Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A S McLelland

Publications and source records attributed to A S McLelland.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Hypomagnesaemia in elderly hospital admissions: a study of clinical significance.

Serum magnesium estimations carried out on 1576 consecutive elderly patients at the time of hospital admission revealed that 10.7 per cent had a serum magnesium level below 0.7 mmol/l, with 4.4 per cent of the total having a serum level less than 0.65 mmol/l. Hypokalaemia was frequently associated with hypomagnesaemia, for which diuretic therapy was the most commonly found predisposing factor. Outcome of illness, measured at six months in terms of mortality, duration of hospital stay and percentage of patients discharged from hospital, was no worse in patients admitted with hypomagnesaemia than in normomagnesaemic controls.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Observed activities of serum creatine kinase: total and B subunit activity and other enzymes in young persons abusing solvents.

Serum enzymes (aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyltransferase, and creatine kinase (CK] were measured in 296 young persons who admitted to recent inhalation of solvents, usually toluene based glues. In general, results fell within expected adult reference ranges except for ALP and CK. About 60% of subjects had CK activities above the upper reference limit and these activities were investigated in terms of their isoenzyme composition. CK B subunit activity was measured in 90 subjects with raised total CK activities. In five instances the CK B subunit activity was judged abnormal and in two subjects the presence of CK BB was confirmed. These two subjects were thought to have a circulating macro CK, type 1. It is concluded that the increased total CK activity found in this group of solvent abusers was due to physical activity, but a contribution from specific muscle toxicity by solvents cannot be excluded.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Assessment of nutritional status and in vivo immune responses in alcoholic liver disease.

Nutritional status and in vivo immune responses were investigated in 30 patients with alcoholic liver disease who were drinking heavily up until emergency hospital admission. Investigations were performed on admission and after 2 wk abstention and adequate hospital diet. No relationship was found between the severity of liver disease revealed histologically and the recent quantity or total duration of alcohol intake, inadequacy of diet, or nutritional status. Skin anergy was more common in those patients with cirrhosis but did not relate to depletion in circulating T lymphocytes, poor nutritional status, or to the direct effect of alcohol toxicity. Acute alcohol toxicity did, however, produce extensive and rapidly reversible metabolic and cellular changes including reduction in serum potassium, magnesium and phosphate and depletion of all circulating lymphocyte subpopulations.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1979

Successful operation of a regional scheme for the maintenance of automatic analysers.

The main operational and financial aspects of the maintenance service provided by the West of Scotland Health Boards' Department of Clinical Physics and Bio-Engineering (DCPB) to the clinical chemistry laboratories in the region are described. The scheme, in operation since March 1976, covers all breakdown servicing and engineering preventive maintenance for Technicon Auto-Analyzer equipment valued at pounds 1 1/4 million in terms of direct replacement costs. The engineering team works closely with the laboratory staffs to ensure that the performance of the equipment is maintained to specification. The direct economies for the Health Boards through savings in maintenance contract charges total around pounds 60,000 per year. In addition, considerable sums have been saved by servicing, modifying, and constructing other instruments for the laboratories outwith the immediate remit of Technicon maintenance. Other economic and operational benefits which result from the scheme are commercially disinterested advice on equipment obsolescence and replacement, and redistribution between the laboratories of old but useful equipment to meet specific needs of the service in the region.

Autoanalysis↗
PubMed1978

A limited protocol for assessment of within-batch performance of multichannel analysers.

An experimental protocol is described to evaluate rapidly the performance of biochemical analysers. A trial in which this protocol was applied to 15 multichannel continuous-flow analysers is described and the results are discussed. Some consideration is given to the effects of applying a commonly-used drift correction procedure to the raw data, and values of within-batch standard deviation are proposed which may be useful in assessing performance.

Autoanalysis↗
PubMed1978

Drift correction--a comparative evaluation of some alternatives.

Three drift correction methods are described. The results obtained from computer simulation of these methods and their application to raw data obtained from a survey of multichannel continuous-flow analysers are discussed, with particular reference to the effects of each method on analytical precision and accuracy, and on between-analyser variation. A geometrically derived method of drift correction was found to be the most satisfactory.

Autoanalysis↗
PubMed1975

Variations in mechanical sampling: their causes and effects.

Three characteristics of a sample of AutoAnalyzer Sampler II modules have been measured: eccentricity of the cam, eccentricity of the spindle driving the cam, and the lengths of the chords of the cam lobes. Imprecision in timing may make a significant contribution to analytical error.

Autoanalysis↗