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Biomedical subjects

B Lloyd

Publications and source records attributed to B Lloyd.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Rural health issues.

Two related issues dominate any discussion on rural health--the provision and maintenance of rural health services, and the continuing political battle to retain and improve these services. This battle is exacerbated by the importance that country communities attach to the provision of a doctor, a hospital, aged persons' accommodation, etc. This importance reflects the need for these services in isolated areas--the status this gives the community and the employment these services provide. The community's elected representatives have to determine how to evaluate the competing claims by communities for hospitals or other facilities. The local politician becomes the focus for the community's hopes and fears.

Australia↗

Hospital morbidity pattern in children under 1 year of age born in Sheffield 1975-6.

The morbidity pattern, based on hospital admissions for a complete year's cohort of all children born in Sheffield 1975-6, was studied. In many children the diagnosis given on admission had changed by the time they were discharged from hospital. About one-quarter of children under age 6 months were admitted for social reasons. Despite a decreasing birth rate the admission rate had increased, with an overall admission rate of 11.2% of all births. The rates and ages at which children are admitted varied greatly according to the month of birth. This is an important factor if cohort studies from different places are being compared.

Diagnosis↗

Acid hydrolases in monocytes from patients with inflammatory bowel disease, chronic liver disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A sensitive technique was used to estimate two acid hydrolases--N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase (N.A.G.) and beta-glucuronidase (B.G.)--produced by peripheral-blood monocytes. Enzyme levels were measured after in-vitro incubation of monocytes with or without stimulation by zymosan and endotoxin. Compared with controls, enzyme production and release in inflammatory bowel disease, chronic liver disease, and rheumatoid arthritis were markedly raised. It is suggested that various stimuli, including immunological ones, may be responsible for the release of such enzymes from monocytes and that such release may be a factor in the production of the chronic inflammation seen in these disorders.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗

Blood intermediary metabolite and insulin concentrations after an overnight fast: reference ranges for adults, and interrelations.

Concentrations of several metabolites in deproteinized blood and plasma were determined in 100 subjects after an overnight fast, to establish reference ranges. Blood glycerol, nonesterified fatty acids, and ketone body concentrations and the 3-hydroxybutyrate/acetoacetate ratio increased with age while blood alanine concentrations delined. Serum insulin and blood alanine concentrations were also related to weight. No marked sex-related differences were found, although blood glycerol concentration was slightly higher in women. Distribution of all metabolite concentrations was positively skewed, except for glucose, but skewness could be corrected by logarithmic transformation. Skew was particularly marked for blood ketone body concentrations. Concentrations of all metabolites in plasma exceeded those in whole blood, but this was significant for only lactate and pyruvate when concentrations in plasma were compared with calculated concentrations in erythrocyte water.

Adult↗

Enzymic fluorometric continuous-flow assays for blood glucose, lactate, pyruvate, alanine, glycerol, and 3-hydroxybutyrate.

We describe enzymic fluorometric methods of automated analysis for glucose, lactate, pyruvate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glycerol, and alanine in perchloric acid extracts of blood. Unmodified Technicon AutoAnalyzer II apparatus is used. The usual concentrations of all these metabolites can be measured in as little as 0.1 ml of blood from a fasting subject. Within-batch and between-batch coefficients of variation ranged from 0.4 to 4.4% for all metabolites except 3-hydroxybutyrate, for which CV's were higher for low concentrations. Analytical recovery of added metabolites ranged from 92 to 98%. Glucose, lactate, alanine, and 3-hydroxybutyrate are stable in perchloric acid extracts for at least 13 days at room temperature, and a year at -20 degrees C; pyruvate shows a 6--8% loss after 3 days and 52% by one year at -20 degrees C; glycerol concentrations were stable at -20 degrees C for at least 13 days. Blank fluorescence is found in perchloric acid extracts of blood, necessitating blank runs for pyruvate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, glycerol, and alanine. The systems are simple to use, relatively inexpensive to operate, and are recommended for any laboratory with high throughput of samples.

Alanine↗

Comparative effects of phenformin, metformin and glibenclamide on metabolic rhythms in maturity-onset diabetics.

Twelve hour metabolic rhythms have been performed on six maturity-onset diabetic subjects during successive periods of therapy with phenformin, metformin, and glibenclamide. Moderate control of blood glucose concentration was achieved with phenformin and metformin, the lowest concentrations being found with glibenclamide. Mean blood lactate concentration was grossly elevated during phenformin therapy, moderately elevated with metformin and normal during glibenclamide treatment. Similar patterns were found for the lactate/pyruvate ratio, alanine, glycerol and ketone bodies. Serum triglyceride concentrations were significantly higher during phenformin treatment than with the other two regimes. Serum insulin concentration was higher on glibenclamide than with either biguanide. Most of these effects of the biguanides could be accounted for by an inhibitory effect on hepatic gluconeogenesis. It is concluded that the use of biguanides as hypoglycaemic agents in diabetes is associated with the production of multiple metabolic abnormalities.

Aged↗

The effect of insulin on lung metabolism in the rat.

A new model has been established for the perfused in situ rat lung. During perfusion with glucose at 4 mmol/l, physiological concentrations of insulin (50 mu/l) caused an initial 1.5 fold increase in lactate production; the increase being sustained at 30% for the 4 h of perfusion. The observation that the lung responds to physiological concentrations of insulin could have important implications with respect to whole body carbohydrate metabolism.

Animals↗

Controlled prospective study of the effect on liver function of multiple exposures to halothane.

Patients who had received halothane within a periof of one year and who required another anaesthetic were allocated at random to be given halothane or a control anaesthetic, the control being fiben using halothane-free apparatus. There were 76 patients entries in each group. Serum-glutamic-oxaloacetic-transaminase (S.G.O.T.) levels were measured before the anaesthetics and serially postoperatively for two to three weeks. The S.G.O.T. levels in the halothane group were significantly higher than in the controls. High levels were confined to patients who had had less than four previous halothane anaesthetics, increases above normal in the remainder and in the controls being rate. 1 patient in the halothane group had an S.G.O.T. of 440 I.U. per litre and hepatocellular necrosis on liver biopsy. 2 patients in the halothane group whose S.G.O.T.s rose to more than twice normal showed a similar reaction to re-exposure to halothane, although they had not shown a reaction to an intervening control anaesthetic.

Aged↗

Blood sampling techniques for lactate and pyruvate estimation: a reappraisal.

The effects of venestasis and hand exercise on antecubital vein blood lactate and pyruvate concentrations have been re-examined. The results show that venestasis for up to 5 min has no effect, while hand exercise for as little as 20 s causes a marked increase in blood lactate and pyruvate concentrations. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Adult↗

The effects of cosmic particle radiation on pocket mice aboard Apollo XVIII: VII: results of scalp examination.

The scalps of the four pocket mice that were recovered alive from the Apollo XVII flight contained acute focal lesions in the epidermis and an inflammatory reaction in the subjacent dermis and subcutaneous tissue. Hair follicles were focally damaged in three of the four mice. There were 13 scalp lesions singled out in the four flight mice because of histological features that distinguished them from changes observed in the scalps of the control mice. There was only one possible coincidence between a lesion and the trajectory of a cosmic ray particle registered in a subscalp dosimeter. There is, however, a possibility that at least some lesions were produced by unregistered particles.

Animals↗

The effects of cosmic particle radiation on pocket mice aboard Apollo XVII: IX Results of examination of the nasal mucosa.

The olfactory epithelium, but not the nasal respiratory epithelium, of the four pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) that survived their flight on Apollo XVII showed both diffuse alterations and numerous disseminated focal lesions. The olfactory mucosa of the mouse that died during flight was also affected, but to a minor degree insofar as could be determined. All this was in contrast to the normal appearance of the olfactory mucosa of the numerous control animals. A number of possible causes were considered: systemic or regional infection; inhaled particulate material (seed dust); by-products from the KO2 bed in aerosol or particulate form; gas contaminants originating in the flight package; volatile substances from the dead mouse; weightlessness; and cosmic ray particle radiation. Where feasible, studies were conducted in an effort to rule in or rule out some of these potentially causative factors. No definitive conclusions were reached as to the cause of the lesions in the flight mice.

Aerosols↗

The effects of cosmic particle radiation on pocket mice aboard Apollo XVII: X. Results of ear examination.

In the five pocket mice flown on Apollo XVII, no evidence was found that the inner ear had been damaged, though poor fixation precluded detailed study. On the other hand, the middle ear cavity was involved in all the mice, hemorrhage having occurrred in response to excursions in pressure within the canister that housed the mice during their flight. The same occurred in flight control mice which had been subjected to pressure excursions of much the same magnitude. A greater degree of exudation into air cells and greater leukotaxis were noted in the flight animals than in the control animals. There was no increase in leukocyte population along the paths of the 23 cosmic ray particles registered in the subscalp dosimeters that traversed the middle ear cavities of the flight mice. The increased exudation and the greater response by leukocytes in the flight mice may have been causally related to the lesions found in their olfactory mucosa but there were no data in support of this possibility.

Animals↗

The effects of cosmic particle radiation on pocket mice aboard Apollo XVII: XII. Results of examination of the calvarium, brain, and meninges.

Tissue reactions were found around the monitor (dosimeter) assemblies that had been implanted beneath the scalp of the five pocket mice that flew on Apollo XVII. Mitosis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation was considerably reduced in comparison with that in control animals. Otherwise the brain tissue as well as the menings in the flight animals appeared unaltered. Since the animals were exposed primarily to high Z-high energy (HZE) cosmic ray particles at the lower end of the high LET spectrum, the lack of changes in the brain cannot be taken as evidence that the brain will suffer no damage from the heavier HZE particles on prolonged manned missions.

Animals↗