No description available.

Crohn’s disease and Colitis, the two most common Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD), are on the rise among young people. IBD symptoms include severe abdominal pain and frequent bowel movements, which can result in major dietary restrictions and delays in growth. IBD can also limit people’s physical activity, eating habits, and activities that are distant from a bathroom. Having IBD can be both limiting and embarrassing but little research has investigated the social and emotional implications of these diseases from a qualitative approach. Existing research fails to identify how stigma and dominant IBD discourses affect the lived experiences of people with IBD, young people in particular. IBD can create additional challenges for adolescents because it is perceived to threaten their normal development into healthy adults. The purpose of this project is to investigate how being young complicates the already difficult experience of being ill. I conducted interviews with three young people and a discursive analysis of official IBD resources for adolescents and found almost no descriptions of the actual experience of illness. Participants who engaged in photo-elicited interviews minimized the physical and emotional repercussions of having IBD. Informational resources designed for youth failed to address the severe physical and emotional pain of Crohn’s and Colitis. Instead, the available resources provided saccharine and arguably unrealistic depictions of IBD that deny young people a forum to express their own struggles. I compare my analysis of the interviews and IBD resources with my own experience and experiences presented in a zine. Analysis of both the interviews and the IBD resources reveals that young people with IBD can experience an embodied disappearance. Their bodies are smaller and weak, they retreat from social situations to avoid embarrassment, and their emotions are denied because they have no forums to be expressive. Finally, young people can experience a compounded disappearance because they are treated not for who they are but for what they should become. I argue that enabling young people the opportunity to speak candidly about the social conditions that contribute to their struggles could help them better understand, negotiate, and express their illness experiences / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-09 10:39:24.603

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease with a diverse aetiology and variable clinical course. The IL-l gene cluster has been implicated in this disease. Aims: The aims of the study were to investigate polymorphisms of the genes encoded within the IL-l gene cluster in patients with acute pancreatitis and normal controls and to determine the relationship between the polymorphisms and protein levels. Methods: Genotype and allele frequencies were determined in controls (n=217) and patients with acute pancreatitis (n=137) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by digestion with restriction endonucleases where applicable. Protein levels were determined using in vitro stimulation of PBMCs followed by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Patients were categorised according to severity, organ failure scores and aetiology. Results: Allele l of the VNTR86 polymorphism in the IL-l RN gene was significantly increased in the severe group of patients compared to controls (81.9% vs 63.0%, x2=9.38, p=0.002, Pc=0.004) and in the idiopathic group compared to controls (82.4% vs 63.0%, x2=9.33, p=0.002, Pc=0.004). The polymorphisms within the genes and between the genes were strongly linked. Significantly more of the Mspl-VLP-VNTR86-Sspl 2-3-2-2 haplotype was observed in the control (15.7% vs 0.1%, x2 =2528.11, p<0.000000l, Pc<0.0000001) and patient (14.0% VS 0.1%, x2 =4368.10, p<0.000000l, Pc<0.0000004) populations than expected. Significantly more of the Pstl-Aval-Alul-Taql 2-2-2-1 haplotype was observed in controls (27.7% vs 9.7%, x2 =31.39, p<0.000000l, Pc<0.0000005) and patients (12.5% vs 2.0%, x2=53.69, p<0.000000l, Pc=0.0000007) than expected. Preferential combinations of the genotypes existed within controls and patients. The median IL-lα and IL-lβ protein levels from unstimulated PBMCs were significantly increased in patients compared to controls: median values (interquartile range). In the IL-lα study, significant differences were found at 24 hours: 193.5 (127.5-363.5) pg/ml vs 1.0 (0.0-3.0) pg/ml, p=0.005, 48 hours: 256.5 (171.5-417.0) pg/ml vs 6.5 (2.0-16.0) pg/ml, p=0.006 and at 72 hours: 210.5 (138-427) pg/ml vs 0.5 (0-7) pg/ml, p=0.005. In the IL-l β study, significant differences were found at 24 hours: 663 (507-782) pg/ml vs 12 (5-53) pg/ml, p=0.004, 48 hours: 620 (570-1080) pg/ml vs 14.5 (11-36) pg/ml, p=0.004 and at 72 hours: 545.5 (442-771) pg/ml vs 12.5 (2-43) pg/ml, p=0.006. Conclusion: Polymorphisms of the IL-l gene cluster are associated with susceptibility to and/or severity of the acute pancreatitis. Polymorphisms within the IL-l gene cluster are in linkage disequilibrium. Unstimulated PBMCs from patients with acute pancreatitis secrete significantly more IL-la and IL-IP protein levels compared to those from controls. The (AC)n, Alu I and VNTR86 polymorphisms do not correspond to differences in functional protein levels.

In 1996, a RCOG Study Group reporting on the prevention of pelvic infection highlighted the considerable role <i>C. trachomatis </i>played in female reproductive morbidity and the potential advantages of DNA based assays.  A national screening programme was suggested, as Sweden and the USA had demonstrated that screening women could decrease prevalence and pelvic inflammatory disease rates. In the UK, out with genito-urinary medicine clinics, awareness of the infection and screening was virtually non-existent.  Women attending obstetric and gynaecology-affiliated clinics were at increased risk of ascending infection compared to the general public and ideally placed for opportunistic screening.  However, patients were <i>TESTED </i>only if symptomatic, by specimens taken from the endocervix for culture or antigen detection assay.  It was from this background that the studies commenced.  The thesis comprises of: -  A questionnaire survey assessing sexually active women’s knowledge of <i>C. trachomatis </i>infection and perceived acceptability of different methods and settings for screening.  Women attending induced abortion and family planning clinics in Aberdeen and Leeds were recruited. -  A prevalence study, aiming to identify who should undergo screening.  Sexually active women attending six different clinical settings in Aberdeen’s Obstetrics & Gynaecology department were screened for <i>Chlamydia.</i> -  A study assessing test performance and acceptability of four different screening approaches (enzyme immunoassay of endocervical specimens and ligase chain reaction assay of endocervical, clinician-collected vulva!, and urine specimens) to opportunistically screen pregnant and non-pregnant women, under 25<i> </i>years of age. -  A study evaluating patient-collected vulval swabs, as an alternative to non-invasive screening by urine.  Women under 25 years of age attending a family planning clinic were opportunistically screened and test performance and acceptability evaluated. -  A study determining whether the measurement of chlamydial IgG antibodies alone or in combination with medical history and/or transvaginal ultrasound can predict tubal infertility in subfertile women.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-206). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Louisville, 2004. / Department of Physiology and Biophysics. Vita. "May 2004." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-182).

Much research has been done on the formation of fibrils from solutions of soluble collagen in vitro in order to gain some knowledge of the mechanisms which may occur in vivo. The in vitro formation of fibres from solutions of collagen has been shown to be extremely sensitive to the nature of the solution environment and the presence of added chemical compounds, and thus constitutes an interesting system for the study of collagen-small molecule inter actions. The present study is concerned with the effects of various corticosteroid drugs, used medicinally as anti-inflammatory agents, on collagen in solution. As these corticosteroids are administered to reduce inflammation in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and a host of other pathological conditions in which collagen is implicated, this work has been undertaken in order to establish and charac teri ze any binding mechanisms which may be involved. Furthermore, the corticosteroid drugs available commercially in pure form as the free base or as the water-soluble ester salts offer an interesting range of structural and stereochemical variants for the study of their reaction with a complex and biologically important protein molecule such as collagen. A great deal of research on drug- protein interactions (Goldstein, 1949; Meyer and Guttman, 1968a) and more specifically, steroid-protein interactions have been reported over the years (Daughaday, 1959; Sandberg et al., 1966; Villee and Engel, 1961; Westphal , 1971). Comprehensive reports, however, on steroid-collagen interactions in vitro are conspicuously absent from modern scientific literature although relatively superficial accounts have been published (Menczel and Maibach, 1972; Eik-Nes et al., 1954). Although work involving the above has appeared relating specifically to the effects of steroids on collagen biosynthesis both in vivo and in vitro there have been minimal accounts of steroid-collagen interactions tailored to characterize the binding at the molecular level. The effect of corticosteroids on the metabolism of connective tissue has also received special attention (Asboe-Hansen, 1959; Kivirikko, 1953; Nakagawa and Tsurufuji, 1972). Recently, Uitto et al. (1972) reported the effects of several anti-inflammatory corticosteroids on collagen biosynthesis in vitro, whilst Aalto and Kulonen (1972) reported the effects of several antirheumatic drugs on the synthesis of collagen and other proteins in vitro. The interactions between collagen and certain drugs has also been briefly reviewed (Chvapil, 1967). Much data also exists on the binding of a wide range of small molecules and ions with serum albumin (Steinhardt and Reynolds, 1969; Scatchard, 1949; Klotz, 1950). Serum albumin, being specialized for a very general transport function and apparently designed for the purpose of combining with a large range of small molecules, has a proportion of possible reactive sites 'buried' within the molecule itself because of its folded conformation. In addition, serum albumin shows a high degree of cooperative binding in contrast to collagen. The latter molecule, with its larger molecular size and weight is specialized for a biologically structural function and has a higher proportion of possible reactive sites which appear relatively more accessible to ligands. A study of the interactions between corticosteroids and collagen thus provides the opportunity to investigate a protein which is very different from the much studied serum albumin. Because of the limited information available regarding the interaction of steroid drugs and collagen at the molecular level, studies of this nature are relevant to the understanding of the mode of action of steroid compounds which are such an important group of therapeutic substances used in modern medicine.

Much research has been done on the formation of fibrils from solutions of soluble collagen in vitro in order to gain some knowledge of the mechanisms which may occur in vivo. The in vitro formation of fibres from solutions of collagen has been shown to be extremely sensitive to the nature of the solution environment and the presence of added chemical compounds, and thus constitutes an interesting system for the study of collagen-small molecule inter actions. The present study is concerned with the effects of various corticosteroid drugs, used medicinally as anti-inflammatory agents, on collagen in solution. As these corticosteroids are administered to reduce inflammation in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and a host of other pathological conditions in which collagen is implicated, this work has been undertaken in order to establish and charac teri ze any binding mechanisms which may be involved. Furthermore, the corticosteroid drugs available commercially in pure form as the free base or as the water-soluble ester salts offer an interesting range of structural and stereochemical variants for the study of their reaction with a complex and biologically important protein molecule such as collagen. A great deal of research on drug- protein interactions (Goldstein, 1949; Meyer and Guttman, 1968a) and more specifically, steroid-protein interactions have been reported over the years (Daughaday, 1959; Sandberg et al., 1966; Villee and Engel, 1961; Westphal , 1971). Comprehensive reports, however, on steroid-collagen interactions in vitro are conspicuously absent from modern scientific literature although relatively superficial accounts have been published (Menczel and Maibach, 1972; Eik-Nes et al., 1954). Although work involving the above has appeared relating specifically to the effects of steroids on collagen biosynthesis both in vivo and in vitro there have been minimal accounts of steroid-collagen interactions tailored to characterize the binding at the molecular level. The effect of corticosteroids on the metabolism of connective tissue has also received special attention (Asboe-Hansen, 1959; Kivirikko, 1953; Nakagawa and Tsurufuji, 1972). Recently, Uitto et al. (1972) reported the effects of several anti-inflammatory corticosteroids on collagen biosynthesis in vitro, whilst Aalto and Kulonen (1972) reported the effects of several antirheumatic drugs on the synthesis of collagen and other proteins in vitro. The interactions between collagen and certain drugs has also been briefly reviewed (Chvapil, 1967). Much data also exists on the binding of a wide range of small molecules and ions with serum albumin (Steinhardt and Reynolds, 1969; Scatchard, 1949; Klotz, 1950). Serum albumin, being specialized for a very general transport function and apparently designed for the purpose of combining with a large range of small molecules, has a proportion of possible reactive sites 'buried' within the molecule itself because of its folded conformation. In addition, serum albumin shows a high degree of cooperative binding in contrast to collagen. The latter molecule, with its larger molecular size and weight is specialized for a biologically structural function and has a higher proportion of possible reactive sites which appear relatively more accessible to ligands. A study of the interactions between corticosteroids and collagen thus provides the opportunity to investigate a protein which is very different from the much studied serum albumin. Because of the limited information available regarding the interaction of steroid drugs and collagen at the molecular level, studies of this nature are relevant to the understanding of the mode of action of steroid compounds which are such an important group of therapeutic substances used in modern medicine.