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Biomedical subjects

C M Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to C M Anderson.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Measles mortality and ethnic groups.

Measles is a relatively unusual disease in that the fatality rate is very low in modern Western populations, while in 'virgin soil'--isolated populations of other races or ethnic groups--mortality rates may exceed 25%. Possible explanations for this difference are examined, including genetics, culture, epidemiology and malnutrition. All four factors, especially differences in nutritional state and in culture, might have a significant effect in increasing mortality rates for measles in Black Africans. The cultural milieu can be exceedingly influential and must not be overlooked by doctors treating Black patients.

Adult↗

Frequency response characteristics of ambulatory ECG monitoring systems and their implications for ST segment analysis.

Because of the increasing interest in using ambulatory ECG monitoring equipment to study cardiac ischemia, we examined the frequency response characteristics and the reproducibility of a standard ST segment shift for equipment from eight manufacturers. Output/input amplitude versus frequency response curves, derived from input sine waves, were compared with American Heart Association (AHA) standards. Low- and high-frequency cutoffs (-3dB) were examined as well as flat response within the pass band. A new test based on Fourier analysis provided evaluation of phase shift versus frequency response and a more detailed analysis of the amplitude versus frequency response. By using a modified ECG simulator, flat-line ST segment depression from 0 to 10 mm (in 1 mm increments) was input to two or three recording devices for each manufacturer. The outputs from the scanners were evaluated for the amount of ST depression and the quality of the waveform reproduction. No system met all AHA standards for frequency response. Each system also had varying amounts of phase shift which could potentially distort the ECG signal. Although some manufacturers' equipment gave faithful reproductions of the simulated ST segment depression, others did not. We conclude that additional investigation is necessary to determine the clinical implications of our findings and to establish better standards for low- and high-frequency cutoffs, flat response within pass band, and phase shift for ambulatory ECG monitoring equipment.

American Heart Association↗

Family treatment of adult schizophrenic patients: a psycho-educational approach.

As part of a long-term study in schizophrenia, a model of family intervention has been developed which attempts to diminish relapse rates of schizophrenic patients. This model reflects theoretical and research findings which suggest that certain patients have a "core psychological deficit" that might increase vulnerability to external stimuli. While a program of maintenance chemotherapy attempts to decreae patient vulnerability, a series of highly structured, supportive, psycho-educational family interventions are aimed at de-intensifying the family environment in which the patient lives.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis complicating cystic fibrosis in childhood.

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, known to be associated with cystic fibrosis in older patients, occurred in 7 young atopic children with cystic fibrosis. The diagnosis was suggested by the onset of, or the increase in, asthmatic symptoms accompanied by major chest x-ray changes ranging from total collapse of a lung or lobe to extensive but changing areas of consolidation. Each of the children had a blood eosinophilia, positive type I skin tests to Aspergillus fumigatus, and reversible airways obstruction. Most had a positive type III skin test and circulating precipitins to A. fumigatus, with raised IgE levels which contained specific antibodies to the fungus on radioallergosorbent (RAST) test. None had advanced suppurative chest disease of cystic fibrosis. None was given specific antifungal agents; two received systemic treatment with corticosteroids, the other received additional drugs for their asthma. Two developed total collapse of one lung, one child being only 2 years old. Five have had recurrences of pulmonary shadowing typical of allergic aspergillosis but are not showing significant progression of their cystic fibrosis lung disease. Our experience suggests that there should be an increased awareness of this condition, particularly its association with extensive pulmonary collapse or consolidation in children with cystic fibrosis who are atopic.

Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary↗

Gentamicin and tobramycin compared in the treatment of mucoid pseudomonas lung infections in cystic fibrosis.

18 children with cystic fibrosis and mucoid pseudomonas lung infection were treated with courses either of gentamicin plus carbenicillin, or tobramycin plus carbenicillin, with 2 children each receiving two courses. 10 courses of gentamicin at a dose of 9 mg/kg per day plus carbenicillin at 800 mg/kg per day, and 10 courses of tobramycin at 9 mg/kg per day plus carbenicillin at 800 mg/kg per day were given. There was clinical and x-ray improvement in both groups of children, but there was no difference between the therapeutic benefit of either regimen. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not cultured at the end of treatment after 15 of the 20 courses, but it returned in all but one patient within 3 months. Neither ototoxicity nor renal damage with these high doses of aminoglycoside was detected. P. aeruginosa had not been eliminated when 9 of these patients earlier had received courses of gentamicin in a dose of 6 mg/kg per day plus carbenicillin at 800 mg/kg per day. The results show that P. aeruginosa can successfully be eliminated or suppressed with high-dose aminoglycoside plus carbenicillin, but such elimination is usually short lived.

Adolescent↗

Reversible airway obstruction in cystic fibrosis.

Fourteen (29%) of 48 children with cystic fibrosis had a greater than 15% improvement in forced expiratory volume in one second, or in forced vital capacity after inhalation of salbutamol. All these children were atopic (one or more positive prick tests) and had a significantly higher mean serum IgE than either non-atopic subjects or those atopic subjects without airways reversibility (p less than 0.02). Half of those with airways reversibility had or subsequently developed the clinical picture of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Of the whole group 81% were atopic, of whom 77% had a positive reaction to A fumigatus, 64% to housedust, and 56% each to grass pollen and cat hair. Children who were not atopic had significantly better spirometry (p greater than 0.05) than those who were. Children with skin hypersensitivity to A fumigatus had identical spirometry to those who were atopic without reactivity to A fumigatus. Serum precipitins to A fumigatus were present in 48%. Serum precipitins to pancreatin were present in 71%, but the presence of these precipitins did not correlate with atopy, airways reversibility, or serum IgE.

Adolescent↗

Space-filling models of kinase clefts and conformation changes.

Space-filling models of yeast hexokinase, adenylate kinase, and phosphoglycerate kinase drawn by computer clearly portray the bilobal character of these phosphoryl transfer enzymes, and the deep cleft which is formed between the lobes. A dramatic conformational change occurs in hexokinase as glucose binds to the bottom of the cleft, which causes the two lobes of hexokinase to come together. A substrate-induced closing of the active site cleft is postulated to occur in other kinases as well. This change may provide a mechanism by which some of these enzymes reduce their inherent adenosine triphosphatase activity and could be a general requirement of the kinase reaction.

Adenylate Kinase↗

Creative thinking and juvenile delinquency: a study of delinquent and nondelinquent youth on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.

Using the T.T.C.T. this study examined the creative thinking of 32 delinquent and 32 nondelinquent adolescent males. The delinquent group was composed of juveniles on parole status. The nondelinquent group was composed of public school students. On the variables of IQ, age, and socioeconomic class, t-test results indicated no significant differences, except on socioeconomic class, between the groups. Analysis of variance procedures were performed to determine the possibility of an interaction between levels of intelligence and delinquent status with regard to verbal and figural creativity test scores. There were no significant main effects or interaction between IQ and adjudication status with respect to figural creativity. There was a significant main effect due to adjudication status for the dependent variable of verbal creativity scores, respectively while blocking on the intelligence variable. The results were parallel to the ANOVAS which did not specifically control for the intelligence variable between the two groups.

Adolescent↗

Quantitative evaluation of photopic ERG waveforms.

Quantitative, computer-based ways of representing photopic ERG waveforms are investigated and related to over-all retinal condition in a group of normal subjects and a group of patients with diagnosed retinitis pigmentosa. Sinusoidal stimulation and a Fourier series response representation have been selected. This combination provides a few parameters which facilitate waveform comparison, and it naturally lends itself to generalization if more detailed features of ERG recordings are to be included. On the basis of this type of waveform characterization, the over-all photopic retinal condition of any individual eye can be represented by a single number or by its location in various cluster diagrams and its distance from the normal cluster. As exemplified by the results herein described, such an automated approach can be particularly useful in screening large populations for retinal degenerations or in quantitatively following the progression of retinal degeneration over long periods of time.

Adolescent↗

Does that child really have cystic fibrosis?

A diagnosis of cystic fibrosis was incorrectly made after false-positive sweat tests in 14 children. 13 of these children had been tested at hospitals where it seems likely that sweat tests were not done very often. All the children had normal sweat-electrolyte values when the test was repeated at a regional paediatric centre where approximately 250 sweat tests are done each year. In 5 cases, detailed testing of pancreatic function was normal. None of the children had typical chest disease and only 2 had gastrointestinal symptoms. In the absence of the typical clinical features of the disease a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis should be made with extreme caution and only after meticulous testing of both sweat electrolytes and pancreatic function.

Amylases↗

Reduction of bile acid loss in cystic fibrosis by dietary means.

On a 'normal' diet increased faecal bile acid excretion was found in 14 of 16 children with cystic fibrosis who had steatorrhoea, but excretion was normal in 2 such children without steatorrhoea. The 16 children with steatorrhoea took 3 regimens of diet and therapy: a 'normal' diet with pancreatic enzyme supplements, a diet of reduced long-chain triglycerides with added medium-chain triglycerides, and the same diet with added pancreatic enzyme supplements. On each of these three regimens steatorrhoea and faecal bile acid loss were significantly less than on no treatment, with the lowest excretions occurring on the diet of reduced long-chain triglycerides with added medium-chain triglycerides and pancreatic enzyme supplements. Although a reduction in steatorrhoea was nearly always accompanied by a decrease in bile acid excretion, the initial bile acid loss was very variable and could not be predicted for any given degree of steatorrhoea. This suggests that at least one other factor, possibly liver disease or bile acid pool size, influences bile acid loss in the faeces.

Bile Acids and Salts↗