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Biomedical subjects

D O'Brien

Publications and source records attributed to D O'Brien.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Movement disorders during sleep in cats and dogs.

Spontaneous sleep movement disorders in 5 cats and 3 dogs were studied. Objective abnormalities during sleep were confirmed by electrographic or behavioral monitoring techniques in all animals. The cause of the disorder was CNS disease in 3 animals. A cause was not discovered in the other 5 animals, although at necropsy, 2 were found to have thyroid tumors. Many pharmacologic treatments were ineffectual, but trials with the benzodiazepine tranquilizer, clonazepam, suggested it will prove useful in controlling violent movements during rapid-eye-movement sleep.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Glucose control and the renal and retinal complications of insulin-dependent diabetes.

Two hundred thirty subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes were followed up longitudinally by measuring glycohemoglobin values to relate glucose control with renal and retinal complications. Subjects with long-term poor control (glycohemoglobin values greater than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal) had 3.6 times the prevalence of microalbuminuria and 2.5 times the prevalence of level 3 to 6 retinopathy than that found in subjects with long-term good control (glycohemoglobin values within 1.33 times the upper limit of normal). Variables related to kidney damage were glucose control and, to a lesser degree, duration of diabetes. Variables related to eye disease were, in descending order of significance, duration of diabetes, glucose control, and age. No subject whose mean glycohemoglobin value was consistently within 1.1 times the upper limit of normal had retinopathy or microalbuminuria. In contrast, when the mean glycohemoglobin value was more than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal, 24 (29%) of 82 subjects had microalbuminuria and 30 (37%) of 82 had level 3 to 6 retinopathy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

A case of Graves' disease associated with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia.

This report describes simultaneous autoimmune thyrotoxicosis and autoimmune haemolytic anaemia. Autoimmune haematological abnormalities should be excluded in patients with Graves' disease and thyroid function and thyroid antibody status should be evaluated in patients with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Changes in nurse education and the facilitation of nursing research: an exploratory study.

This study is concerned with exploring nurses' attitudes and knowledge of nursing research, together with their perception of research priorities. A sample was drawn from five nursing groups, these being Assistant Directors of Nursing Services (ADNS), Ward Sisters, Student Nurses undertaking a conventional educational programme, students undertaking the Diploma in Professional Studies in Nursing Course (DPSN) and student nurses undertaking an ENB pilot scheme in general nursing. Whilst the results suggest that all groups held favourable attitudes towards nursing research, significant differences emerged with respect to knowledge of such research and perception of research priorities. Of particular interest are the differences observed in comparing the nursing groups who have had experience of higher education with those who have not. The former generally had more positive attitudes, a better knowledge base and clearer priorities for nursing research. Given that many countries now provide nurse education in such centres and that nurse education in the United Kingdom is steadily moving in this direction, the results are important in suggesting some of the benefits which can accrue from collaboration between schools of nursing and centres of higher education.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1988

Benign cutaneous mastocytomas in two litters of Siamese kittens.

Histiocytic-like cutaneous mast cell tumors were found in related Siamese cats less than 6 months old. The 2- to 5-mm diameter tumors developed only on the head and regressed within 4 months of diagnosis. Attempts to treat 2 of 4 affected kittens with topically or parenterally administered corticosteroids did not speed tumor regression, and the cause of the tumors was not determined.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Prevention of postoperative pericardial adhesions with hydrophilic polymer solutions.

Pericardial adhesions subject patients requiring cardiac reoperation to potential injuries of the heart, great vessels, and extracardiac grafts during resternotomy. We evaluated polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and a methlycellulose derivative (MCD) as intraoperative irrigating solutions in the prevention of postoperative pericardial adhesions. Fifteen dogs weighing 15 to 20 kg were divided into three equal cohorts and subjected to left thoracotomy with pericardiotomy. Prior to surgical manipulation, the pericardial cavity was irrigated with either PVP, MCD, or Ringer's lactate (RL). Serosal injury stimulating intraoperative trauma was induced by gauze sponge abrasion of the epicardium and inner surface of the pericardium and by allowing desiccation of serosal surfaces for 30 min. The pericardial cavity was evaluated for adhesion formation 6 weeks postoperatively by reoperation. Two independent observers, unaware of the study solution, evaluated the extent and severity of pericardial adhesions on a 0-4 scale. All dogs in the RL control group had surgically significant adhesions and a mean adhesion score of 3.2 +/- 1.1. In contrast, no PVP- or MCD-treated dog had surgically significant adhesions. The mean adhesion scores were 0.2 +/- 0.4 for PVP and 0.5 +/- 0.7 for MCD. Our results indicate that PVP (P less than 0.004) and MCD (P less than 0.024) significantly reduce pericardial adhesion formation when compared to RL. Clinical application of PVP or MCD for the prevention of pericardial adhesions should reduce morbidity and mortality of cardiac reoperation.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Neurogenic disorders of micturition.

Anatomic considerations of micturition are reviewed as well as the effects of lesions at various levels on the urinary system as a whole. Proper diagnostic approach, interpretation of results, and recommendations for therapy are outlined to aid the practitioner in handling neurogenic disorders of micturition.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Diagnosis of pre-type I diabetes.

Islet cell antibodies were found in 71 of 1169 first-degree relatives (6.1%) from 448 families who had a proband with type I diabetes. Seven children have since become insulin dependent. All had islet cell antibodies and were followed up prospectively with measurement of first-phase insulin production during intravenous glucose tolerance testing. In this group the statistical probability of developing type I diabetes within 12 months with 95% confidence was found to be 59% to 100% when the first-phase insulin secretion was less than 25 microU/mL. The identification of the prediabetes time period should allow an opportunity for intervention in the underlying disease process to determine if the onset of type I diabetes can be altered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Respirable dust control in grinding gray iron castings.

High speed grinding of gray iron castings long has been associated with excessive exposure to crystalline silica. Not all workers engaged in these operations are protected by conventional ventilation techniques. Dust in the air that has been entrained by the spinning grinding wheel and not captured in the grinder hood has been postulated to be a major exposure source. A pilot grinding operation was constructed, and the size distribution and concentration of airborne particles were measured with the aerodynamic particle sizer (APS). Various control measures proved effective in reducing the respirable dust concentration: increased exhaust ventilation, and installation of baffles and/or the use of an air jet to deflect the entrained air stream. The concentration of respirable dust is the breathing zone was reduced approximately 20-fold through the combined use of increased ventilation, interior baffles, and an air jet. The air jet and baffle utilized at the base ventilation rate reduced the respirable dust concentration by a factor of three to four, whereas the baffle alone halved the concentration.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1986

Recovery of hormonal regulation in protein kinase defective adrenal cells through DNA-mediated gene transfer.

A cAMP-resistant mutant (Kin-8) isolated from Y1 mouse adrenocortical tumor cells harbors a specific lesion in the regulatory subunit of the type 1 cAMP-dependent protein kinase. This mutant also is resistant to the effects of corticotropin and cAMP on steroidogenesis, growth and morphology, suggesting an obligatory role for the protein kinase in regulation of adrenocortical functions. In this study, the cAMP-resistant phenotype of the Kin-8 mutant was reverted by transformation with DNA from cAMP-responsive Y1 cells, and the biochemical basis of the transformation was explored. Initially, Y1 mouse adrenocortical tumor cells were evaluated for their competence as recipients in DNA-mediated transformation experiments, by measuring their ability to incorporate and express a bacterial gene (neo) encoding resistance to neomycin. Y1 cells were transfected with the plasmid pSV2-neo (an SV40-neo hybrid vector designed for expression in animal cells) and screened for resistance to the neomycin analog, G418. Neomycin-resistant transformants were recovered from Y1 cells at a frequency of approximately one per 10(3) cells per 10 micrograms of DNA, and had specific neo sequences integrated into their high molecular weight (mw) DNA. The Y1 mutant, Kin-8, then was transformed with pSV2-neo DNA plus high mw DNA prepared from cAMP-responsive Y1 cells. Cells competent for transformation were recovered by selective growth in the neomycin analog G418, and these transformants were screened for recovery of morphological responses to cAMP. Several colonies capable of rounding up in the presence of cAMP were recovered after transformation with DNA from Y1 cells. These transformants also recovered the ability to round up in the presence of corticotropin, and were able to respond to both corticotropin and cAMP with increased steroidogenesis. Transformants generated from either Y1 or Kin-8 cells were unstable. Y1 cells lost resistance to neomycin when grown in the absence of G418 at a frequency of 4% per generation. Similarly, Kin-8 transformants lost their sensitivity to cAMP in subsequent culture passages. In some of the cAMP-responsive transformants, cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity was recovered and approached the activity seen in cAMP-responsive Y1 cells. The recovery of a normal protein kinase by transformation appeared to have been sufficient to reverse the cAMP-resistant phenotype of Kin-8 cells. In other cAMP-responsive transformants, protein kinase activity was not appreciably affected by cAMP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate↗
PubMed1986

Size and concentration measurement of an industrial aerosol.

Several real-time particle sizing instruments were evaluated for measuring the size distribution and concentration of the aerosol produced during the high speed grinding of gray iron castings. Aerosol was sampled in the airstream entrained by the motion of a spinning grinding wheel in a pilot grinding operation. Measurement methods based on differing physical principles were selected for evaluation and compared: particle inertia (aerodynamic particle sizer and quartz crystal microbalance cascade impactor); light scattering (laser aerosol spectrometer); and projected-area microscopy (scanning electron microscope). Inferences of aerodynamic diameter based on measurements by the laser aerosol spectrometer consistently undersized that determined by the aerodynamic particle sizer by a factor of 1.5. Estimates of aerodynamic diameters from projected area diameters determined by scanning electron microscopy differed from those obtained by the aerodynamic particle sizer by a factor of 2. Differences appeared to be a non-linear function of particle diameter. Estimates of respirable mass determined from mass-weighted particle size spectra varied by a factor of 6 between the largest estimate (scanning electron microscope) and the smallest estimate (laser aerosol spectrometer).

Aerosols↗