton-Blade

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

This work focused on the regulation of the different isotypes of beta-tubulin during cardiac hypertrophy, with the specific hypothesis that increased levels of the beta I isotype leads to the increase in microtubule density seen during hypertrophy. Partial cDNAs for the three beta-tubulin isotypes expressed in the heart (I, II, and IV) have been cloned and used to show that there is a differential upregulation of the beta I and beta II isotypes during cardiac hypertrophy. Messenger RNA half-life studies of cells isolated from hypertrophied myocardium have shown that this upregulation is due to increased transcription of the genes encoding …

Reproductive Tract Infections: A Guide For Programme Managers, Sarah Hawkes, Anjali Nayyar, Johannes Van Dam, Kevin R. O'Reilly, Bidia Deperthes, Dinesh Agarwal

Reproductive Health

Reproductive tract infections (RTIs) including sexually transmitted infections represent a silent worldwide pandemic that adversely impacts the reproductive health (RH) of women and men. Various community- and hospital-based studies in India have provided insights into the magnitude of the problem. The International Conference on Population and Development (1994) emphasized integration of RH services to meet the needs of men and women especially with prevention and management of RTIs/STIs. The emergence of HIV and the identification of STIs as a risk factor for the spread of HIV have further lent a sense of urgency for a programmatic response to address this …

Epidemiological Features Of Aplastic Anaemia In Pakistan, Salman Adil, G. N. Kakepoto, Mohammad Khurshid, I. A. Burney

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To complete the data on the demographic features of patients diagnosed to have aplastic anemia at a single institution over a 7.5 years period. Methods: Demographic information was retrieved from the patients medical records retrospectively as well as prospectively of those patients who presented with features of aplastic anaemia. Their diagnosis was confirmed by performing a complete blood count and bone marrow trephine.
Results: One hundred and forty four patients were diagnosed to have aplastic anemia; there were 106 males and 38 females. Their ages ranged from 2 to 75 years, with a median of 17 years, …

Acute Haemolysis In Childhood Falciparum Malaria, H. Ekvall, P. Arese, F. Turrini, K. Ayi, F. Mannu, Zul Premji, A. Bjorkman

Pathology, East Africa

Acute haemolysis associated with clinical episodes of high-level Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia was studied in 20 children from an holoendemic area (coastal Tanzania). The change in blood haemoglobin (Hb) concentration ranged from -46 to +5 g/L during the 72-h observation period and was linearly related to maximum parasitaemia. Balance studies between loss of blood Hb, increase in plasma Hb and appearance of Hb in the urine indicated that extravascular clearance of red cells was the predominant mode of erythrocyte clearance. Most subjects, however, showed minor signs of intravascular haemolysis. The plasma Hb was ≪1% of blood Hb and haemoglobinuria was detected …

Medical Education Digest, Vol. 2 No. 6 (December 15, 2000), Nova Southeastern University

Medical Education Digest

No abstract provided.

Disinfection Of Dentin By Intracanal Laser Irradiation: An In Vitro Model, Silvia Cristina Mafra Cecchini

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A possible cause for root canal failure is the persistence of bacteria that have colonized dentinal tubules. To reduce this risk and, if possible, to also shorten the time consuming endodontic therapy, new equipment and materials are constantly being introduced. The aim of the present investigation was to study the effect of disinfection of dentinal tubules by intracanal laser irradiation using an in vitro model. The groups irradiated by various lasers were compared with calcium hydroxide, a material frequently used as intracanal medication between appointments. Freshly extracted, intact bovine incisors were used. The root cementum was removed and the teeth …

Retinoblastoma Tells The Story Of Our Health Care System, Irshad Soomro, Muhammad Nadeem Khan, Suhail Muzaffar, Naila Kayani, Shahid Pervez, Akbar Shah Hussainy, Rashida Ahmed, Sheema H. Hasan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective:

To review cases of retinoblastoma.

Setting:

Department of Pathology Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi.

Method:

Twenty three specimens from cases of retinoblastoma received over a period of eight years were routinely processes and stained with haematoxylin and Eosin stain Other stains were used for tuberculosis and melanin. Immunochemistry was resorted to in undifferentiated tumors.

Results:

Over 60% cases of retinoblastoma were diagnosed after 5 years and nine cases showed involvement of opti-nerve.

Conclusion:

Late diagnosis of retinoblastoma effects the stage of the tumors and the prognisis.

Studies On The Purification And Role Of Igfbp-5 Protease In Bone, H. Garrett Rush Thompson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone density and deterioration of mineralized bone leading to enhanced susceptibility to fracture. Several growth factors have been implicated in the coupling of formation to resorption during the bone remodeling process. The net bone forming activity of many growth factors has prompted numerous studies focused on the regulation of osteoblast cell proliferation, differentiation and activity. The current study focuses on the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system, an important growth factor system involved in the regulation of bone formation and bone resorption.

IGF binding protein -5 (IGFBP-5), the most abundant IGF binding protein in …

Developmental, Psychosocial, And Economic Predictors Of Healthy Newborns In Michigan’S Teenage Pregnancies, Cheryl Lauber

Dissertations

Teenage pregnancy is a critical health indicator. Using a risk reduction model, this study examined the relationship between the characteristics o f the teenage mother i and her newborn. The research questions were: ( I) what risk factors are associated with poor birth outcomes, (2) is addressing each factor the best way to reduce the risk, and (3) has the overall risk changed as the birth rate has declined? Developmental, psychosocial and economic risks were identified as independent variables, while age and race were mediators.

Combining the birth certificate records of women under age 20 from 1990 through 1997 resulted …

Combined Antagonist Compositions, Scott R. Hamann

Anesthesiology Faculty Patents

Novel compositions of a combination of nicotinic, opioid, serotonergic and/or adrenergic antagonists in combination with nicotinic and opioid agonists, anti-depressants, stimulants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and local anesthetics, such combinations being useful in the treatment of excitable system disorders, pain and psychiatric disorders, and methods of use thereof.

Lack Of Cd4+ T Cells Does Not Affect Induction Of Cd8+ T-Cell Immunity Against Encephalitozoon Cuniculi Infection, Magali Moretto, Lori Casciotti, Brigit Durell, Imtiaz A. Khan

Dartmouth Scholarship

Cell-mediated immunity has been reported to play an important role in defense against Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection. Previous studies from our laboratory have underlined the importance of cytotoxic CD8⁺ T lymphocytes (CTL) in survival of mice infected with E. cuniculi. In the present study, immune response against E. cuniculi infection in CD4⁺T-cell-deficient mice was evaluated. Similar to resistant wild-type animals, CD4^−/− mice were able to resolve E. cuniculi infection even at a very high challenge dose (5 × 10⁷ spores/mouse). Tissues from infected CD4^−/−mice did not exhibit higher parasite loads in comparison to …

Vital Signs, Fall 2000, Boonshoft School Of Medicine

Vital Signs

A twenty four page newsletter created by the Boonshoft School of Medicine to document the current affairs of the school. This issue includes a variety of feature articles, alumni profiles, class notes, and more.