Making a spectacle of herself: reading community mental health nursing assessments.

The metaphor of mapping is used in this paper to examine the discursive construction of women whose nudity in public places (making a spectacle of herself) provides dilemmas for community mental health nurses required to make assessments of these women's ability to function in the community. Excerpts from stories provided by the nurses are used to demonstrate the complexity of the decision-making processes and the limits to the choices they perceive they can make.

A cost utility analysis of treatment options for gallstone disease: methodological issues and results.

The techniques of cost utility analysis (CUA) were used to evaluate the treatment of gallstone disease by open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy and by extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). The application of the techniques in this context raised three methodological questions which are not satisfactorily resolved in the literature. The first is whether an ex ante or ex post perspective is best adopted for the measurement of quality of life (QoL).

Functional analysis of the AUG- and CUG-initiated forms of the c-Myc protein.

Activation of the c-myc proto-oncogene by chromosomal translocation or proviral insertion frequently results in the separation of the c-myc coding region from its normal regulatory elements. Such rearrangements are often accompanied by loss or mutation of c-myc exon 1 sequences. These genetic alterations do not affect synthesis of the major c-myc protein, p64, which is initiated from the first AUG codon in exon 2.

CD4 lymphocyte numbers after splenectomy in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

Splenectomy has been reported to alter inconsistently the CD4 lymphocyte numbers in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To further assess the effect of splenectomy we have retrospectively examined the charts of 10 patients who were infected with HIV and who had undergone splenectomy. There was a significant increase in the mean CD4 numbers following splenectomy (mean increase of 326/microliters, or 2.

Yttrium synovectomy in haemophilic arthropathy.

Between 1987 and 1991 we performed Yttrium-90 (Y-90) silicate radionuclide synovectomies on 40 joints of 20 haemophiliac patients with haemophilic arthropathy. All were male, their mean age was 31 yr and 15 of the 20 (75%) were HIV antibody positive. The number of joint bleeds and amount of factor (VIII and IX) replacement given in the 6 months pre- and 6 and 12 months post-radionuclide synovectomy was compared.

Cloning of the complete coding region for human protein phosphatase inhibitor 2 using the two hybrid system and expression of inhibitor 2 in E. coli.

The yeast two hybrid system has been employed to identify cDNAs encoding proteins which interact with the gamma 1 isoform of human protein phosphatase 1. Here we report the isolation of cDNA encoding human protein phosphatase inhibitor. The deduced human sequence of 205 amino acids shows 92% identity to inhibitor 2 from rabbit.

Three genes for protein phosphatase 1 map to different human chromosomes: sequence, expression and gene localisation of protein serine/threonine phosphatase 1 beta (PPP1CB).

Complementary DNA encoding a catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 1, termed PP1 beta, was isolated from a human teratocarcinoma library. Hybridisation with different cDNA fragments showed that all human tissues examined contained 3.1 kb, 4.

Hepatitis B vaccination and booster in predialysis patients: a 4-year analysis.

Patients undergoing chronic haemodialysis are at increased risk for infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), but response to currently available vaccines is suboptimal. We undertook a 4-year prospective study of the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccine in patients with renal insufficiency, who were not yet dialysis-dependent. A booster dose of Recombivax HB was given at 3 or 4 years to those whose antibody levels fell below a predetermined point.

Inhibitor-2 functions like a chaperone to fold three expressed isoforms of mammalian protein phosphatase-1 into a conformation with the specificity and regulatory properties of the native enzyme.

Three isoforms of mammalian protein phosphatase-1 (PP1 alpha, PP1 beta and PP1 gamma) were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to near homogeneity. The activities of all isoforms towards phosphorylase, phosphorylase kinase and myosin and their sensitivities to inhibitor-2 were similar to the native PP1 catalytic subunit (PP1C) isolated from vertebrate tissues. Like PP1C, they each formed a complex with the glycogen-targetting(G) subunit which directs PP1C to glycogen particles in skeletal muscle.

PPX, a novel protein serine/threonine phosphatase localized to centrosomes.

The amino acid sequence of a novel mammalian protein phosphatase, termed PPX (and designated PPP4 in the human genome nomenclature), has been deduced from the cDNA and shown to be 65% identical to PP2A alpha and PP2A beta and 45% identical to PPI isoforms, the predicted molecular mass being 35 kDa. PPX was expressed in the baculovirus system. Its substrate specificity and sensitivity to the inhibitors, okadaic acid and microcystin, were similar (but not identical) to the catalytic subunit of PP2A.

Cooperation of structural proteins during late events in the life cycle of polyomavirus.

The polyomavirus minor late capsid antigen, VP2, is myristylated on its N-terminal glycine, this modification being required for efficient infection of mouse cells. To study further the functions of this antigen, as well as those of the other minor late antigen, VP3, recombinant baculoviruses carrying genes for VP1, VP2, and VP3 have been constructed and the corresponding proteins have been synthesized in insect cells. A monoclonal antibody recognizing VP1, alpha-PyVP1-A, and two monoclonal antibodies against the common region of VP2 and VP3, alpha-PyVP2/3-A and alpha-PyVP2/3-B, have been generated.

Stabilization of von Willebrand factor in banked blood by leucocyte depletion.

The von Willebrand factor (vWf) activity, as measured by the ristocetin co-factor (vWf:RCo) and collagen binding (vWf:CBA) assays, declined progressively in standard blood units stored at 4 degrees C after a 2-day storage period. This loss of activity was accompanied by a loss and degradation of high molecular weight (HMW) vWf multimers. In studies using a paired design, filtration of blood with a high efficiency leucocyte-removal filter, prior to storage at 4 degrees C, led to significantly improved maintenance of vWf:RCo and vWf:CBA compared with unfiltered units (P < 0.

HIV-related haematological disease.

Patients may be referred to a haematologist for clinical and laboratory evaluation of anaemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia or lymphoid disorders. Any of these may present the first opportunity to diagnose HIV infection.

Postoperative primary adrenal failure from bilateral hemorrhagic adrenal infarction associated with coagulation factor XI deficiency.

A 72-year-old man developed bilateral adrenal hemorrhage causing primary adrenal failure three days after total hip replacement, and was found to have coagulation factor XI deficiency. Factor XI deficiency usually causes mild bleeding which is not predictable on the basis of assayable factor XI levels. There have been no previous reports of bilateral adrenal hemorrhage in factor XI deficiency or other inherited coagulation factor deficiencies.

von Willebrand factor characterization of a severe dry-heat treated factor VIII concentrate, AHF (high purity).

Eight batches of a severe dry-heat treated (80 degrees C for 72 hours) Factor VIII concentrate manufactured by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL Ltd.) were analysed for the following von Willebrand factor-related (vWf) activities: ristocetin cofactor activity (vWf:RCof), collagen binding activity (CBA), vWf antigen levels (vWf:Ag), vWf multimeric analysis and 2-stage FVIII clotting activity (VIII:C). The average potency per vial of vWf:Ag was 440 +/- 80 units, vWf:RCof 500 +/- 60 units, CBA 350 +/- 50 units and VIII:C 242 +/- 36 International Units.

Increasing women's participation in Pap smear screening in Australia--how can we tell if the national policy is effective?

A national policy on the prevention of cervical cancer was launched in 1991. The success of the policy should be judged in terms of the extent that appropriate screening of the 'at risk' population is achieved by the screening program and the degree of reduction of differential screening rates between population groups. The relative cost-effectiveness of the various recruitment strategies chosen to meet the policy's objectives should also be evaluated.