How people living with motor neurone disease and their carers experience healthcare decision making: a qualitative exploration.

PURPOSE: Healthcare decision making in motor neurone disease (MND) focuses on symptom management and quality of life. Decision making may be affected by personal approach to receiving information, decision making style, and disease symptoms. This study explored decision making from the perspectives of people living with motor neurone disease (plwMND). The issues impacting engagement and involvement in healthcare decisions were investigated. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 plwMND and 15 carers. Interview data was inductively analysed to identify and describe patterns and themes. RESULTS: Data analysis identified six overarching themes: Dimensions of decision making; Window of opportunity for choice; Intrinsic influences on decision making; Extrinsic influences impacting decision making; Planning in uncertainty; and, Communication is core. Many participants did not identify a process of "decision-making" except if considering early gastrostomy placement. Information provision requires a balance between ensuring patients are informed but not overwhelmed. Communication impairment impacts involvement. Healthcare professionals' communication style influences engagement in decision making. CONCLUSION: PlwMND perceive a lack of clinical decisions to make because disease symptoms and clinical phenotypes dictate necessary interventions. PlwMND describe communication impairment as a barrier to involvement in decision making and extra support is required to ensure they maintain engagement.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONPeople living with MND (plwMND) perceive they have few clinical decisions to make and viewed this process as "accepting a recommendation", rather than "making a decision" although early gastrostomy placement is the exception with considerable deliberation evident.Specialist multidisciplinary clinic advice is especially helpful for plwMND without dysphagia (swallowing problems) when considering early gastrostomy placement.Communication impairment may be a barrier to involvement in healthcare decisions and extra support to remain engaged is required.Some plwMND choose not to involve others in their decisions, and patients/families with medical or scientific backgrounds are more likely to collaborate with each other outside the context of clinic appointments.

Biomass, productivity and density of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum at three sites in Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica.

The basic ecology of seagrass beds was investigated by comparing biomass, productivity and density of Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass) at three sites: Puerto Vargas, Punta Cahuita and Rio Perezoso, in Cahuita National Park, Limón, Costa Rica, over a two month period (March-April 1999). Above ground biomass, density, and productivity were highest in the Puerto Vargas site while Punta Cahuita had the least non-green above ground biomass was significantly lower in total biomass than Puerto Vargas. Punta Cahuita was distinguished by the largest grain size, a very hard substrate, and shallower water. Rio Perezoso, on the other hand, had extremely fine sediment and lower salinity, while Puerto Vargas was intermediate both in sediment size and environmental conditions. It appears, therefore, that higher biomass and productivity result from a combination of moderate environmental characteristics and an intermediate sediment size.

Excision from tRNA genes of a large chromosomal region, carrying avrPphB, associated with race change in the bean pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola (Pph) race 4 strain 1302A carries avirulence gene avrPphB. Strain RJ3, a sectoral variant from a 1302A culture, exhibited an extended host range in cultivars of bean and soybean resulting from the absence of avrPphB from the RJ3 chromosome. Complementation of RJ3 with avrPphB restored the race 4 phenotype. Both strains showed similar in planta growth in susceptible bean cultivars. Analysis of RJ3 indicated loss of > 40 kb of DNA surrounding avrPphB. Collinearity of the two genomes was determined for the left and right junctions of the deleted avrPphB region; the left junction is approximately 19 kb and the right junction > 20 kb from avrPphB in 1302A. Sequencing revealed that the region containing avrPphB was inserted into a tRNALYS gene, which was re-formed at the right junction in strain 1302A. A putative lysine tRNA pseudogene (PsitRNALYS) was found at the left junction of the insertion. All tRNA genes were in identical orientation in the chromosome. Genes near the left junction exhibited predicted protein homologies with gene products associated with a virulence locus of the periodontal pathogen Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. Specific oligonucleotide primers that differentiate 1302A from RJ3 were designed and used to demonstrate that avrPphB was located in different regions of the chromosome in other strains of Pph. Deletion of a large region of the chromosome containing an avirulence gene represents a new route to race change in Pph.

Vascular endothelial growth factor in the rat pituitary: differential distribution and regulation by estrogen.

UNLABELLED: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), an endothelial cell mitogen and permeability factor, participates in tumor angiogenesis, but less is known about its regulation or function in normal vascular homeostasis. In the uterus, which undergoes cyclic changes in its vasculature, VEGF is induced by estrogen. Since the pituitary gland contains highly permeable capillaries and is estrogen-responsive, our objectives were to localize VEGF expression within the pituitary and to determine whether it is regulated by estrogen in both the pituitary and the somatolactotrope cell line, GH(3). Ovariectomized rats were injected with estradiol, and pituitaries and uteri were subjected to in situ hybridization or quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). VEGF expression was strong and punctate in the neural lobe, weaker and diffuse in the anterior lobe and undetectable in the intermediate lobe. Two VEGF isoforms, 164 and 120, were detected in all tissues. In the posterior pituitary, VEGF expression was 3- to 6-fold higher than in the anterior pituitary or uterus and was unaltered by estrogen. In contrast, anterior pituitary VEGF was induced by estrogen within 1 h, peaked at 3 h, and returned to basal levels by 24 h. Similar dynamics, albeit 10-fold higher, were seen in the uterus. Translated VEGF proteins were detected by Western blot in both the anterior pituitary and uterus. GH(3) cells also showed a dose- and time-dependent induction of VEGF expression by estrogen. IN CONCLUSION: (1) VEGF expression is higher in the neural lobe than in the anterior lobe and is undetectable in the intermediate lobe, (2) the expression of VEGF164 and VEGF120 is rapidly upregulated by estrogen in the anterior pituitary but is unchanged in the posterior pituitary, and (3) the pituitary lactotrope cell line, GH(3), also increases VEGF expression in response to estradiol.

A comparison of kangaroo mother care and conventional cuddling care.

PURPOSE: To compare kangaroo mother care (KMC) and conventional cuddling care (CCC) in premature and small-for-gestational-age infants. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Thirty mother-infant dyads in two Australian neonatal nurseries were randomly assigned to the KMC group or the CCC group. Both groups of mothers cuddled their babies for a minimum of two hours a day, five days a week while in the study, with the KMC group having skin-to-skin contact while the CCC group had contact through normal clothing. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLE: The main outcome variables were infant weight gain, temperature maintenance during KMC and CCC, and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: The results showed no difference between groups on the Parental Stress Scale (NICU) or the Parental Expectations Survey. Infants in both groups experienced equivalent maintenance of or rise in temperature while out of the incubators, equal weight gain, equal length of stay in the hospital, and equal duration of breastfeeding.

Stimulation of insulin secretion by extracts of piper tuberculatum - abstract

Piper tuberculatum, locally known as candle-bush, is widely used in folk medicine in Trinidad and Tobago in the control of diabetes mellitus. It is commonly administered as a tea prepared from the leaves of the plant. This study was undertaken to investigate the hypoglycaemic activity (if any) of the plant, to identify and partially purify the active component and to obtain some information on the mechanism(s) of action. A methanol extract of leaves of the plant was screened for hypoglycaemic activity. The chloroform phase obtained from a chloroform form/H[2]O partition of the extract contained the active component which was further partially purified by column and thin-layer chromatography. Based on the chromatographic behaviour and HNMR spectroscopy, the active component was indentified as an amide alkaloid, most likely piplartine or a closely related derivative. The hypoglycaemic activity of the component, as tested on streptozotocin-diabetic rats, was found to be similar to that of an authentic sample of piplartine. The partially purified active component produced an increase in phospholipase C activity of the plasma membrane of pancreatic islet cells and induced insulin secretion in diabetic rats. The exact mechanism of the stimulation of insulin release requires further investigation but may be similar to that of sulphonylureas (AU)

Production of epidermal growth factor in Escherichia coli from a synthetic gene.

Mouse epidermal growth factor (EGF) is under investigation as a deflecting agent for sheep. Substantial quantities of the pure protein are required for these studies and to supply this need a gene for the protein was synthesized and inserted into plasmid vectors to direct the expression of EGF polypeptide, or fusion proteins containing the EGF peptide sequence, in transformed Escherichia coli. Mature EGF was released by lysine specific proteolysis of a fusion protein consisting of part of the E. coli TrpE protein, a lysine linker and EGF polypeptide. The EGF was purified and characterized and was found to be biologically active.

Comparison of the amino acid sequence of the major immunogen from three serotypes of foot and mouth disease virus.

Cloned cDNA molecules from three serotypes of FMDV have been sequenced around the VP1-coding region. The predicted amino acid sequences for VP1 were compared with the published sequences and variable regions identified. The amino acid sequences were also analysed for hydrophilic regions. Two of the variable regions, numbered 129-160 and 193-204 overlapped hydrophilic regions, and were therefore identified as potentially immunogenic. These regions overlap regions shown by others to be immunogenic.

Variant surface glycoproteins of Trypanosoma brucei are synthesised with cleavable hydrophobic sequences at the carboxy and amino termini.

cDNAs coding for the amino and carboxy termini of two trypanosome variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) have been sequenced. The results indicate that VSGs are synthesised with hydrophobic amino-terminal leader and carboxy-terminal tail sequences which are absent from purified mature VSGs.