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Biomedical subjects

C Taylor

Publications and source records attributed to C Taylor.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Deaths of drug addicts in the United Kingdom 1967-81.

A search of the Home Office index of notified drug addicts identified 1499 deaths during 1967-81, of which 226 (15%) were of therapeutic addicts--that is, patients who had become addicted during medical treatment with a notifiable drug--and 1273 (85%) were of non-therapeutic addicts. The crude mortality fell from 23.5/1000/year for the period 1968-70 to 18.4/1000/year for 1978-80. Altogether 416 addicts aged under 50 at notification died after 1972, which was 16 times the number of deaths expected in a population with a similar age and sex composition. A more detailed examination of the cohorts of addicts notified each year showed little variation between them in the first two years of follow up. Nineteen addicts (1.6%) had died by 31 December of the year of their notification and 39 (3.3%) one year later. These figures may be an indication of the clinical course of addiction. Most deaths of non-therapeutic addicts in which a drug was implicated (939 cases (74%] were due to medically prescribed drugs--barbiturates at first and later opiates such as dipipanone hydrochloride and dextromoramide. Heroin was implicated in only 65 (7%) of these deaths. The Home Office index is a valuable source for identifying drugs of abuse and serious problems of addiction. The fact that prescribed drugs are causing the death of so many addicts demands a response from the medical profession.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1985

The role of antigen in the activation of regulatory T cells by immune B cells.

The transfer of B cells from mice immunized with Type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SSS-III) results in the activation of suppressor and amplifier T cells that control the magnitude of the antibody response in recipient mice, immunized subsequently with SSS-III. Prior treatment of transferred B cells with an excess of enzyme (polysaccharide depolymerase) capable of hydrolyzing SSS-III, does not alter the capacity of these cells to activate regulatory T cells. These findings indicate that the activation of regulatory T cells by immune B cells is not mediated by residual antigen on the surface of transferred cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

An HLA class I specific monoclonal antibody that fails to bind to all HLA-A antigens.

A monoclonal antibody, MHM.5, specific for HLA class I antigens, bound to lymphocytes of all donors tested and was thought to bind to a monomorphic determinant. When the antibody was used to precipitate 35S methionine labeled HLA class I molecules from lymphoid cells, which were then isoelectric focused, it was found that the HLA-A1,A2 and A3 antigens were not precipitated. Similarly, MHM.5, which is IgG1, failed to block complement mediated lysis by alloantisera specific for HLA-A1, 2 and 3, and most other HLA-A antigens. HLA-Aw24, A25, and A32, and all other HLA-B and C typing reactions tested were blocked. Thus the antibody binds to an epitope that is lacking on most A antigens, but present on Aw24, A25, A32 and all B and C locus antigens. Comparison of the published amino acid sequences of HLA-A2, A3, Aw24, A28, Cw3, B7, and B40 suggests some possible sites for this epitope.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1985

Comparison of the elimination of 10 and 20% TRAVAMULSION lipid emulsion from the blood of beagle dogs.

Metabolic utilization of fat emulsions containing 20% lipid and 10% lipid were compared using beagles. The key parameter measured was elimination of the lipid from the bloodstream, which serves as an indication of the emulsion's availability for metabolism. Nonlinear kinetic analysis was used in this determination. Blood concentrations of free fatty acids, phospholipid, and cholesterol were also measured as additional ways of determining emulsion metabolism. The 10 and 20% emulsions appeared to be equivalent in elimination of the caloric substrate triglyceride from the blood stream. Results also showed an adaptation to emulsion infusion over time at both dosages administered (3 and 6 g/kg of body weight). This was indicated by increased elimination capacity and stabilization of each lipid class measured. However, blood concentrations of phospholipid and cholesterol indicate that the 20% emulsion provides a lesser lipid load for the amount of calories administered when compared to an emulsion containing 10% lipid.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Briquet's syndrome in adolescence.

Briquet's syndrome, originally described more than 100 years ago, has recently become a subject of concern for physicians who work with adolescents. It is a chronic disorder that primarily affects women, is characterized by many symptoms involving a number of organ systems, and usually has a frustrating clinical course. It typically begins in the second or third decades, and only rarely subsides with time. Multiple diagnostic procedures, medications, and surgical operations are common, usually without evidence of significant disease. Complications can include substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Management centers upon viewing the symptoms as the patient's attempts to communicate difficulties in coping with stress.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Analysis of sampling errors in biopsy techniques using data from whole muscle cross sections.

Because of the large variability in the proportion of fiber types within a whole muscle, a single biopsy is a poor estimator of the fiber type proportion for a whole muscle. Data on the proportions of type I and II fibers, obtained from cross sections of whole human muscles (vastus lateralis) from young male individuals, have therefore been analyzed statistically in order to determine the sampling errors involved in muscle biopsy techniques. For the purpose of obtaining a good estimate of the fiber type proportion in a whole biopsy, counting all fibers is of great benefit compared with counting only half of the fiber number. The required number of biopsies to obtain a given sampling error of the mean proportion of fiber types in the whole muscle can vary by a factor of six. If less than three biopsies are taken from a muscle, there is a substantial reduction in sampling error taking biopsies with at least 600 fibers. For more than three biopsies there is a small gain in sampling greater than 150 fibers. The precision of the estimate of the mean proportion of fiber types for a group is increased with the number of biopsies per individual and number of individuals. In conclusion, for the muscle in this study, complete counting of three biopsies, each greater than 150 fibers, sampled from different depths of the muscle is recommended.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Purification and properties of autolytic endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase and the N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase from Bacillus subtilis strain 168.

beta-N-Acetylglucosaminidase has been purified from the walls of Bacillus subtilis 168 and compared with the other known autolysin, N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase (amidase). The beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase was a dimer in LiCl buffers with a sub-unit molecular weight of 90000 and a pH optimum of about 5.0. It was very sensitive to proteolytic enzymes and was critically activated by 0.1 to 0.2 M-LiCl. It was insoluble in concentrations of LiCl lower than 0.05 to 0.1 M. It was less strongly bound to walls than was the amidase, which was a monomer of molecular weight 30000 to 40000 in LiCl buffers. The beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase is an endo-enzyme and showed no exo-activity. Lysozyme-like enzyme (muramidase) activity was undetectable in the wall extracts examined.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗
PubMed1984

Activity of Streptococcus mutans alpha-D-glucosyltransferases released under various growth conditions.

The effect of a variety of growth conditions on extracellular D-glucosyltransferase (GTF) activity of Streptococcus mutans strains in continuous culture has been studied. Maximum GTF activity was found at low growth rates and at pH 6.5, and under this condition the predominant glucosyltransferase was GTF-S, an enzyme that synthesized soluble dextran. At high growth rates, the proportion of GTF-S decreased, and 50% or more of the total glucosyltransferase was GTF-I, an enzyme that synthesized water-insoluble (1 leads to 3)-alpha-D-glucan. Variation in the relative activities of GTF-S and GTF-I results in such diversity in the glucans synthesized from sucrose that it is virtually meaningless to describe a structural analysis of S. mutans glucan without specifying the conditions of growth of the organism.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1984

Identification of cells lining pseudovascular spaces of benign pigmented nevi.

So-called pseudovascular spaces, said to occur in 10% of benign pigmented nevi, are presumed to be shrinkage artifacts of tissue processing. In an attempt to characterize the cells lining these spaces, three benign pigmented nevi were studied with immunoperoxidase techniques. It was found that they stained positively with an anti-melanoma antibody, P97a (gamma-2a), but negatively with an antibody against an antigen-related factor VIII, which is a marker for vascular endothelium. We conclude that these spaces are lined by melanocytes of nevi and that the spaces are not truly vascular. In one specimen, the spaces were filled with erythrocytes, which suggest that the spaces were present before fixation. It has been suggested, though, that altered collagen and elastic tissue and the nevi themselves may diminish the resistance of the dermis to the mechanical stress of the biopsy procedure, which results in the formation of these spaces.

Antibodies, Neoplasm↗