Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Who Enrolled In A State Program For The Uninsured: Was There Adverse Selection?, Paula Diehr

Paula Diehr

Managed care plans may hesitate to participate in programs for uninsured persons because they fear adverse selection, whereby only the sickest people or highest users would choose to join the program. We studied this issue in Washington State's Basic Health Plan, a demonstration program that provides subsidized health insurance for families earning less than 200% of the poverty level. We interviewed people in three counties who enrolled in the program, and compared them to people in the same counties who were eligible but did not enroll. There were substantial differences between enrollees and eligibles in education, age, income, employment, race, …

Use Of Yeast Artificial Chromosomes (Yacs) For Studying Control Of Gene Expression: Correct Regulation Of The Genes Of A Human Beta-Globin Locus Yac Following Transfer To Mouse Erythroleukemia Cell Lines., Kenneth Peterson, Galynn Zitnik, Clare Huxley, Christopher Lowrey

Dartmouth Scholarship

We demonstrate that transfer of a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) containing 230 kb of the human beta-globin locus into mouse erythroleukemia cells by fusion results in correct developmental regulation of the human beta-like globin genes. Additionally, we show that early after hybrid formation, human embryonic epsilon- and fetal gamma-globin genes are coexpressed with the adult beta gene but that after 10-20 weeks in culture, globin gene expression switches to predominantly adult. Thus, in contrast to shorter gene constructs, the globin genes of the beta-globin locus YAC are regulated like the chromosomal globin genes. These results indicate that transfer of YACs …

Alumni News Volume 1 No. 2, Touro College Barry Z. Levine School Of Health Sciences

Yearbooks and Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Efficient Transcriptional Activation Of Many Simple Modular Promoters By Simian Virus 40 Large T Antigen., Philip W. Rice, Charles N. Cole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen is a multifunctional protein which plays central roles during both lytic and transforming infections by SV40. It is a potent transcriptional activator and increases expression from the SV40 late promoter and from several cellular promoters. To understand better the transcriptional activation activity of large T antigen, we examined its ability to transactivate a set of simple modular promoters containing one of four upstream activation sequences coupled with one of three different TATA box sequences originally constructed and studied by Taylor and Kingston (Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:165-175, 1990). Large T antigen activated transcription from …

Do Communities Differ In Health Behaviors?, Paula Diehr

Paula Diehr

Communities differ in the prevalence of various health behaviors, but it is not known to what extent these differences are due to "different types" of people living in them. We used data from the evaluation of the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation Community Health Promotion Grant Program to study individual-level and community-level variation in health behaviors for 15 communities. Our results show (1) there was significant variation among these communities in prevalences of smoking, consumption of alcohol and dietary fat, and use of seatbelts; (2) these differences persisted after control for demographic, health status, and other health behavioral characteristics of …

Evidence For A Second Type Of Fibril Branch Point In Fibrin Polymer Networks, The Trimolecular Junction, Michael W. Mosesson, James P. Diorio, Kevin R. Siebenlist, Joseph S. Wall, James F. Hainfeld

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Fibrin molecules polymerize to double-stranded fibrils by intermolecular end-to-middle domain pairing of complementary polymerization sites, accompanied by fibril branching to form a clot network. Mass/length measurements on scanning transmission electron microscopic images of fibrils comprising branch points showed two types of junctions. Tetramolecular junctions occur when two fibrils converge, creating a third branch with twice the mass/length of its constituents. Newly recognized trimolecular junctions have three fibril branches of equal mass/length, and occur when an extraneous fibrin molecule initiates branching in a propagating fibril by bridging across two unpaired complementary polymerization sites. When trimolecular junctions predominate, clots exhibit nearly perfect …

Sds Non-Acrylamide Polymeric Gel-Filled Capillary Electrophoresis For Molecular Size Separation Of Protein, Devon Andres

Honors Theses

Sodium dodecyl sulfide (SDS) non-acrylamide gel-filled capillary columns are a new technology being used for analysis and separation of biotechnology-derived proteins. This research was to compare this new technology to the current methods of SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). The molecular mass of four different recombinant proteins were determined by two commercialized SDS non-acrylamide gel-filled capillary columns, SDS-PAGE, and HPSEC. The data obtained showed that the SDS non-acrylamide gel-filled capillary columns were compatible with the SDS-PAGE technique for molecular mass determination. HPSEC was shown to be unreliable for molecular weight determination. SDS non-acrylamide gel-filled capillary …

Molecular Cloning Of Infectious Ecotropic Murine Leukemia Virus Ak7 From An Emv-14-Positive Akxl-5 Mouse And The Resistance Of Ak7 To Recognition By Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes., Hillary D. White, William R. Green, Nuria R. Giné

Dartmouth Scholarship

The AKXL-5 recombinant inbred mouse strain is positive for the endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia virus emv-14, the only emv present in its germ line. emv-14 is of particular interest because spleen cells expressing emv-14 virus escape recognition by anti-AKR/Gross virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. We report here the isolation and characterization of a replication-competent emv clone, pAK7, derived from an AKXL-5 mouse. This clone is novel in that it encodes a variant ecotropic murine leukemia virus that, when expressed in SC.Kb target cells, fails to be recognized efficiently by anti-AKR/Gross virus cytotoxic T lymphocytes. The pAK7 clone can therefore be used …

Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Mutants Resistant To Serum Neutralization Arise During Persistent Infection Of Rhesus Monkeys, Dawn P. Wooley, Catherine Collignon, Ronald C. Desrosiers

Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Physiology Faculty Publications

We previously described the pattern of sequence variation in gp120 following persistent infection of rhesus monkeys with the pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac239 molecular clone (D.P.W. Burns and R.C. Desrosiers, J. Virol. 65:1843, 1991). Sequence changes were confined largely to five variable regions (V1 to V5), four of which correspond to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp120 variable regions. Remarkably, 182 of 186 nucleotide substitutions that were documented in these variable regions resulted in amino acid changes. This is an extremely nonrandom pattern, which suggests selective pressure driving amino acid changes in discrete variable domains. In the present study, …

Interleukin 1-Beta In Symptomatic And Asymptomatic Human Periradicular Lesions, Gerald C. Lim

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Interleukin 1-Beta has been shown to be a potent mediator of bone resorption and has been implicated in resorption in periradicular lesions. In this study we compared the local concentrations of IL-1β in symptomatic and asymptomatic human periradicular lesions. Periradicular tissues from patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic lesions were obtained and stored at -70°C. Pulpal tissues from unerupted third molars and chronically inflamed gingival tissues were also obtained and used as negative and positive controls, respectively. Tissue samples were homogenized, and supernatants were assayed for IL-1β by ELISA. Significantly higher levels of IL-1β were found in symptomatic and asymptomatic lesions …

Lithium Phthalocyanine: A Probe For Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Oximetry In Viable Biological Systems., K. J. Liu, P. Gast, M. Moussavi, S. W. Norby, N Vahidi, T Walczak

Dartmouth Scholarship

Lithium phthalocyanine (LiPc) is a prototype of another generation of synthetic, metallic-organic, paramagnetic crystallites that appear very useful for in vitro and in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance oximetry. The peak-to-peak line width of the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of LiPc is a linear function of the partial pressure of oxygen (pO2); this linear relation is independent of the medium surrounding the LiPc. It has an extremely exchange-narrowed spectrum (peak-to-peak line width = 14 mG in the absence of O2). Physicochemically LiPc is very stable; its response to pO2 does not change with conditions and environments (e.g., pH, temperature, redox conditions) …

Cloning And Characterization Of Subunits Of The T-Cell Receptor And Murine Leukemia Virus Enhancer Core-Binding Factor., Shuwen Wang, Qing Wang, Barbara E. Crute, Irena N. Melnikova, Susanna R. Keller, Nancy A. Speck

Dartmouth Scholarship

Moloney murine leukemia virus causes thymic leukemias when injected into newborn mice. A major determinant of the thymic disease specificity of Moloney virus genetically maps to the conserved viral core motif in the Moloney virus enhancer. Point mutations introduced into the core site significantly shifted the disease specificity of the Moloney virus from thymic leukemia to erythroid leukemia (N.A. Speck, B. Renjifo, E. Golemis, T.N. Fredrickson, J.W. Hartley, and N. Hopkins, Genes Dev. 4:233-242, 1990). We previously reported the purification of core-binding factors (CBF) from calf thymus nuclei (S. Wang and N.A. Speck, Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:89-102, 1992). CBF binds …

Thymic Peptide Modulates Glutathione Redox Cycle And Antioxidant Enzymes In Macrophages, Choon Sil Park

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The effect of a 6-kDa thymic peptide (TP) on the oxidative burst of a murine macrophage cell line J774 was determined. TP (12.5-200 μg/ml) was incubated with 5 x 10⁵ J774 cells at 37° C and 5% C0₂ for 18 h and oxidative burst was triggered by zymosan; chemiluminescence was amplified by luminol and measured in an automated luminometer. TP exhibited a concentration-dependent inhibition of oxidative burst. To study the mechanisms involved in TP’s inhibition of oxidative burst, its effect on the glutathione (GSH) redox cycle, GSH biosynthesis, and antioxidant enzymes was investigated. TP was shown to increase …

Reversal Of Age-Associated Decline In Immune Response To Pnu-Imune Vaccine By Supplementation With The Steroid Hormone Dehydroepiandrosterone, Manju Garg, Subbarao Bondada

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Recently, we reported that murine antibody responses to the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide (Pnu-Imune) vaccine declined with age. Here we present data to support the concept that age-associated immune defects are not only due to intrinsic defects in immune cells but are also due to extrinsic factors emanating from the neuroendocrine system. We found that supplementation with dehydroepiandrosterone, a steroid hormone known to be reduced in the aged, corrects the immune deficiency of aged mice and significantly enhanced their splenic immune responses to the Pnu-Imune vaccine.

Small Area Variation Analysis. Methods For Comparing Several Diagnosis-Related Groups., Paula Diehr

Paula Diehr

In small-area variation analysis, the variation of health care utilization rates, e.g., admission rates, among small areas is calculated. Frequently, the variation of one diagnosis, diagnosis-related group (DRG), or procedure is compared with the variation of another. Unfortunately, the methods generally used to make these comparisons are not consistent. They differ on whether they 1) adjust for the prevalence of the DRGs, 2) distinguish between variation among areas and variation within areas, 3) weight all areas equally, and 4) adjust for multiple admissions per person. None has an associated confidence interval. These discrepancies occur in part because there is no …

Common Elements In Interleukin 4 And Insulin Signaling Pathways In Factor-Dependent Hematopoietic Cells., Ling-Mei Wang, Achsah D. A D Keegan, Weiqun Li, Gustav E. Lienhard

Dartmouth Scholarship

Interleukin 4 (IL-4), insulin, and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) efficiently induced DNA synthesis in the IL-3-dependent murine myeloid cell lines FDC-P1 and FDC-P2. Although these factors could not individually sustain long-term growth of these lines, a combination of IL-4 with either insulin or IGF-I did support continuous growth. The principal tyrosine-phosphorylated substrate observed in FDC cells stimulated with IL-4, previously designated 4PS, was of the same size (170 kDa) as the major substrate phosphorylated in response to insulin or IGF-I. These substrates had phosphopeptides of the same size when analyzed by digestion with Staphylococcus aureus V8 protease, and each …

Cryptococcus Neoformans Serotype Groups Found In Clinical And Environmental Isolates, John Clauson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast responsible for severe meningoencephalitis. The importance of epidemiological studies on cryptococcosis has increased since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. C. neoformans exists in two varieties containing four serotypes, C. neoformans var. neoformans (serotypes A and D) and C. neoformans var. gattii (serotypes B and C). Locally C. neoformans var. neoformans has been associated with pigeon feces during those months having an average temperature of 64.2°F j(17.8°C) and above. Clinical and environmental isolates of C. neoformans obtained from regional hospitals and environmental samplings, respectively, have been grouped into their variety status utilizing canavanine-glycine-bromthymol blue …

Sequence Specificity Of The Core-Binding Factor, Irena N. Melnikova, Barbara E. Crute, Shuwen Wang, Nancy A. Speck

Dartmouth Scholarship

The core-binding factor (CBF) binds the conserved core motif in mammalian type C retrovirus enhancers. We analyzed the phosphate contacts made by CBF on the Moloney murine leukemia virus enhancer by ethylation interference assay. The phosphate contacts span 9 bp centered around the consensus core site. To examine the sequence preferences for CBF binding, we employed the technique of selected and amplified binding sequence footprinting (T. K. Blackwell and H. Weintraub, Science 250:1104-1110, 1990). The consensus binding site for CBF defined by selected and amplified binding sequence footprinting is PyGPyG GTPy.

Isolation Of Interleukin 2-Induced Immediate-Early Genes., Carol Beadling, Kirk W. Johnson, Kendall A. Smith

Dartmouth Scholarship

Clonal expansion of antigen-reactive T lymphocytes is driven by the lymphokine interleukin 2 (IL-2). To further elucidate the mechanisms of IL-2 action, we have utilized a differential hybridization procedure to clone IL-2-induced immediate-early genes from an IL-2-stimulated human T-cell cDNA library. To increase the frequency of IL-2-induced transcripts represented in the library, the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide was included during the 2-hr IL-2 stimulation to superinduce gene expression, and the uridine analogue 4-thiouridine was utilized to enable selective purification of newly synthesized transcripts. From the enriched library, we have isolated eight IL-2-induced genes, six of which represent previously unrecognized human …

Two Factors That Bind To Highly Conserved Sequences In Mammalian Type C Retroviral Enhancers., Nancy R. Manley, Mary M. O'Connell, Wanwen Sun, Nancy A. Speck, Nancy Hopkins

Dartmouth Scholarship

The transcriptional enhancers of the Moloney and Friend murine leukemia viruses (MLV) are important determinants of viral pathogenicity. We used electrophoretic mobility shift and methylation interference assays to study nuclear factors which bind to a region of these enhancers whose sequence is identical between Moloney and Friend viruses and particularly highly conserved among 35 mammalian type C retroviruses whose enhancer sequences have been aligned (E. Golemis, N. A. Speck, and N. Hopkins, J. Virol. 64:534-542, 1990). Previous studies identified sites for the leukemia virus factor b (LVb) and core proteins in this region (N. A. Speck and D. Baltimore, Mol. …

Characterization Of A Protein That Binds Multiple Sequences In Mammalian Type C Retrovirus Enhancers., Wanwen Sun, Mary M. O'Connell, Nancy A. Speck

Dartmouth Scholarship

Mammalian type C retrovirus enhancer factor 1 (MCREF-1) is a nuclear protein that binds several directly repeated sequences (CNGGN6CNGG) in the Moloney and Friend murine leukemia virus (MLV) enhancers (N. R. Manley, M. O'Connell, W. Sun, N. A. Speck, and N. Hopkins, J. Virol. 67:1967-1975, 1993). In this paper, we describe the partial purification of MCREF-1 from calf thymus nuclei and further characterize the binding properties of MCREF-1. MCREF-1 binds four sites in the Moloney MLV enhancer and three sites in the Friend MLV enhancer. Ethylation interference analysis suggests that the MCREF-1 binding site spans two adjacent minor grooves of …

Competitive Enzyme Immunoassay By Polyclonal Antibodies Against Organophosphorus Pesticides, Kuo-Lan Wen

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Organophosphorus compounds (OPs) comprise one of the major classes of pesticides in use today because they are highly effective and less toxic. Because of their extensive use, there is a need for monitoring OPs in water and vegetables. Gas chromatography (GC) is the usual method for OPs screening, but it is time-consuming and has the high cost of instrumentation. The goal of this project was to find an easy method which was sensitive and had less instrumentation required to test OPs.

Microwells and microtubes were utilized as the solid-phase immobilization for the development of an enzyme immunoassay for OPs. A …

Update - March 1993, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Loma Linda offers Masters of Arts in Biomedical and Clinical Ethics and assists Claremont with Theological degree

[ Depo-Provera: Contraceptive Dream or Nightmare? ]
-- A Gynecologist's Perspective
-- Some Catholic Moral Reflections

-- Doctor of Philosophy at Claremont

Detection Of Serum Antibody Responses In Cattle With Natural Or Experimental Neospora Infections, Patricia Conrad, Karen Sverlow, Mark Anderson, Joan Rowe, Robert Bondurant, Gwen Tuter, Richard Breitmeyer, California Department Of Food And Agriculture, Animal Health Branch, Mark Thurmond, Alex Ardans, J. P. Dubey, Gerarld Duhamel, Bradd Barr

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Parasite-specific antibody responses were detected using an indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test in cattle that were naturally or experimentally infected with Neospora parasites. The test was developed using Neospora tachyzoites isolated from an aborted bovine fetus and grown in bovine cell cultures (isolate BPA1). In all cases, infections were confirmed by the identification of Neospora tachyzoites and/or bradyzoite cysts in fetal or calf tissues using an immunoperoxidase test procedure. Fifty-five naturally infected cows that aborted Neospora-infected fetuses had titers of 320-5,120 at the time of abortion. The titer of 6 cows that were serologically monitored over a prolonged period decreased …

Cloning And Expression Of A Human Neutral Amino Acid Transporter With Structural Similarity To The Glutamate Transporter Gene Family, Jeffrey L. Arriza, Michael Kavanaugh, Wendy A. Fairman, Yan-Na Wu, Geoffrey H. Murdoch, R. Alan North, Susan G. Amara

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

A cDNA was isolated from human brain that encodes an amino acid sequence 34-39% identical to previously published glutamate transporter sequences. Injection of RNA transcribed from this cDNA into Xenopus oocytes resulted in expression of a transport activity with the properties of the neutral amino acid uptake system ASC. Superfusion of alanine, serine, and cysteine evoked sodium-dependent inward currents in voltage-clamped oocytes expressing the transporter. These currents were dose-dependent, stereospecific, and saturable, with Km values ranging from 29 to 88 microM. Northern blot analyses revealed ubiquitous expression of this gene, termed ASCT1, consistent with the general metabolic role ascribed to …

Book Review: The Baculovirus Expression System: A Laboratory Guide (1992) King, L. A. & Possee, R. D., David D. Dunigan

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The power of molecular biology is unleashed with the ability to clone and sequence genes, and then express these genes in heterologous systems. This sets the stage for the full analysis of proteins that are otherwise difficult to isolate and/or purify, especially when present at very low copy number per cell or when isolated from relatively precious materials. Overexpression of protein is now possible in a number of systems including prokaryotes (e.g., E. coli) and various eukaryotes (yeast, insects, and plants). The issue then becomes, which system (1) most closely reflects the homologous expression with respect to posttranslational modifications, …

Salmonella Hadar Pericarditis, A Aziz, W Jafri, T A. Jawed, A Shaikh, B Farooqui, M K. Ashfaq, N Ul Haq

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Point Mutations In The Dystrophin Gene, John Pedretti

Theses : Honours

The dystrophin gene has been localised to Xp 21.1. Mutations of this gene can lead to the clinical manifestations of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies (DMD/BMD). In the majority of DMD and BMD patients the disease-causing mutation is a deletion detectable by southern analysis or multiplex PCR, however in 30% of patients no deletion is observed using these conventional tests. Using PCR amplification of cDNA it was possible to detect a deletion in the product of the dystrophin gene of one such individual affected with BMD. It was then necessary to characterise the mutation in order to determine whether this …

In Vivo Spectroscopic And Imaging Studies Of Photosensitizer In Photodynamic Therapy, Y. Liu, Roger M. Hawk, R. K. Pandey, A. H. Fowler, S. Ramaprasad

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) has emerged as a useful cancer treatment modality which utilizes a tumor localizing dye and activating light to selectively destroy neoplastic tissue. In an effort to understand the newly synthesized photosensitizers, we are studying them in a mouse tumor model grown on the dorsal side of the foot by in vivo magnetic resonance techniques. We have synthesized several photosensitizers which are specifically labeled with fluorine. Several coils appropriate for the tumor study by 19F NMR were designed and constructed for this project. The solenoid coil tunable to both 1Hand 19F nuclei was used to monitor the 19F …

Bone Density And Muscle Development Problems In Female Lightweight Rowers Trying To Make-Weight, Carmel A. Shipway

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to determine whether high intensity exercise, combined with restriction of diet, is counter-productive to the normal health and development of the competitor. The study investigated the effects of high intensity exercise on body composition (fat, muscle and bone); bone density; and physical performance (aerobic capacity, rowing performance, quadricep strength, power and fatiguability) in twelve lightweight female rowers (age range 17- 25yrs), training for the State and National lightweight championships. Six of the rowers completed the testing, which consisted of test1 (pre-training) and test2 (post-training) after a 12 weeks training regime.

Skinfold measurements were lower …