Use of a synthetic peptide-based elisa for the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis and other diseases

A simple enzyme immunoassay has been developed based on measuring antibodies to synthetic peptides corresponding to sequences in the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA). This assay, which is reproducible, quantitative, and simple to perform and interpret, can be an effective tool to aid in the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.     

An observational study of cholecystectomy in patients receiving tegaserod.

BACKGROUND: Registrational studies of patients treated with tegaserod for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) suggest an increased risk for cholecystectomy versus treatment with placebo. OBJECTIVE: To study cholecystectomy rates in association with tegaserod within a large administrative medical claims database. METHODS: Patients were drawn from a large population within the US with commercial medical insurance. The primary analysis consisted of a comparison of the observed incidence rate for cholecystectomy claims among a large cohort of new-to-therapy tegaserod users with an incidence rate published for tegaserod-naive patients classified with IBS within the same insured population. RESULTS: An inception cohort of 7475 individuals with up to 103 weeks of claims history following initiation of therapy with tegaserod was identified. After a follow-up of 3 months (and thus similar to the longest registrational trials), the observed cholecystectomy incidence rate was 340 per 10,000 person-years (95% CI 258, 442). The rate of cholecystectomy was highest in the earliest months of observation following initiation of tegaserod. The observed cholecystecomy incidence rate is 2.9 times higher than an IBS-specific rate of 119 per 10,000 person-years as published for patients so classified within the same insured population. CONCLUSION: Based on a large, inception cohort, we report a strong temporal association between the initiation of tegaserod therapy and an increased rate for cholecystectomy. The effect size at 3 months was similar to the relative risk for cholecystectomy reported in registrational studies comparing tegaserod with placebo. As misclassification of initial diagnosis for patients presenting with biliary colic-like symptoms may occur, precise measurements of tegaserod-related relative risk for cholecystectomy from observational studies are problematic and will require prospective studies.     

The health and wellbeing of informal caregivers: a review and study program

Abstract: Informal caregivers are the families and other unpaid caregivers in the home who support people of all ages with severe and chronic mental or physical disabilities. Home care of this sort has been increasing over the past 30 years because of the reduced number of beds in hospitals and nursing homes and increased outpatient and community care. Moreover, with an aging population and increasing rates of disability, the demand for family caregiving will continue to rise. This has important implications for the development of health, community service and social policy. At the same time, however, very little is known about the impact such changes are having on the caregivers of various ages and in various circumstances. The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation is funding a research and intervention program in Melbourne to promote wellbeing and prevent ill-health in caregivers.     

Selective labelling of bradykinin receptor subtypes in WI38 human lung fibroblasts.

1. Binding of the B1 bradykinin receptor radioligand, [3H]-des-Arg10-kallidin (-KD) and the B2 receptor radioligand [3H]-bradykinin (-BK) was investigated in membranes prepared from WI38 human foetal lung fibroblasts. 2. One-site analysis of the saturation data for [3H]-des-Arg10-KD gave an equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) value of 0.51 +/- 0.12 nM and a maximum receptor density (Bmax) of 260 +/- 49 fmol mg-1 of protein. [3H]-des-Arg10-KD binding was displaced by ligands in the order: des-Arg10-KD > KD > > des-Arg9[Leu8]-BK > des-Arg9-BK > Hoe 140 > > BK, implying that it was binding selectively to B1 receptors. 3. One-site analysis of the binding of [3H]-BK to W138 membranes indicated that it had a KD value of 0.25 +/- 0.06 nM and a Bmax of 753 +/- 98 fmol mg-1 of protein. The potencies for displacement of [3H]-BK binding were: Hoe 140 > > BK = KD > > > des-Arg10-KD = des-Arg9[Leu8]-BK = des-Arg9-BK, which was consistent with binding to B2 receptors. 4. This is the first characterization of [3H]-des-Arg10-KD binding to include both kinetic and equilibrium data, and demonstrates that [3H]-des-Arg10-KD has a high affinity for human B1 bradykinin receptors and is sufficiently selective to be used as a radioligand for B1 receptors in human cells or tissues expressing an excess of B2 BK receptors.     

Collaborative Practice Through Nursing Case Management

A 528-bed community teaching hospital redesigned its patient care delivery system, implementing a collaborative practice model on the 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit in April 1990. This model is a patient-centered delivery model that encourages the healthcare team to facilitate the achievement of patient outcomes within effective time frames and with an appropriate use of resources. The collaborative practice model includes a nurse case manager's role for the staff nurse, which had as its framework the concept of nursing case management. Tested project management techniques were used to ensure a successful implementation process. Various strategies, such as using project teams and providing educational programs, were used to respond to the issues of role conflict and overlap, especially between social workers and nurse case managers. The implementation of this model provided a number of benefits, including improved interdisciplinary relationships and decreased length of stay.     

Coemployed spouses: differences,strategies, and discrimination

The authors explore linkages between family and work roles. They examine patterns of apparent economic strategies of spouses working at a southern university located in a rural area. Their research focuses on spousal economic behavior and specifically addresses the effects of spouses' dual employment on the job status of women, differences between spouses in the timing of education and 1st hire at the university, status consistencies in husband and wife employment levels, and sexual discrimination in job levels and income of coemployed spouses. The study uses data extracted from a personnel data set. Cases from a computerized file were identified in 1980-1981, analyzed with 1981-1982 data, and compared with total work force data for 1982-1983. Slightly more than 1/2, or 123 identified cases, were analyzed. Some study findings follow. 1) Marriage to a coemployed spouse is associated with high occupational levels for female employees. 2) It is the husband's career that generally dictates the entry of a couple into the university's internal labor market. 3) There seems to be a strain toward consistency in the status levels of married pairs. 4) Collaborative strategies are being used to secure economic advances for the family unit. Major efforts regarding education and job selection are directed toward advancing the husband's career preference. However, some exceptions suggest that the pattern is flexible and that economic factors will take precedence over stereotyped sex roles when family needs come into consideration. 5) There is employment discrimination by sex at all levels of the internal labor market being studied. Status and income differentials still exist between males and females. Males in the same occupational statuses are paid more than their female counterparts. Females are concentrated at the lower levels of occupational ranks, males toward the top. Although this study is preliminary, it provides partial support for previous research on coemployed spouses' patterns of educational and occupational attainment, and the persistence of sex discrimination in earnings and occupational prestige.     

Motor control and the role of occupational therapy: past, present, and future

Human motor behavior continues to evolve and, therefore, may never be fully understood. Still, occupational therapy treatment approaches that are based on neurophysiological principles are fairly well accepted, and there is much potential for the development of treatments that will facilitate recovery of function. Occupational therapy must face and confront its roles in relation to the field of motor control; a health care profession involved with performance and motor control issues cannot afford to ignore the rapid advances in neuroscience information and the parallel developments in the field of motor control. Rood (1980) stated that many people want a "womb with a view," so that they remain protected and yet passively observe the outside world. However, if occupational therapy is to remain current with new developments in the field of motor control, it cannot afford to be passive.     

Development of a flow cytometry based method for rapid and sensitive detection of a novel marine fish iridovirus in cell culture

A sensitive and accurate flow cytometry (FCM) based method has been developed to detect and quantitate a novel marine fish iridovirus (Singapore grouper iridovirus, SGIV) after amplification in cell cultures. Confluent grouper cell (GP) monolayers were infected with SGIV. When advanced cytopathic effect (CPE) appeared, the cell cultures were fixed and permeabilized, and then reacted with monoclonal antibodies specific against SGIV, followed by a second antibody conjugated with FITC (anti-mouse IgG-FITC). A Coulter EPICS Elite ESP flow cytometer was used to directly detect and analyze the percentage of virus-infected cells. Three fixation and permeabilization methods were evaluated. The kinetics of the virus infection process was determined. The FCM procedure enables large amounts of cells to be screened rapidly for infectivity, and it can also detect low levels of virus infection. As early as 8 h after inoculation with the virus, 0.34% of infected cells were detected in cell culture. The maximum level of infection was obtained at 72 h. The efficiency and reliability of the FCM procedure were compared with those of the standard methods of immunofluorescence microscopy and PCR.