Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A Wilson.
Serum neutralizing antibody to camel pox virus was found in 5 out of 6 camel herds in Kenya. This was not related to recently observed clinical disease in the herds.
One of twins was born with prune belly syndrome and congenital heart defect following exposure to Bendectin and Tigan. Red cell antigens and HLA typing were compatible with monozygosity. The possible associations of the prune belly syndrome to monozygotic twinning or to teratogenic agents is considered in light of this patient and review of the literature.
The long-term inpatient psychiatric hospital treating severely disabled patients is a complex, multifaceted institution in which many diverse people occupying different roles interact in order to accomplish the task of creating a holding environment for the patient. In this paper, we suggest that the primary function of a psychiatric holding environment is the delivery to the patient of the normative services which the nuclear family customarily provides. In order to provide this, the hospital, like the optimal family, holds both by restraining and by facilitating. Through an understanding of the strategic mental mechanisms which severely disturbed patients often employ in order to interact with and comprehend others, particularly empathy and projective identification, we may delineate more refined treatment strategies. Principles concerning the dynamics of small and large groups, patient-staff interactions, the treatment of so-called "hopeless" and negative therapeutic reaction patients, and supervision follow from these conceptualizations. In all of our explication, our perspective is guided by a systems framework but finds concrete expression in an object relational viewpoint.
In a dog model of partial myocardial ischaemia, superimposed ST segment elevations in epicardial ECGs were inhibited by nicardipine over a cumulative i.v. dose range of 1-20 micrograms kg-1. Over the cumulative i.v. dose range of 0.5-166.5 micrograms kg-1, nicardipine had little overall effect on gross cardiac conduction, at spontaneous heart rate. Dogs that received oral 1-2 mg kg-1 nicardipine daily for 16 weeks and then survived 1 week occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) developed a superior coronary collateral circulation compared with untreated animals. Nicardipine given by three different dosing schedules to baboons markedly limited myocardial infarction over a 6 h period of LAD occlusion. Compared with a group of completely untreated dogs, there was protection of the myocardium in the animals given nicardipine that survived 3 months occlusion of the LAD.
This study examines evidence for boundary disturbances in depressive, borderline, and schizophrenic hospitalized inpatients. Certain thought disorder signs on the Rorschach are reconceptualized as indices of boundary formation, which is defined as the capacity to create particular distinctions along wome bipolar coordinate of experience where previously no distinction was possible, and which defines each cluster of experience through a maintenance of differential functioning. The borderline group scored significantly high on the indices of laxness and moderately severe inner-outer boundary formation. The schizophrenic group scored significantly higher on indices of self-other and somewhat higher on severe inner-outer boundary disturbance. Schizophrenics may be organized at a level of self-other boundary formation which subsumes inner-outer boundary formation, while the borderline group is organized at a level of inner-outer boundary formation.
Blood and plasma ethanol concentrations were determined in 12 healthy male volunteers by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) using direct injection (DI), headspace injection (HSI), and Breathalyzer (BR) analyses. Plasma concentrations as well as the blood:breath partition ratio of ethanol were higher by GLC-DI than by GLC-HSI. Regardless of analytical method used, the concentrations of ethanol in blood and rate of ethanol clearance from blood or plasma were unchanged. The partition ratio upon which the BR data are based appears adequate for individuals with normal pulmonary function.
Limiting-dilution culture of murine Ly-2+ T cells with concanavalin A (Con A) and irradiated spleen filler cells produces, with high efficiency, cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones. With most mouse strains (including CBA and C57BL/6) the specificity of these CTL clones drops after day 6 of culture, so that by day 9 the majority of clones can lyse most murine target cells, whether syngeneic or allogeneic. The rate of specificity degradation and relative target cell preference varies with the mouse strain. Some strains (e.g. BALB/c) do not show this effect and CTL clones remain specific to day 9. Many low natural killer (NK) cell strains (e.g. C57BL/6J.bg) maintain CTL specificity in such cultures, but the correlation between CTL specificity and NK status is not absolute. Growth of BALB/c precursor cells on CBA filler cells leads to specificity degradation in the BALB/c CTL clones; however, the specificity of CBA-derived CTL clones is not maintained by growth on BALB/c fillers. The results suggest that specificity degradation is induced in the developing CTL-clone by factors in the culture environment, perhaps a soluble lymphokine (a differentiation factor) or by an infectious agent (an endogenous mouse virus). Although such CTL specificity loss may render many limiting dilution studies of the CTL specificity repertoire invalid, the problem may be bypassed by an appropriate choice of mouse strain.
Arterial blood gas values, carbon monoxide diffusion capacity, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, respiratory quotient, minute ventilation, and pulmonary capillary blood flow were determined before and during hemodialysis. In addition, the effect of single passage through the dialyzer on blood carbon dioxide tension, pH, and bicarbonate concentration was evaluated. Acetate-based dialysate was used in all experiments. Cellulosic dialyzer with single-pass dialysate delivery system was used in one group, and polyacrylonitrile dialyzers with recirculating delivery system in another. Although hypoxemia occurred in both groups, it was more severe in the former group. Dialyzer carbon dioxide loss was significantly greater with single-pass dialysate delivery system and cellulosic dialyzers than with recirculating delivery system and polyacrylonitrile dialyzer. To differentiate the role of dialysate delivery system from that of the membrane, the experiments were repeated using recirculating delivery system and cellulosic dialyzer. This resulted in marked attenuation of hypoxemia and dialyzer carbon dioxide tension losses. Since other experimental conditions were the same, the observed differences were thought to be due to the difference in the mode of dialysate delivery. It thus appears that the mode of dialysate delivery per se can modify the changes in arterial oxygen tension during hemodialysis and should be added to the list of factors implicated in the genesis of dialysis hypoxemia.
A Westheimer -like function has been obtained for simple reaction time (RT) to target luminance increments superimposed upon homogeneous background fields. RT to a constant-luminance target progressively increases as the outer diameter of a constant-luminance background is increased up to approximately 6'-8'. Further increases in background diameter up to approximately 10'-22' then result in progressive decreases in RT. Beyond this background diameter RT remains relatively constant. The magnitude of this effect diminishes rapidly as target luminance is increased beyond a near-threshold value.
Cytotoxic clones consisting entirely of large, vacuolated granular lymphocytes (LGL) are produced with high frequency when individual purified mature Ly 2+ T cells are cultured at limit dilution in the presence of concanavalin A and irradiated spleen filler cells. Similar cells are produced in cultures of Ly 2- T cells but in lower proportion, the level of granular lymphocytes amongst the largely non-cytotoxic, Ly 2- L3T4+ product cells being only 20%. A proportion (15%) of LGL are also found in conventional mixed lymphocyte cultures. In the limit-dilution cultures of Ly 2+ T cells the LGL originate from the single precursor cell and not from the irradiated filler cells. They bear the markers expected of active cytotoxic T lymphocytes (Thy 1++; PNA++; Ly 1+; Ly 2++; L3T4-). Their DNA and chromosome complement appear normal. The granules within the cells are heterogeneous in form, and some resemble in ultrastructure those described in certain cytotoxic, suppressor and NK-cell lines. The granules do not show mast cell staining characteristics. The LGL are not phagocytic. Although LGL are associated with nonspecific cytotoxicity late in culture, the first granular cells appear early (day 3) and dominate in the clones at times when cytolysis is specific. LGL appear to be the normal morphological form of cytotoxic T lymphocytes when grown under these conditions.
High-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) markedly improved the ventilatory status of 2 neonates with severe respiratory failure refractory to conventional mechanical ventilatory support. However, after approximately 1 wk of HFJV, both patients expired from causes not directly related to ventilatory compromise. Autopsy showed no gross alterations in tracheal or bronchial mucosa but did reveal microscopic lesions which could be attributable to HFJV.
Breast milk cell culture supernatants from atopic mothers (nineteen) were compared by ELISA with normal breast-feeding controls (twenty-one) for regulation of cord blood lymphocyte IgA and IgE secretion in vitro. A minority of atopic (five out of nineteen) and normal (three out of twenty-one) cell supernatants stimulated cord blood lymphocyte IgA release to the same extent. The others were inactive. Stimulation was not related to breast milk cells donor atopic history or cord blood lymphocyte atopic heredity. In contrast, 70% of atopic milk cell supernatants stimulated cord blood lymphocyte cultures to form IgE (means +/- s.d. = 2070 +/- 2240 pg/culture) while stimulatory supernatants (24%) from normal donors resulted in less lymphocyte IgE release (means +/- s.d. = 680 +/- 490 pg/culture) (p less than 0.001). These differences did not correlate with breast milk cell supernatant IgE concentrations, cord blood donor serum IgE levels or atopic heredity.
Two patients with severe dothiepin intoxication are described. The management of these cases is discussed and we draw attention to the prolonged elimination half-life of dothiepin and its metabolites, and the implication for treatment.
Although hypomagnesemia is common and causes weakness in humans, it is not known what effect its correction has on respiratory muscle power. We designed an experiment to test the hypothesis that correction of hypomagnesemia will improve respiratory muscle power. We measured muscle power and lung volumes in 16 control subjects and 17 patients (11 alcoholics, 6 nonalcoholics) on 3 consecutive days. After baseline measurements on Day 1, patients were randomized and the study was double blinded. Patients were given magnesium intravenously or dextrose as placebo. Measurements were repeated on Day 2, and the patients were then given magnesium if they had previously been given placebo, and vice versa. Measurements were done again on Day 3. There was no significant difference in lung volumes in patients or control subjects over the 3 days. There were no changes in respiratory muscle power in control subjects, but there was an improvement in all parameters of muscle power measured after magnesium therapy in patients. Hypomagnesemia should be excluded as a cause of muscle weakness because its replacement may improve muscle power.
Nonspecific cytotoxicity developed reproducibly and with high frequency in limit dilution cultures consisting of low numbers of murine cells stimulated with concanavalin A in the presence of growth factors and irradiated filler cells. The individual clones in cultures showing nonspecific killing were all derived from single, Thy-1+, Ly-2+ cells. At early times of culture (day 5 or 6), clones appeared to be specific in their lytic activity, as expected of cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL). On continued culture (day 8 or 9), most of the originally specific CTL clones became nonspecific, killing a range of murine target cells, both syngeneic and allogeneic. The lack of specificity was observed at all effector cell doses. The effector cells responsible for the nonspecific cytolysis were Thy-1+ and Ly-2+, as were most cells in the cultures. The effector cells had the normal DNA content for a dividing T cell population, and most cells in the cultures had a normal chromosome complement. In mixed cultures in which the responder cells and the irradiated filler cells were from different mouse strains, the nonspecific killers displayed the Thy-1 and H-2 allotypes of the responder, and not of the filler cells. The development of a broad cytotoxic potential appears to be a normal and rapid event when Ly-2+ T cell-derived CTL-clones are grown under these conditions; this is a caveat for the use of limit dilution cultures to determine the T cell specificity repertoire. The relationship between these nonspecific CTL, activated lymphocyte killers, and natural killer cells is discussed.
Alcoholic volunteers (N = 120) were assigned at random to receive an 800 mg, 1200 mg, or 1600 mg subcutaneous disulfiram implant. Patients were followed for a 2-year period. Although all groups showed an increase in sobriety following implantation, there was no significant dose-response relationship. There were no significant between-group differences in the incidence of disulfiram-ethanol reaction.
Peripheral T cells and cells from the thymic medulla have many phenotypic characteristics in common, and both populations are quite distinct from cortical thymocytes. The cells that migrate out of the thymus (thymus migrants) may be detected in the periphery as fluorescent cells shortly after intrathymic injection of fluorescein isothiocyanate. Our previous work has established that they resemble T cells and medullary thymocytes rather than cortical thymocytes, and are fully functional. In this report, we consider several phenotypic characteristics that differ between medullary thymocytes and peripheral T cells, namely size, buoyant density, and sensitivity to a new monoclonal antibody (B2A2) and complement. By these criteria, the fluorescence-labeled thymus migrants in spleen and lymph node tend to resemble medullary thymocytes and are distinct from the majority of T cells that surround them. This suggests, but does not prove, that migrants originate in the medulla. After adult thymectomy, the small population of medullary-thymocyte-like cells disappears from spleen and lymph node, further supporting the idea that cells leave the thymus with a medulla-like phenotype, and acquire normal peripheral T cell phenotype only after their arrival in the periphery. Thus, although thymus migrants appear to leave the thymus in an immunocompetent state and are phenotypically mature by most criteria, there are a few final maturation steps that occur after arrival in the periphery.
As part of a four-year longitudinal study examining changes in nutrient intakes, eating patterns, lifestyle and health on individuals before and after retirement from work, accurate assessments of customary food and beverage intakes were essential. This paper shows that by using four techniques simultaneously, a number of discrepancies were exposed, even though the subjects had filled in their records meticulously. Together they provide data more truly representative of what each individual eats. The techniques included: a week's weighed dietary record; a recall of customary food and beverages consumed throughout a typical day; key questions relating to foods and drinks (including alcohol) within a general questionnaire; and lists giving the frequency of consumption of specific foods and drinks.