Co-transfection of messenger RNA and siRNA as a method to study the efficiency of siRNA.

The definition of an optimal siRNA results from the in vitro testing of several siRNA designed to specifically target a gene. Usually, such in vitro tests consist in the transfection of the several siRNA duplexes in a cell expressing stably the gene of interest. When a siRNA specific for a mRNA coding toxic proteins (certain transcription factors, transporters, toxins, cell cycle controlling proteins, etc.

Insurance, acculturation, and health service utilization among Korean-Americans.

This study describes the pattern and predictors of ambulatory care utilization among Korean Americans (KAs) living in Los Angeles. Data were gathered via a mail survey. Analysis employed a two-part model: logit model for factors affecting any health care use and truncated negative binomial model for frequency of use given one visit.

The non-classical HLA class I molecule HFE does not influence the NK-like activity contained in fresh human PBMCs and does not interact with NK cells.

In humans, four beta2-microglobulin-associated non-classical class I molecules are encoded in the MHC: HLA-E, -F, -G and -H. Three of them (HLA-E, -F and -G) were shown to inhibit NK activity. On the contrary, the fourth one, HLA-H, named HFE after it was found to be mutated in patients suffering from inherited hemochromatosis, has been shown to be involved only in the regulation of iron uptake.

Person and place: the compounding effects of race/ethnicity and rurality on health.

Rural racial/ethnic minorities constitute a forgotten population. The limited research addressing rural Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations suggests that disparities in health and in health care access found among rural racial/ethnic minority populations are generally more severe than those among urban racial/ethnic minorities. We suggest that disparities must be understood as both collective and contextual phenomena.

Polarization of immunity induced by direct injection of naked sequence-stabilized mRNA vaccines.

In the context of developing a safe genetic vaccination strategy we tested and studied globin-stabilized mRNA-based vaccination in mice. This vaccination strategy has the advantages of genetic vaccination (easy production, adaptability to any disease and inexpensive storage when lyophilized), but not the drawbacks of DNA vaccination (long-term uncontrolled expression of a transgene, possibility of integration into the host genome and possible induction of anti-DNA antibodies). We report here that injection of naked beta-globin untranslated region (UTR)-stabilized mRNA coding for beta-galactosidase is followed by detectable translation in vivo.

Disparities in access to care among rural working-age adults.

Context: Nationally, minority population disparities in health and in the receipt of health services are well documented but are infrequently examined within rural populations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a national picture of health insurance coverage and access to care among rural minorities.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis using the 1999-2000 National Health Interview Surveys examined insurance status and receipt of ambulatory care during the past year.

A conserved sequence in the mouse variable T cell receptor alpha recombination signal sequence 23-bp spacer can affect recombination.

Although the V-gene segments coding for the TCR alpha and delta chains are mixed together in the alpha delta locus and are recombined by the same processes, some gene segments (TRAV) are rearranged only with TCR Jalpha gene segments, some (TRDV) only with TCR Ddelta gene segments and some (TRADV) with both. To date, no molecular signal is known that can characterize these three different types of gene segments. Studying the recombination signal sequences (RSS) of all mouse TCR V-gene segments we observed that 80% of the TRAV contain a palindrome sequence (CTGCAG) or its related variant CTGTAG in their 23-bp spacer.

[From casualty medicine to casualty surgery].

For many centuries the treatment of accident casualties -- as proven by evidence from prehistoric times -- has been an essential part of an empirically determined and crafts-oriented surgery. But though the phenomenon of accident and the pathophysiological complex of trauma were faced with the surgical inaccessibility of the human body until in the late 19th century, a kind of casualty medicine supported by multifaceted, scientifically founded observations was trying to repair or alleviate the sequelae of accidents. But only the development of imaging diagnostic procedures made it possible to apply pre-planned target-oriented -- what is modernly called "outcome-oriented" -- surgical procedures.

Immunostimulating capacities of stabilized RNA molecules.

Since direct injection of naked mRNA induces an immune response, we tested the capacity of RNA to signal danger. We show here that mRNA molecules that are protected from immediate degradation either through interaction with cationic proteins (trans protection) or through chemical modification of the phosphodiester backbone (phosphorothioate RNA; cis protection) act as sequence-independent danger signals on mouse DC. As opposed to CpG DNA, the cis-stabilized RNA is degraded in a few minutes, does not activate B cells and, in contrast to double-stranded RNA, requires MyD88 for activation of the DC.

The impact of resident physician coverage on emergency department visits in South Carolina.

Background: This study examines emergency department (ED) visits to assess the potential impact on rural and minority patients if the practice of resident moonlighting was limited.

Methods: Billing data from all South Carolina ED visits in 1998 were linked to the physician licensure file. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine patient characteristics predictive of being seen by a resident physician.

The National Health Service Corps and Medicaid inpatient care: experience in a southern state.

Background: Since 1970, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) has worked to increase primary care access among underserved groups. This study examined whether NHSC alumni physicians were likely to treat a high proportion of Medicaid patients in their practices.

Methods: Using licensure files and hospital discharge data, we identified all physicians practicing in South Carolina who attended at least one discharge in 1998, excluding physicians who graduated before 1969, residents, and current NHSC-obligated physicians.

Potentially preventable care: ambulatory care-sensitive pediatric hospitalizations in South Carolina in 1998.

Objective: We examined pediatric hospitalizations to assess personal and community factors affecting potentially preventable ambulatory care-sensitive condition (ACSC) hospitalizations.

Methods: Data came from the South Carolina 1998 Hospital Inpatient Encounter Database, which yielded 10,156 ACSC discharges among 81,808 pediatric hospitalizations. Analyses were performed at three levels: ACSC as a percentage of all hospitalizations, ACSC patients compared with other patients, and county ACSC rates.

Heavy metal distribution in some French forest soils: evidence for atmospheric contamination.

This study is one of very few dealing with the distribution and the origin of heavy metals in French soils from a priori non-polluted forest areas. The abundance of heavy metals measured in these soils decreases as follows: Cr>Zn>Pb>Ni>Cu>Co>>Cd. Total concentrations of Pb, Cr and Ni in some soils exceed the European thresholds for non-polluted soils and even the French association of normalization critical values for sludge spreading.

Prenatal care and infant birth outcomes among Medicaid recipients.

Infant morbidity due to low birth weight and preterm births results in emotional suffering and significant direct and indirect costs. African American infants continue to have worse birth outcomes than white infants. This study examines relationships between newborn hospital costs, maternal risk factors, and prenatal care in Medicaid recipients in an impoverished rural county in South Carolina.

Total mercury concentrations in an industrialized catchment, the Thur River basin (north-eastern France): geochemical background level and contamination factors.

River bottom sediments and soils were collected from the industrialized Thur River basin (north-eastern France) to assess mercury contamination. The regional geochemical background level of total mercury was evaluated to calculate mercury contamination factors (Fc) in soils and river bottom sediments. Our estimate of the mean background mercury levels in river sediments and soils, not affected by human activities, was 232 ng x g(-1) (range: 27-406 ng x g(-1)).

Ionic reaction of halogens with terminal alkenes: the effect of electron-withdrawing fluorine substituents on the bonding of halonium ions.

Ionic reactions of terminal alkenes with chlorine (Cl(2)), bromine (Br(2)), and iodine monochloride (ICl) are sensitive to the alkyl substituents, and the positions and number of vinyl fluorine atoms. These perturbations influence the symmetry of the halonium ion intermediates, which can be determined by the distribution of the Markovnikov to anti-Markovnikov products. A vinyl fluorine on the number-2 carbon favors an unsymmetrical intermediate with greater charge on the number-2 carbon unless the alkyl group is electron withdrawing.

Anxiety and anger among family practice residents: a South Carolina family practice research consortium study.

Purpose: To study the dimensions of anxiety and anger experienced by a statewide sample of South Carolina family practice residents.

Method: A total of 350 family practice residents from seven programs participated. Each resident completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Profile of Mood States, the Hassles Scale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) on at least one occasion.

Rural-urban differences in visits to primary care physicians.

Background And Objectives: Our study explored ambulatory practice differences between rural and urban primary care physicians. Because most rural practitioners are not educated through special rural tracks, all primary care medical educators need to ensure that training prepares physicians for the demands of rural sites.

Methods: Visits to family, general practice, internal medicine, and pediatric physicians from the 1996 and 1997 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys were analyzed.

Surface properties of calcium phosphate particles for self setting bone cements.

Calcium phosphate cements (CPC), consist of multicomponent powder mixtures of calcium orthophosphates with grain sizes in the region of 1-20 microm. Due to the small particle sizes surface properties as the zeta potential and adsorption processes play a significant role during manufacturing and application. In the context of this work zeta potentials of different calcium phosphates, like dicalcium phosphate anhydride (DPCA) tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP) and hydroxyapatite were measured in various organic/aqueous media with different pH values.

Time and money: effects of no-shows at a family practice residency clinic.

Background: When patients fail to appear for scheduled appointments, the flow of patient care is interrupted, and clinic productivity declines. This study investigated the impact of failed appointments on a clinic by measuring time and money lost after taking into account same-day treatment patients (walk-ins).

Methods: Schedule information was retrieved for 4,055 visits over 20 business days.