The Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument has potential to assess meaningful concepts of disability across a wide variety of life tasks with relatively few items.

The Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument has potential to assess activity concepts related to upper and lower extremity functioning across a wide variety of daily physical tasks and individual levels of physical functioning.

No abstract

We have identified and characterized a 55 kDa nuclear protein (referred to as nmt55) from human breast tumors and MCF-7, human adenocarcinoma breast cell line, using site-directed monoclonal antibodies. Measurements of estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR), by ligand binding assays, in cytosols of 63 human breast tumors permitted classifications of these tumors into four phenotypes (ER+/PR+, ER+/ PR-, ER-/PR-, ER-/PR+). Nuclear protein (nmt55) expression in these tumors, as determined from Western blot analyses, showed a statistically significant association (p = 0.001) with tumor hormonal phenotype. Review of the pathologic characteristics of tumors analyzed suggested that lack of nmt55 expression was significantly associated with mean tumor size (p < 0.03), mean ER (p = 0.001) and mean PR (p < 0.002), but was not associated with tumor stage, grade, or type. To further study this protein, we cloned and sequenced a 2.5 kb cDNA using a monoclonal antibody to nmt55. The complete predicted open reading frame encodes a protein with 471 amino acids and a calculated molecular mass of 54,169 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence exhibited unique regions rich in glutamine, histidine, arginine, and glutamic acid. Northern blot analysis of RNA from MCF-7 cells and ER+/PR+ human breast tumors showed a 2.6 kb mRNA. Southern blot analysis suggested the presence of a single copy of this gene. Chromosomal mapping, using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), located nmt55 gene to the X chromosome, region q13. The extensive homology between nmt55 and RNA binding proteins suggested that nmt55 may be involved in hnRNA splicing. The strong association observed between expression of nmt55, tumor hormonal phenotype, mean tumor size, mean ER, and mean PR content suggests that loss of nmt55 expression may be related to events involved in hormone insensitivity, tumor differentiation, and unregulated tumor cell growth and metastases.

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) has formulated guidelines for spirometry. We hypothesized that individuals with SCI (SCI), as a result of weak respiratory muscles, would exhibit poor test acceptability and reproducibility. Seventy-eight SCI subjects (39 with complete SCI) answered a respiratory questionnaire and performed spirometry. Of those with complete SCI, the proportion of subjects which met ATS criteria decreased with higher levels of injury. Poor test performance was not associated with age, respiratory symptoms or muscle fatigue. The most common reason for failing to meet ATS criteria for acceptability was excessive back extrapolated volumes (EBEV). Individuals with efforts that were acceptable except for EBEV and/or for exhalation of less than six seconds had values for forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) that were reproducible. If ATS criteria for acceptable spirometry were used in studying subjects with SCI, individuals producing otherwise reproducible values for FVC and FEV1 would be excluded. We found reproducibility similar to what has been reported in other cohorts and conclude that longitudinal study of respiratory function in SCI is feasible.