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Biomedical subjects

C A Kelly

Publications and source records attributed to C A Kelly.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Cognitive skills associated with the onset of multiword utterances.

The relationship between early language and cognition was studied in 20 children between one and two years of age. Linguistically, the subjects were classified as No Word Users, Single Word Users, Nonproductive Syntax Users, and Productive Syntax Users. Four cognitive areas were tested: Object Permanence, Means-end, Play, and Imitation. When adjacent pairs of linguistic groups were compared in terms of specific cognitive skills demonstrated, several significant differences were found. First, a significant difference in Play was found between No Word Users and Single Word Users. Second, there were significant differences between Single Word Users and Nonproductive Syntax Users in terms of specific cognitive advances in both Imitation and Play. Third, Nonproductive and Productive Syntax Users were significantly different in Means-end skills. In accordance with the Correlational Hypothesis, specific cognitive skills seem temporally associated with some linguistic abilities, although attainment of skills can be evidenced first in language or cognition.

Child Language↗

Occupational asthma due to a repair process for polyethylene-coated electrical cables.

We report the case of an electrical cable repairer who presented with symptoms suggestive of occupational asthma. A supervised workplace challenge test confirmed this diagnosis and laboratory challenge studies implicated heated polyethylene repair tape containing the chemical cross-linking agent dicumyl peroxide as the cause. Similar cross-linking processes are widely used in the cable manufacturing industry and the possibility of occupational asthma occurring in other settings may need to be considered.

Adult↗

Lymphocyte subsets in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid obtained from stable asthmatics, and their correlations with bronchial responsiveness.

Bronchial responsiveness to methacholine (PD20 FEV1) was assessed in 22 asthmatic subjects approximately 5 days prior to bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). A PD20 FEV1 could not be attained in 20 matched controls with normal pulmonary function. BAL was performed in all subjects, 3 x 60 ml aliquots of buffered saline being introduced into a segment of the middle lobe and immediately aspirated into siliconized glassware at 4 degrees C. After filtration, cells were counted, and the cell pellet resuspended in medium 199. Cytospin slides were prepared and a differential cell count performed. Lymphocyte subsets were identified by labelling further cytospin preparations with specific monoclonal antibodies (Leu series) against T3, T4, T8 and B cell markers, followed by a fluorescent antibody marker. The slides were coded, and 100 lymphocytes were then randomly scanned for fluorescence on each cytospin preparation. The median total lymphocyte counts were significantly greater in the asthmatic subjects, but this increase was confined to the T cell subgroups. The mean T4/T8 ratio was similar in asthmatic (1.51) and control (1.45) subjects. Log PD20 FEV1 correlated positively with total lymphocyte counts (r = 0.42, P less than 0.05), and with total T8 counts (r = 0.60, P less than 0.05). Correlations between bronchial responsiveness and T3, T4 and B lymphocyte numbers all failed to reach significance, and there was no correlation with T4/T8 ratios. The increase in BAL lymphocyte counts in asthma appears to be due to an absolute increase in T cell subsets, especially the T8 lymphocyte subgroup, and is most marked in mild asthmatics.

Adolescent↗

Haematuria in rheumatoid arthritis: a follow up study.

Twenty one patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis and previously documented isolated haematuria were recalled at a median 7.7 years (range 3-12) after initial investigation. Eighteen subjects had previously undergone renal biopsy, which had shown mesangial glomerulonephritis in all but four cases. Renal function was found to have remained normal in all patients with previous mesangial changes despite the presence of persistent haematuria in most cases.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Assessment of pulmonary macrophage and neutrophil function in sequential bronchoalveolar lavage aspirates in sarcoidosis.

Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed in eight patients with biopsy proved sarcoidosis and eight control subjects matched for age and smoking habit, three sequential 60 ml aliquots of sterile saline being used. Each aliquot was aspirated and analysed separately to determine total and differential cell counts. Cellular metabolic activity was stimulated with latex and measured by means of luminol enhanced chemiluminescence to assess neutrophil activity and lucigenin enhanced chemiluminescence to assess macrophage activity. In control subjects mean total cell counts were significantly greater in the second aspirate than in the first, but fell slightly in the third. Similarly, in the patients with sarcoidosis mean total cell counts increased from aspirate 1 to a maximum in aspirate 2, before falling again marginally in aspirate 3. The only significant difference in cell counts between patients with sarcoidosis and controls was an approximately threefold increase in total lymphocyte counts in the former in each of the three aspirates. Luminol chemiluminescence was similar in patients with sarcoidosis to that in controls in the first aspirate, but was significantly greater in the second and third aspirates. Lucigenin chemiluminescence was also significantly greater in the second and third aspirates only. Thus in patients with sarcoidosis lymphocyte numbers are increased in all three aspirates whereas cellular metabolic activity is increased to a greater extent in later aspirates, which may reflect events occurring in the periphery of the lung segment.

Acridines↗

Modulation of tight junction formation in clone 4 MDCK cells by fatty acid supplementation.

Clone 4 MDCK cells, which generate a transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) of greater than 2,000 omega.cm2, were used to examine the role of membrane lipids in the barrier function of tight junctions. Phospholipid acyl groups were modified by supplementing cells grown in serum-free medium with 18:1(n-9), 18:3(n-3), or 18:3(n-6) complexed to albumin. Although both of these polyunsaturated fatty acids depress the melting point of membrane phospholipids, only 18:3(n-6) contributes significantly to eicosanoid production. Saturation indices of the phospholipids of cells supplemented with albumin alone, 18:1(n-9), 18:3(n-3), or 18:3(n-6) were 0.77, 0.78, 1.81, and 1.65, respectively. After trypsinization or removal of Ca2+, cells supplemented with 18:3(n-6) required longer periods of time to reestablish TER than did nonsupplemented cells or those incubated with 18:3(n-3) or 18:1(n-9). In contrast to MDCK strains I and II, clone 4 MDCK cells required continuous protein synthesis not only to reseal preexisting junctions after the addition of Ca2+ to Ca2+-depleted monolayers, but also to maintain steady-state TER. The rate of decay of TER in the presence of 1 microgram/ml of cycloheximide was 1.5 times greater in cells supplemented with either of the two 18:3 isomers than it was in nonsupplemented controls or in cells supplemented with 18:1(n-9). No significant difference was observed in the steady-state TER or selectivity of the tight junctions after fatty acid supplementation. These results suggest that there is a change in the dynamics of junction formation, rather than an alteration in their intrinsic properties.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Fluid dynamics during bronchoalveolar lavage.

A series of related studies were designed to investigate and quantify the degree of fluid exchange between the lung segment and the interstitium or pulmonary circulation that occurred during a standardized bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). In 5 subjects undergoing a 3 x 60 ml BAL, the dilution of introduced fluid was calculated at approximately 25% using both technetium colloid and methylene blue. Thus, there was a total dilution volume of about 225 ml. In the same experiment, tritiated water was incorporated into the introduced fluid, and the degree of dilution of tritium in the aspirate was compared with that of the other 2 markers. The dilution of tritium was greater than anticipated, suggesting that around 55 ml of water had effluxed from the lung segment during BAL. The total fluid gain by the segment during BAL was thus approximately 100 ml (44% of the dilution volume), although the contribution of fluid resident in the lung prior to BAL to this volume was not known. The 3 x 60 ml BAL procedures were performed in a further 5 patients 12 h after they had received tritiated water orally. The concentration of urea, a putative "endogenous marker" of dilution, was assayed simultaneously in plasma and aspirate. From these values the fluid normally resident in the lung segment was calculated to contribute at most about 2% to the total aspirated volume. A median of 39% of the 85 ml aspirated was calculated to have come from the circulation or surrounding interstitium by simultaneous measurements of the concentrations of tritium in plasma and lavage aspirate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Body Water↗

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, plasma and serum viscosity as measures of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.

The activity of rheumatoid arthritis was assessed in 96 unselected out-patients by performing a number of clinical measurements and comparing them to ESR, plasma and serum viscosity. It was found that ESR correlated with clinical parameters better than did both plasma and serum viscosity. These tests were repeated 3 months later in 87 of the same patients and again change in ESR correlated with change in disease activity better than did change in plasma viscosity. Plasma viscosity was a consistently more reliable measure of disease activity than was serum viscosity.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Lymphadenopathy in rheumatic patients.

Lymph node biopsy specimens from 22 patients with chronic inflammatory joint disease have been studied. The histology has been reviewed and immunoperoxidase staining carried out for the major immunoglobulin heavy and light chains, macrophage markers, and MT1, MB1 surface markers. Although two of these patients had been initially diagnosed and treated for malignant lymphoma, the clinical course has not substantiated the diagnosis, and on review malignancy could not be identified in any of the biopsy specimens. Careful attention to specific histological features, together with adequate clinical information, is therefore essential if the true nature of the lymph node enlargement is to be recognised. Clinical review of the 22 patients suggested that lymphadenopathy may, in some cases, be an early feature of inflammatory polyarthritis, and this was supported by the observation that 20% of patients with otherwise unexplained reactive lymphadenopathy developed an inflammatory polyarthropathy within one year of biopsy.

Adult↗

Anatomical distribution of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid as assessed by digital subtraction radiography.

A digital subtraction imaging technique was used to visualise directly the anatomical distribution of 3 X 60 ml aliquots of saline containing a low concentration of radio-opaque dye, introduced sequentially into a segment of the middle lobe. It was possible to estimate the relative movement of fluid within the segment during the sequential aspiration of each of these aliquots. The first 60 ml aliquot introduced stayed close to the bronchoscope and probably sampled only the proximal airways. With the introduction of cumulative volumes of 120 ml or more, the fluid filled the segment more evenly. Aspiration then moved fluid back from the periphery, implying that the aspirate had also lavaged both distal airways and alveoli.

Adult↗

The significance of hyperplastic lymphadenopathy.

The finding of reactive hyperplasia in a lymph node removed for diagnostic purposes often induces a feeling of disappointment in the clinician. However, this review indicates that reactive hyperplasia is frequently associated with a number of well-defined clinical conditions.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Selected coagulation reference values for adult and juvenile baboons.

Sodium citrated blood samples were collected from clinically normal baboons of various ages. Prothrombin times, activated partial thromboplastin times and quantitative fibrinogen levels were determined using current, widely available techniques. Arithmetic mean values and observed ranges were determined for 61 animals.

Animals↗

Dietary effects on hematologic and serum chemical values in gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica).

At the time of weaning (8 weeks), 57 gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica) were placed in four dietary groups. One group was fed a horsemeat-based diet that had been used for 2.5 years in our colony, and three groups were fed three different commercial fox food diets. After the animals had reached sexual maturity (6 months), blood samples were collected and subjected to standard hematologic and serum chemical assays. Significant differences were observed among the dietary groups and between sexes in several values, but all animals appeared to be healthy and robust. The ranges, means, and standard deviations for the values presented here can be used as reference values for healthy young adult animals being fed these particular diets.

Animal Feed↗