| 21. |
- Sundin, Karin, et al.
(författare)
-
Suffering from care as expressed in the narratives of former patients in somatic wards
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences. - : Wiley. - 0283-9318 .- 1471-6712. ; 14:1, s. 16-22
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To illuminate patients' experiences of suffering from care, ten former patients in somatic wards narrated a desirable care episode (n = 39) and an undesirable care episode (n = 51). The interviews were analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic method inspired by Ricoeur's philosophy. Four themes were found: having a good rest, suffering through, searching for autonomy and being cared for by attentive and committed staff. The findings were interpreted in light of Eriksson's description of suffering, which describes three kinds of suffering: 'suffering of life', 'suffering of illness' and 'suffering of caring'. Although not mentioned explicitly, it was evident that cases of suffering from care were indicated in the patients' narratives. The themes were related to the patients' states of health, their experience of the care situation and their descriptions of themselves, and could be understood as related to the acts of the 'drama of suffering' described by Eriksson. The study highlights the need for the patient to find a co-actor in the drama of suffering in order to prevent suffering from care, i.e. prevent hindrance to the patient in her/his struggle against the 'suffering of illness' and the 'suffering of life'. The patients must be seen as the directors of their own dramas of suffering.
|
|
| 22. |
|
|
| 23. |
- Tobin, Gerard, et al.
(författare)
-
Subsets with restricted immunoglobulin gene rearrangement features indicate a role for antigen selection in the development of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 104:9, s. 2879-85
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pseudohypoaldosteronism type I (PHA1) is a condition associated with salt wasting leading to dehydration, hypotension, hyperkalemia, and metabolic acidosis. Sporadic cases and two familial forms, one autosomal dominant and one autosomal recessive form, have been described. The autosomal dominant or sporadic form manifests milder salt wasting that remits with age. Mutations in the gene encoding the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) have been identified in patients with the autosomal dominant inheritance. However, recent studies suggest that the autosomal dominant and sporadic forms are genetically heterogeneous and that additional genes might be involved. We report on the study of 15 members of a Swedish five-generation family with the autosomal dominant form of PHA1. Interestingly, neuropathy was found in two of five affected individuals. A novel heterozygous nonsense mutation C436X in exon 2 was identified in the index patient by linkage analysis, PCR, and direct sequencing of the MR gene. Analysis of the family demonstrated that the mutation segregated with PHA1 in the family. It is unclear whether the neuropathy is associated with the mutation found. Our results together with previously published data suggest that loss-of-function mutations of the MR gene located at 4q31.1, commonly are associated with the autosomal dominant form of PHA1.
|
|
| 24. |
- Ullenhag, G, et al.
(författare)
-
Incidence of GM-CSF antibodies in cancer patients receiving GM-CSF for immunostimulation.
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Clinical Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1521-6616 .- 1521-7035. ; 99, s. 65-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have assessed the immunogenicity profile of GM-CSF in patients with either colorectal carcinoma (CRC) at different stages of disease or with multiple myeloma who were given recombinant human GM-CSF (Escherichia coli-derived) combination therapy. Metastatic CRC patients received a colon carcinoma-reactive antibody and high doses of GM-CSF (425--500 microg/day for 10 days), while other CRC patients and those with myeloma received low doses of GM-CSF (75--80 microg/day for 4 days) as an adjuvant along with appropriate tumor antigens. We found that 55% of the patients (11/20) given high doses of GM-CSF developed GM-CSF-reactive antibodies in comparison with an incidence of only 16% (4/25) in patients given low doses of GM-CSF. None of the patients developed neutralizing antibodies and so the biological effects of GM-CSF were not compromised. A majority of patients (80%) (36/45) also developed antibodies to E. coli proteins that were present as trace contaminants in the GM-CSF product. Treatment with recombinant GM-CSF products, therefore, may induce antibodies against this cytokine depending on the regimen and the amounts used. In this study, multiple immunizations with low doses of GM-CSF was associated with a low incidence of GM-CSF antibodies, which did not neutralize the effect of the cytokine. This therapeutic strategy was effective in inducing adjuvant-type effects and needs to be explored in further clinical trials with this cytokine.
|
|
| 25. |
- Ullenhag, Gustav J, et al.
(författare)
-
Induction of IgG subclass responses in colorectal carcinoma patients vaccinated with recombinant carcinoembryonic antigen.
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Cancer Research. - 0008-5472 .- 1538-7445. ; 62, s. 1364-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is scanty information on the IgG subclass response after vaccination against cancer antigens. The induction and development of the IgG subclass responses in 18 colorectal carcinoma patients vaccinated s.c. seven times with recombinant human carcinoembryonic antigen (rhCEA) over a 12-month period were analyzed by ELISA. The patients were followed for 3 years. Four rhCEA doses were used, and half of the patients also received granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as an adjuvant. Anti-rhCEA-specific IgG1 and IgG4 responses and, to a lesser degree, IgG2 responses were markedly enhanced by concomitant GM-CSF administration, whereas the antigen dose was of minor importance. Almost no IgG3 response was observed. A significant antibody response was noted within the first weeks for IgG1 and IgG2 but noted several months later for IgG4. The responses gradually increased by repeated immunizations and peaked around 12 months for IgG1 and a few months later for IgG2 and IgG4. A sustained but reduced response was noted for these three subclasses at 24 and 36 months. Interestingly, there was a gradual shift from a predominant IgG1 response at 6 months to an IgG4 response at 15 months. No significant change in total concentrations of the four IgG subclasses was observed comparing prevaccination concentrations with concentrations at 12 months, indicating an antigen-specific effect of GM-CSF administration on the anti-rhCEA response. The clinical significance of the individual IgG subclass antibodies for tumor response is not clear and requires additional studies.
|
|
| 26. |
|
|
| 27. |
- Mahdavi, Jafar, et al.
(författare)
-
Helicobacter pylori SabA adhesin in persistent infection and chronic inflammation
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science. - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 297:5581, s. 573-578
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Helicobacter pylori adherence in the human gastric mucosa involves specific bacterial adhesins and cognate host receptors. Here, we identify sialyl-dimeric-Lewis x glycosphingolipid as a receptor for H. pylori and show that H. pylori infection induced formation of sialyl-Lewis x antigens in gastric epithelium in humans and in a Rhesus monkey. The corresponding sialic acid-binding adhesin (SabA) was isolated with the "retagging" method, and the underlying sabA gene (JHP662/HP0725) was identified. The ability of many H. pylori strains to adhere to sialylated glycoconjugates expressed during chronic inflammation might thus contribute to virulence and the extraordinary chronicity of H. pylori infection.
|
|
| 28. |
|
|
| 29. |
- Daşu, Alexandru, et al.
(författare)
-
Theoretical simulation of tumour oxygenation and results from acute and chronic hypoxia
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Physics in Medicine and Biology. - : IOP Publishing. - 0031-9155 .- 1361-6560. ; 48:17, s. 2829-2842
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The tumour microenvironment is considered to be responsible for the outcome of cancer treatment and therefore it is extremely important to characterize and quantify it. Unfortunately, most of the experimental techniques available now are invasive and generally it is not known how this influences the results. Non-invasive methods on the other hand have a geometrical resolution that is not always suited for the modelling of the tumour response. Theoretical simulation of the microenvironment may be an alternative method that can provide quantitative data for accurately describing tumour tissues. This paper presents a computerized model that allows the simulation of the tumour oxygenation. The model simulates numerically the fundamental physical processes of oxygen diffusion and consumption in a two-dimensional geometry in order to study the influence of the different parameters describing the tissue geometry. The paper also presents a novel method to simulate the effects of diffusion-limited (chronic) hypoxia and perfusion-limited (acute) hypoxia. The results show that all the parameters describing tissue vasculature are important for describing tissue oxygenation. Assuming that vascular structure is described by a distribution of inter-vessel distances, both the average and the width of the distribution are needed in order to fully characterize the tissue oxygenation. Incomplete data, such as distributions measured in a non-representative region of the tissue, may not give relevant tissue oxygenation. Theoretical modelling of tumour oxygenation also allows the separation between acutely and chronically hypoxic cells, a distinction that cannot always be seen with other methods. It was observed that the fraction of acutely hypoxic cells depends not only on the fraction of collapsed blood vessels at any particular moment, but also on the distribution of vessels in space as well. All these suggest that theoretical modelling of tissue oxygenation starting from the basic principles is a robust method that can be used to quantify the tissue oxygenation and to provide input parameters for other simulations.
|
|
| 30. |
- Friberg, Urban, et al.
(författare)
-
Fitness effects of female mate choice : preferred males are detrimental for Drosophila melanogaster females
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1010-061X .- 1420-9101. ; 16, s. 797-811
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The evolution of female mate choice, broadly defined to include any female behaviour or morphology which biases matings towards certain male phenotypes, is traditionally thought to result from direct or indirect benefits which females acquire when mating with preferred males. In contrast, new models have shown that female mate choice can be generated by sexual conflict, where preferred males may cause a fitness depression in females. Several studies have shown that female Drosophila melanogaster bias matings towards large males. Here, we use male size as a proxy for male attractiveness and test how female fitness is affected by reproducing with large or small males, under two different male densities. Females housed with large males had reduced lifespan and aged at an accelerated rate compared with females housed with small males, and increased male density depressed female fitness further. These fitness differences were due to effects on several different fitness components. Female fitness covaried negatively with male courtship rate, which suggests a cost of courtship. Mating rate increased with male size, whereas female fitness peaked at an intermediate mating rate. Our results suggest that female mate choice in D. melanogaster is, at least in part, a by-product of sexual conflict over the mating rate.
|
|
