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Biomedical subjects

B Hill

Publications and source records attributed to B Hill.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Comparison of traditional and molecular methods of typing isolates of Staphylococcus aureus.

Fifty-nine Staphylococcus aureus isolates and 1 isolate of Staphylococcus intermedius were typed by investigators at eight institutions by using either antibiograms, bacteriophage typing, biotyping, immunoblotting, insertion sequence typing with IS257/431, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, restriction analysis of plasmid DNA, pulsed-field or field inversion gel electrophoresis, restriction analysis of PCR-amplified coagulase gene sequences, restriction fragment length polymorphism typing by using four staphylococcal genes as probes, or ribotyping. Isolates from four well-characterized outbreaks (n = 29) and a collection of organisms from two nursing homes were mixed with epidemiologically unrelated stock strains from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several isolates were included multiple times either within or between the sets of isolates to analyze the reproducibilities of the typing systems. Overall, the DNA-based techniques and immunoblotting were most effective in grouping outbreak-related strains, recognizing 27 to 29 of the 29 outbreak-related strains; however, they also tended to include 3 to 8 epidemiologically unrelated isolates in the same strain type. Restriction fragment length polymorphism methods with mec gene-associated loci were less useful than other techniques for typing oxacillin-susceptible isolates. Phage typing, plasmid DNA restriction analysis, and antibiogram analysis, the techniques most readily available to clinical laboratories, identified 23 to 26 of 29 outbreak-related isolates and assigned 0 to 6 unrelated isolates to outbreak strain types. No single technique was clearly superior to the others; however, biotyping, because it produced so many subtypes, did not effectively group outbreak-related strains of S. aureus.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed1993

The effects of L-dopa on the activity of methionine adenosyltransferase: relevance to L-dopa therapy and tolerance.

L-dopa, the major treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD), depletes S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM). Since SAM causes PD-like symptoms in rodents, the decreased efficacy of chronic L-dopa administered to PD patients may result from a rebound increase in SAM via methionine adenosyl transferase (MAT), which produces SAM from methionine and ATP. This was tested by administering intraperitoneally saline, or L-dopa to mice and assaying for brain MAT activity. As compared to controls, L-dopa (100 mg/kg) treatments of 1 and 2 times per day for 4 days did not significantly increase MAT activity. However, treatments of 3 times per day for 4 and 8 days did significantly increase the activity of MAT by 21.38% and 28.37%, respectively. These results show that short interval, chronic L-dopa treatments significantly increases MAT activity, which increases the production of SAM. SAM may physiologically antagonize the effects of L-dopa and biochemically decrease the concentrations of L-dopa and dopamine. Thus, an increase in MAT may be related to the decreased efficacy of chronic L-dopa therapy in PD.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1993

Relationship of HSP27 and oestrogen receptor in hormone sensitive and insensitive cell lines.

A 27 kDa heat shock (HSP27) has been analysed by immunoassay and immunoblotting in oestradiol sensitive and insensitive cells. Oestradiol growth responsive MCF7 and T47D human breast cancer cells and growth unresponsive variants derived therefrom have unaltered levels of HSP27 as well as retaining their oestradiol receptor phenotype. MCF7 cells induced to become doxorubicin resistant in culture lose both HSP27 and oestradiol receptor. Thus, in these three pairs of cells, HSP27 content parallels oestradiol receptor (ER). Analysis of a range of ER positive and negative human cell lines supports the positive relationship between HSP27 and ER. This included six ER positive and two ER negative breast tumour lines, one ER positive and one ER negative endometrial tumour cell line and seven ER negative human lines from other sites. One ER negative osteosarcoma line (HTB96) had appreciable levels of HSP27 that were unaffected after stable transfunction with an ER cDNA. Heat shock increases HSP27 levels in some but not all cell lines tested, the effect being inversely proportional to the basal (37 degrees C) content. In a mouse mammary tumour cell line, loss of androgen sensitivity was accompanied by loss of HSP27. Loss of HSP27 occurred in MCF7 cells made drug resistant to Novatrone, vincristine and etoposide as well as doxorubicin; no detectable change was seen in cells made resistant by 5 fluorouracil or X-irradiation. In ER positive ZR75 human breast tumour cells and in both ER negative and positive variants of the HTB96 human osteosarcoma line, the intracellular distribution of HSP27 was analysed. Over 96% of the HSP27 was in the cytosol fraction and the distribution was unaffected by incubation with oestradiol. HSP27 has been discussed in the literature under three different names p29, p24 and HSP27. The data presented in this paper are reviewed in the context of the previous data. It is concluded that there is a good but not absolute correlation between the presence of ER and high amounts of HSP27 but that low amounts of HSP27 are present in many ER negative cells. The correlations between HSP27 and drug resistance are more complex.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1993

Characterization of Centers for Disease Control group NO-1, a fastidious, nonoxidative, gram-negative organism associated with dog and cat bites.

Seventeen strains of fastidious, nonoxidative, gram-negative rods, isolated from human wounds resulting primarily from dog or cat bites, formed a distinct group, which was designated Centers for Disease Control (CDC) group nonoxidizer 1 (NO-1). The phenotypic characteristics of CDC group NO-1 were most similar to non-acid-producing Acinetobacter species, with the major difference being a negative reaction in the transformation assay test for Acinetobacter spp. The cellular fatty acid composition of CDC group NO-1 was different from those of Acinetobacter species and all other bacteria tested to date. The isolates were susceptible to a variety of antimicrobial agents including the aminoglycosides, beta-lactam antibiotics, tetracyclines, quinolones, and sulfonamides. Fifty percent of the isolates were resistant to trimethoprim. Ubiquinone-8 was present as the major isoprenoid quinone in CDC group NO-1.

Acinetobacter↗
PubMed1993

Facial reconstruction of a 3500-year-old Egyptian mummy using axial computed tomography.

Rebuilding faces from skulls presented for forensic identification or of historical importance has been carried out for many years using standardized methods. However, the reproduction of the face of a 3500-year-old mummy still enclosed in its cartonnage proved to be an unusual challenge. The face had to be rebuilt without opening the cartonnage to ensure preservation of the remains. Consequently, the method devised involved using the latest medical imaging technology to determine the shape of the skull.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Application of in vitro fertilisation techniques to obtain calves from valuable cows after slaughter.

The ovaries of two infertile cows of high breeding value were recovered after slaughter, and a total of 222 oocytes were obtained. Of these, 156 were classified as of good or fair quality and were subjected to in vitro maturation, in vitro fertilisation (using frozen semen from three bulls of high breeding value) and in vitro culture procedures. After eight days, 27 embryos were obtained, of which 13 were transferred fresh, and 14 were frozen. Three recipients of fresh embryos became pregnant; two calved and one aborted at four months. One of eight recipients of frozen-thawed embryos became pregnant but aborted at three months.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1991

Cancer of the cervix--old and young, now and then.

A study of two 5-year periods, 1960-1964 and 1982-1986, in Queensland is made. Changing patterns of preinvasive and invasive cervical carcinoma in the world literature are discussed. The age of presentation, stage, histology, and results in Queensland for cervical carcinoma are analyzed. There are over 500 patients in each quinquennium. While the total female population has increased 86%, the maximum increase is in patients under 35 years and over 65. There has been a 50% decrease in the incidence of cervical carcinoma, but a doubling under the age of 30. The stage at diagnosis has markedly improved with 88% stage Ib in the young as opposed to 50% formerly. Late-stage disease remains a problem of the aged. The mortality in both time spans increases with age. Histologic patterns show an increase in nonsquamous patterns and increased mortality in the rare patterns. We have no evidence of the emergence of a rapidly progressive carcinoma in the young. Papanicolaou smear and education programs appear to be preventing cervical carcinoma and allowing diagnosis of the disease at an earlier stage and age. This is reflected in a decrease in mortality from 9.6 per 100,000 (1960-1964) to 4 per 100,000 (1982-1986).

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Squamous cell carcinoma arising in a case of vulvitis granulomatosa or vulval variant of Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome.

A case of vulvitis granulomatosa or the vulval variant of Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) in a young adult patient with systemic lupus erythematosus is presented. She also had evidence of cervicovulvovaginal human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. Nine years later she developed a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the vulva. HPV 6/11 was found by DNA in situ hybridization within a vulval condyloma as well as within the carcinoma. This case is unusual in that SCC associated with HPV 6/11 developed in her vulva affected by MRS rather than in the cervix, where SCC was more likely to occur considering this patient's age.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Side by side.

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Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299↗
PubMed1990

Epidemic bacteremia due to Acinetobacter baumannii in five intensive care units.

From March 5, 1986 to September 4, 1987, Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) was isolated from blood or vascular catheter-tip cultures of 75 patients in five intensive care units at a hospital in New Jersey. To identify risk factors for AB bacteremia in the intensive care units, a case-control study was conducted. Characteristics of 72 case-patients were compared with those of 37 controls. Case-patients were more likely than controls to have had peripheral arterial catheters (odds ratio (OR) = 7.0, p less than 0.001), mechanical ventilation (OR = 5.8, p less than 0.001), hyperalimentation (OR = 5.7, p less than 0.001), or pulmonary arterial catheters (OR = 3.9, p less than 0.001). Arterial catheters were used with reusable pressure transducers for intravascular pressure monitoring. A logistic regression analysis identified four independent risk factors: transducers, ventilation, hyperalimentation, and days of transducer use at an insertion site. The strongest influence on the risk of AB bacteremia was exerted by number of days of transducer usage. Cultures of 70 transducer diaphragms or domes, 42 in-use and 28 in-storage, were positive for AB in 21% and 46%, respectively. Plasmid analysis showed that patient blood cultures and transducer isolates were identical. Transducers were wiped with alcohol in the units between patient uses. Since reusable transducers appeared to be the source of this outbreak, it is recommended that reusable transducers receive either high level disinfection or sterilization between patient uses.

Acinetobacter↗
PubMed1990

The relationship between alexithymia and abnormal illness behavior.

The relationship between abnormal illness behavior, measured by the illness Behavior Questionnaire and alexithymia, measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, was studied in four cohorts of subjects. The two measures overlap in that the more alexithymic subjects endorsed more disease conviction, hypochondriacal concern, affective inhibition, affective disturbance, and irritability. Denial was not related to alexithymia, which supports the construct validity of alexithymia. Regression models developed for the four cohorts that consisted of psychiatric outpatients, psychiatric inpatients, medically ill patients and controls differed to suggest that alexithymia state phenomena interact with trait characteristics.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Alexithymia and depressed mood in the psychiatric patient.

The relationship between depressed mood and alexithymia, measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) was investigated in a group of psychiatric inpatients (n = 81) and outpatients (n = 97). In both cohorts correlations between the TAS and obsessoid personality style were significant when controlled for mood. The obsessoid style, measured by the Hysteroid-Obsessoid Scale was the most powerful predictor of alexithymia in regression models for each cohort. These data suggest that alexithymia is not a function of depression in such psychiatric patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

A case of tularemia meningitis in Sweden.

Tularemia meningitis occurred in a previously healthy 64-year-old man from Northern Sweden. The patient was immunocompetent and recovered without sequelae. The bacterial isolate conformed by most criteria with the Euro-Asian biovar Francisella tularensis var. palaearctica. Tularemia meningitis may mimic meningitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Chloramphenicol↗