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Biomedical subjects

B Miller

Publications and source records attributed to B Miller.

At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources

The Arjenyattah epidemic. Home interview data and toxicological aspects.

In 1983, 949 cases of acute non-fatal illness consisting of headache, dizziness, blurred vision, abdominal pain, myalgia, and fainting occurred in the West Bank. Physical examination and biochemical tests were otherwise normal. There was no common exposure to food, drink, or agricultural chemicals among those affected. No toxins were consistently present in patients' blood or urine. Hydrogen sulphide gas was detected in low concentrations (40 parts per billion) at the site of the first outbreak. No other environmental toxins were found. The illness was thus of psychological origin and possibly triggered by the smell of hydrogen sulphide.

Abdomen↗

Control of gonadotropin secretion by follicle-stimulating hormone-releasing factor, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, and leptin.

Fractionation of hypothalamic extracts on a Sephadex G-25 column separates follicle-stimulating hormone-releasing factor (FSHRF) from luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH). The FSH-releasing peak contained immunoreactive lamprey gonadotropin-releasing hormone (lGnRH) by radioimmunoassay, and its activity was inactivated by an antiserum specific to lGnRH. The identity of lGnRH-III with FSHRF is supported by studies with over 40 GnRH analogs that revealed that this is the sole analog with preferential FSH-releasing activity. Selective activity appears to require amino acids 5-8 of lGnRH-III. Chicken GnRH-II has slight selective FSH-releasing activity. Using a specific lGnRH-III antiserum, a population of lGnRH-III neurons was visualized in the dorsal and ventral preoptic area with axons projecting to the median eminence in areas shown previously to control FSH secretion based on lesion and stimulation studies. Some lGnRH-III neurons contained only this peptide, others also contained LHRH, and still others contained only LHRH. The differential pulsatile release of FSH and LH and their differential secretion at different times of the estrous cycle may be caused by differential secretion of FSHRF and LHRH. Both FSH and LHRH act by nitric oxide (NO) that generates cyclic guanosine monophosphate. lGnRH-III has very low affinity to the LHRH receptor. Biotinylated lGnRH-III (10(-9) M) labels 80% of FSH gonadotropes and is not displaced by LHRH, providing evidence for the existence of an FSHRF receptor. Leptin has equal potency as LHRH to release gonadotropins by NO. lGnRH-III specifically releases FSH, not only in rats but also in cows.

Animals↗

Commentary.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Dementia↗

Peroneus brevis tendon rupture with tophaceous gout infiltration.

The authors present a patient with a history of chronic lateral ankle instability and pain. Physical and diagnostic evaluation revealed anterior ankle instability and peroneus brevis weakness. An MRI showed an attenuated anterior-talofibular ligament and a longitudinal tear of the peroneus brevis tendon. Surgical exploration exhibited tophaceous gout within the tear of the peroneus brevis as well as within the attenuated anterior-talofibular ligament. Presented is an unusual case of a longitudinal tear of the peroneus brevis tendon with tophaceous gout infiltration.

Adult↗

Thalamic ablations and neocortical development: alterations in thalamic and callosal connectivity.

Corticofugal pathways (callosal, intracortical, and subcortical) have initial axon outgrowth to many areas where no adult connections will persist. Corticofugal projections also demonstrate considerable reorganization after early damage. At the level of gross projections from specific thalamic nuclei to cortical cytoarchitectonic areas, early thalamocortical projections appear to show greater specificity for their targets than do corticofugal projections, and their potential for reorganization after early damage is not known. In this article, we explore the nature of the reorganization shown by the thalamocortical system after early thalamic lesions, and contrast it with reorganization of the origin of contralateral visual callosal projections in the same animals. Hamster pups were given electrolytic lesions in the posterior thalamus on the day of birth, damaging principally either the ventrobasal (somatosensory) or the dorsal lateral geniculate (visual) nucleus. After 30 d of age, HRP was implanted in either the somatosensory or the visual cortex, matching the area of implant with the intended thalamic lesion. The thalamus was reconstructed to determine the remaining nuclei, and the distribution of retrogradely labeled cells was plotted. For animals with HRP implants in visual cortex, the location of callosally projecting cells from the contralateral cortex was charted. These animals were compared to a group of normal adult animals with HRP implants approximately matched for size and location. In seven of eight adult animals with neonatal thalamic lesions, the remaining thalamus did not reorganize to innervate the thalamically denervated cortex. In contrast, the callosal projections from the contralateral visual cortex showed a wider tangential origin in the experimental animals compared to the controls. This expanded callosal projection included cells from temporal cortex, a projection not seen in normal animals. Thus, thalamocortical and callosal projection systems differ in both the magnitude and the nature of their reorganization after early damage.

Aging↗

VA Cooperative Study on Alcoholic Hepatitis. III: Changes in protein-calorie malnutrition associated with 30 days of hospitalization with and without enteral nutritional therapy.

Patients with moderate to severe alcoholic hepatitis and features of protein-calorie malnutrition were studied with respect to changes in their nutritional status during 30 days of hospitalization. Thirty-four patients served as controls, were given a 2500 kcal hospital diet and allowed to eat ad libitum. Twenty-three patients were given, in addition to the hospital diet, a nutrition supplement high in calories, protein, and branched-chain amino acids (Hepatic Aid). Because of anorexia, the controls consumed lesser amounts of both calories and protein while those given the nutritional therapy exceeded their estimated energy requirements (116.1%) and consumed a mean of 98.3 g of protein per day. This was well tolerated despite the fact that portal systemic encephalopathy was present in 72% of the patients. Mortality associated with the liver disease was comparable in both groups, 16.7% in the treated vs 20.6% in the controls. In those patients that survived the 30 days of hospitalization, clinical and biochemical tests of liver injury improved in both groups. With respect to their nutritional status, those given nutritional therapy showed significant improvement in six of the nine parameters (67%) used to assess nutrition. In the controls significant improvement was observed in only two nutritional parameters (22%) while three parameters (33%) deteriorated further. These three were all associated with calorie deprivation (marasmus). This study suggests that patients with acute alcoholic hepatitis require additional nutritional therapy to maintain and improve their nutrition parameters, especially those related to marasmus; and that Hepatic Aid is well tolerated for this purpose.

Adult↗

Bereavement: theoretical perspectives and adaptation: Canberra, Australia.

This article presents an integrative model for understanding the range of individual differences arising from the bereavement process which occurs through the loss of a significant person, such as a spouse, parent or child. It is suggested that cognitive behavioral models are useful in determining stress reactions to bereavement; however, such models have certain limitations for adaptation purposes. Finally, to enhance well-being, reactions to loss are examined from a clinical perspective by using a five-phase model which outlines holistic adaptation processes, intervention strategies, and time span indicators.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Identification of p53 mutations in endometrial adenocarcinoma by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism.

OBJECTIVE: We determined whether mutations in p53 exons 5-6-7-8, as detected in the polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) test, might be correlated with stage or grade in endometrial adenocarcinoma. METHODS: We amplified sequences containing exons 5, 6, 7, or 8 in DNA from tumors and controls. Mutation within the amplified sequences was indicated by changes in electrophoretic mobility (band shifts) in the SSCP test. The results were analyzed statistically and compared with the results of other, similar studies. RESULTS: We identified 15 band shifts among 47 endometrial tumors studied (band shifts in two different exons in two cases) and none among 42 controls. Band shifts in exons 5 and 8 were associated uniformly with grade 2 or grade 3 histology. In other studies p53 mutations were correlated with advanced-stage malignancy. CONCLUSION: Further evaluation of particular p53 mutations and their relation to disease course in endometrial adenocarcinoma seems warranted. The PCR-SSCP test seems well-suited to this purpose.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Early hyperbaric oxygen therapy for retinal artery occlusion.

PURPOSE: To assess whether early hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) treatment has a beneficial effect on visual results after retinal artery occlusion (RAO). METHODS: A comparative retrospective study in which medical records of all HBO-treated RAO patients in our department were reviewed and compared with matched RAO patients not treated by HBO (from a different medical center). Mean visual acuity (VA) at completion of treatment, the presence or absence of improvement in VA between admission and discharge, and the mean change in VA between admission and discharge were noted. All patients treated by HBO had treatment no later than 8 hours after the beginning of visual symptoms. RESULTS: Mean VA at discharge was 0.2981 (6/20) in the treated group and 0.1308 (6/46) in the control group (p < 0.03). In the treated group, 82.9% had an improvement in VA between admission and discharge, compared with 29.7% of the control group (p < 0.00001). Mean improvement in VA was 0.1957 in the treated group and 0.0457 in the control group (p < 0.01). Differences in outcome measures between treatment and control groups were found to reflect the difference between treated and untreated hypertensive patients. No difference was found between treated and untreated non-hypertensive patients. CONCLUSIONS: Early HBO therapy appears to have a beneficial effect on visual outcome in patients with RAO. Further large-scale prospective controlled studies are needed to confirm this.

Aged↗

Hyperbaric oxygenation combined with nifedipine treatment for recent-onset retinal artery occlusion.

We describe the results of early hyperbaric oxygenation combined with nifedipine treatment for central retinal artery occlusion, and explain the results pathophysiologically. We report four cases in which hyperbaric oxygenation therapy was applied in combination with nifedipine, eyeball massage, and glycerol for the treatment of central retinal artery occlusion. In two of the cases in which therapy was started less than 100 minutes after the acute onset of visual loss and one case in which therapy was started during the course of central arterial occlusion, considerable improvement in visual acuity was observed, while in the fourth case in which therapy was started six hours after the acute onset of visual loss, no improvement appeared. We conclude from these results that hyperbaric oxygenation therapy has a beneficial effect on the final visual outcome of central retinal artery occlusion, provided it is applied early enough. Further investigation is needed to fully define the nature and terms of this beneficial effect.

Adult↗

A change in ocular involvement in a patient suffering from ankylosing spondylitis and Behçet's disease.

We report a case of a young man suffering from both ankylosing spondylitis and Behçet's disease in whom the character of the ocular involvement changed according to the predominant disease at a given time. When the clinical picture was one of ankylosing spondylitis, only anterior uveitis was observed, while the clinical picture of Behçet's disease occurred with panuveitis and retinal vasculitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in the English literature of two different patterns of ocular involvement in the same patient with two seronegative arthritides.

Adult↗