Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Ali.
We report a case of coronary angioplasty balloon rupture and catheter fracture within a calcified lesion, requiring emergency coronary bypass surgery. The entrapped catheter could not be removed at surgery. This case re-emphasizes the hazards associated with angioplasty of calcified lesions.
Relapse after chemotherapy using the pentavalent antimonials, sodium stibogluconate and meglumine antimoniate, was assessed in 135 patients diagnosed in the Aba Roba focus of south western Ethiopia during the period 1982-1991. Ten cases relapsed with a mean of 15.6 +/- 16.3 months following treatment. A 15-day course of 10 mg Sbv/kg b.wt. sodium stibogluconate used in 1982/1983 had a better outcome than a 15-day course of 17 mg Sbv/kg b.wt. of meglumine antimoniate used in 1990/1991. The relapse rate among patients treated with sodium stibogluconate 16-20 mg Sbv/kg b.wt. for 20 days in 1985-1990 was comparable to the relapse rate in patients treated with meglumine antimoniate 16-20 mg Sbv/kg b.wt. for 20 days in 1990/1991. Findings are discussed.
A serological study of visceral leishmaniasis was carried out in a cohort of people in an endemic area of Ethiopia. The people were tested three times, at 6-monthly intervals. Seroprevalence at the start was 112 per 1000, and the annual rate of conversion from negative to positive was estimated as 106 per 1000. Both seroprevalence and incidence of seroconversion increased with age, and males showed higher rates than females, with a male:female ratio of seroconversion of 2:1. Accumulation of 6-monthly seroconversion rates was considered to give a better estimate of the annual rate itself, as the half-life of positive serology was only around 3 months.
In a population of some 4600 people in southern Ethiopia, in which visceral leishmaniasis is endemic, 142 cases were recorded in an 8-year period to 1990. The cases were very unequally distributed between the six villages studied, with more than 90% in the four which were closest to the uninhabited valley of the Segen River. It was deduced that transmission occurs in the villages at lowest altitude, as well as in the Segen Valley. The youngest children were rarely affected and half as many cases were females as males. In a year-long intensive study, annual incidence of disease was estimated at 6.9/1000 in the whole population. Incorporating the results of previously published immuno-epidemiological studies, the annual incidence of disease in susceptible people was calculated as 1.9% while the rate of immunoconversion was 5.6 times greater. This indicates a high incidence of abortive or cryptic cases, but it remains to be demonstrated whether or not these cases are sources of infection.
Radionuclide hepatic blood pool scintigraphy is an extremely sensitive and highly specific test in diagnosing cavernous hemangioma of the liver. The authors report a false-positive hepatic blood pool scintigram for hepatic hemangioma in a patient with liver metastasis from adenocarcinoma of colon.
Serial bone scanning was performed on a 23-year-old man with type 1 primary hyperoxaluria, renal failure, oxalosis, and cardiac failure. The initial bone scan (6/22/90) demonstrated diffuse increased uptake in the axial and peripheral skeleton, heart, and the soft tissues of the lower extremities. A combined liver and kidney transplant was successfully performed with subsequent resolution of the oxalosis, renal failure, and cardiac failure. A follow-up bone scan (9/24/90) demonstrated resolution of abnormal heart and soft tissue uptake, as well as decreased uptake in the long bones. This case demonstrates that bone scanning may be a useful tool in the management of patients with oxalosis. The scintigraphic findings closely paralleled the clinical response to treatment of the disease and suggested decreased total body stores of calcium oxalate.
DNA fragments of around 200 base pair (average size) have been covalently crosslinked with 8-methoxypsoralen under 365 nm UV light. The photoadduct, induced antibodies in rabbits with a titer of > 1:12,800 by direct binding ELISA. Binding data showed that the induced antibodies are conformation-specific recognizing restricted conformational change at site of crosslinking. Human autoantibodies against DNA, bound not only to native DNA but to the photomodified DNA fragment as well. In addition, binding patterns of SLE sera obtained from different patients were remarkably similar, indicating the recognition of altered conformation of the modified polymer by naturally occurring SLE anti-DNA autoantibodies.
The Xenopus laevis hsp 30 gene family (encoding the 30-kDa heat shock proteins) consists of at least seven closely related members that are tandemly arranged in one or more clusters within the genome. This gene family appears to have been generated by a number of independent duplication events, each of which gave rise to one or more of the known members of the family. We report here the characterization of a genomic fragment that bears a high degree of similarity to a 192-bp region of the promoters of two hsp 30 genes (hsp 30A and hsp 30C) but not the promoters of any of the other hsp 30 genes isolated to date. The rest of this clone has no significant similarity to any other region of the hsp 30A and hsp 30C genes. It appears to represent a region of the genome that has undergone both duplication and subsequent insertion events fairly recently during the evolution of Xenopus laevis. Interestingly, the boundary regions of the insertion are marked by potential Z-DNA forming blocks of seven and nine perfect 5'-AC-3' dinucleotide repeats.
OBJECTIVE: The study examined psychiatric residents' attitudes toward, knowledge about, and training in the care of patients with chronic mental illness. METHODS: The authors constructed a 41-item Residents' Attitude Toward the Chronically Mentally Ill Scale to obtain a systematic assessment of attitudes. The scale's validity was enhanced by input from 12 psychiatrists who were knowledgeable about work with and attitudes toward such patients, and a test showed the scale to have high reliability. The scale was administered to 85 psychiatric residents, along with questionnaires focused on training and knowledge and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale assessing defensiveness and self-deception. RESULTS: No correlation was found between residents' attitudes and years of residency training or between attitudes and knowledge about patients with chronic mental illness. Residents reported many negative attitudes toward this patient population. However, significant positive correlations were found between the residents' attitudes and their training in settings where patients were considered to receive high-quality care and supervisors were good role models. CONCLUSIONS: Constructive training experiences during residency can have a positive influence on residents' attitudes toward patients with chronic mental illness.
The present study was designed to study the possible role of the female sex hormone, estradiol in conjugation with DNA, in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Calf thymus DNA fragments (average size 200 bp) were covalently linked to estradiol-albumin (E2-BSA) by treatment with glutaraldehyde. The conjugate was separated from free DNA by gel exclusion chromatography. It was characterized by UV spectroscopy and thermal denaturation studies. The conjugate (E2-BSA-DNA) induced high titer antibodies which were highly specific towards their immunogen. These antibodies also recognize estradiol-albumin and beta-estradiol but not native DNA (B-form), brominated DNA (Z-form) or poly(rG).poly(dC) (A-form). The E2-BSA-DNA conjugate showed significant binding with SLE sera known to have a high level of anti-native DNA antibodies. The results indicated the recognition of unique conformation of estradiol-BSA-DNA conjugate by naturally occurring SLE anti-DNA autoantibodies.
We treated nine refractory status epilepticus cases with high-dose intravenous lorazepam. We monitored the EEGs continuously, and lorazepam dosing was titrated to stop clinical and electrographic seizures. Lorazepam doses needed to terminate status epilepticus ranged from 0.3 to 9 mg/hr. Lorazepam did not cause hypotension. All patients survived. Outcome was complete recovery in two cases, moderate disability in four, and severe disability in three. These findings suggest high-dose intravenous lorazepam may be an effective alternative to pentobarbital for the treatment of severe status epilepticus.
Rabbits immunized with polylysine-polyglutamate complex induced high titer antibodies. The immune IgG exhibited high degree of specificity towards the immunogen. In a competition assay, nDNA, heat denatured DNA and total buffalo thymus RNA were inhibitory. An appreciable binding with polyglutamate, poly(rG).poly(dC) poly(dG).poly(dC), cardiolipin, poly(dA-dU). Poly(dA-dU) and Z- or Z-like conformations demonstrates the polyspecificity of induced antibodies. The immunological specificity of induced antibodies was comparable to autoantibodies derived from SLE. The results might be of some help in understanding the etiology of autoimmune process.
Two hundred and fifty paucibacillary (PB) leprosy patients were treated with WHO recommended multidrug therapy (MDT) and followed up them for four years. The paucibacillary MDT regimen (PBR) was well accepted and tolerated by the patients. Clinical regression was attained in 60% patients after 6 doses of PBR. Reversal reaction occurred in 14% cases and relapse were found in 1.6% cases 18-24 months after completing the treatment. The incidence of reversal reaction was high in patients with more than 2 thickened nerve trunks associated with more than 5 patches.
A semi-field bioassay method using commonly available laundry tubs evaluated efficacy and residual activity of 6 granular corncob formulations of Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis against laboratory-reared late 3rd- and early 4th-instar larvae of Aedes taeniorhynchus introduced to the tubs. These formulations produced appreciable larval mortalities (up to 75%) for 9 days posttreatment, with indications of having more prolonged activity. The consistent posttreatment larval mortality trends and the elucidated efficacy differences between formulations suggest that this bioassay method for the granular formulations is reliable and reproducible.
This is the second in a two-part series on oral cancer. Part 1 focused on the surgical aspects of treatment and morbidity associated with oral cancer. In this article aspects of prosthodontic management of patients with maxillary tumours are considered, with emphasis on promoting optimal rehabilitation.
Field-caught gravid female Glyptotendipes paripes in central Florida laid a single egg mass each during onset of photophase in laboratory cages. Egg masses averaged 626 and 942 eggs/mass during summer and spring, respectively. Oviposition preference in water was not detected when provided from different sources (i.e., distilled, tap, ponds and a lake). However, the percentage of egg hatch/mass was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the lake water than in water from the other 3 sources. Observations on follicular development in the ovaries indicated presence of 1/2-3/4 yolk within 2 days, full yolk at > or = 2 days, and parity at > or = 4 days postemergence. Age composition of field-collected G. paripes populations from June to December 1992 was 29% at < 2, 48% at > or = 2, and 23% at > or = 4 days old, and parity 23%. Adult abundance was correlated with prevailing air temperatures in the study area.
The relationship between body size and fecundity of adult female Glyptotendipes paripes collected along southern shore areas of Lake Monroe, Sanford, FL, was studied by measuring wing length and examining ovaries, follicular development, and number of eggs/egg mass. Wing length of nulliparous, as well as parous females, had a significant (P < 0.01) linear relationship with dry body weight. Large females had a significantly (P < 0.01) higher number of follicles and eggs/egg mass than small females. No correlation existed between wing length and parity nor between wing length and age composition of field populations sampled between January and June 1993.
The attraction of adult Chironomus salinarius to incandescent 3-W lamps of 7 different colors used in CDC traps was studied on a small island in the lagoon of Venice, Italy. An ANOVA indicated that the lamp type was a highly significant (P < 0.01) factor associated with differences in light trap catch (28% of total variation), as well as catch per lux (18% of total variation). The white lamp attracted higher numbers of adults than the other 6 color lamps. Yellow was the second most preferred, and red was the least attractive. There was a strong linear relationship (r = 0.93) between the catch and light intensity, which suggested that intensity was the primary factor influencing catch. However, catch per unit brightness (lux) tended to be inversely proportional to the peak wavelength associated with the lamp color (e.g., the violet lamp had the highest catch/lux, and the red lamp had the lowest). The corresponding regression model, Catch = 49 + [(48,013/lambda) - 63] . L, in which the slope associated with light intensity in lux (L) is inversely proportional to the peak wavelength in nm (lambda) explained 97% of the variation among lamp catch means. Manipulating light intensity and color could be useful to divert adult C. salinarius populations from midge-affected areas for control purposes.