Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D O'Connor.
Malignant hypertension, which developed in a 9-year-old boy after an episode of haemolytic uraemic syndrome, could not be controlled with antihypertensive agents. However, treatment with oral converting enzyme inhibitor (captopril) was effective in controlling the blood pressure and it averted bilateral nephrectomy. No adverse effects from the drug were noted.
1 Various approaches to the treatment of adolescents who have developed long-term chronic dependency on the inhalation of solvent fumes are briefly outlined with regard to their effectiveness. 2 The importance of suggestion in the counselling relationship is emphasized as a feature which underlies the work of therapists from a wide range of systems of psychotherapy. 3 A method of treatment incorporating hypnosis is described and evaluated with reference to case reports. 4 The indications are that hypnotherapy has distinct advantages over other methods of treatment in the economy of time and effort needed to treat patients effectively in comparison with other methods; in reducing the observable and reported stress levels for patients undergoing treatment; and in improving the overall effectiveness of the therapy as measured by improvements in the patient's condition, e.g. severely reducing or ceasing the inhalation of solvent vapours.
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We report the isolation and characterization of a cloned DNA of D. melanogaster, Dm4L, that is derived from the major heat shock puff site at 63B. This segment contains two closely linked genes that are each present once per Drosophila haploid genome. One of these, the hsp 83 gene, encodes an abundant heat shock mRNA that, unlike other major heat shock mRNAs, is also abundant in uninduced (23 degrees) kco cells. Although only a slight increase in the level of total hsp 83 RNA can be detected after heat shock in Kco cells, the level of hsp 83 poly(A)+ mRNA increases more than 6-fold and the level of pulse-labeled hsp 83 RNA in total cellular RNA increases 11-fold relative to uninduced cells. In contrast, the levels of total, poly(A)+, and pulse-labeled RNA homologous to the second gene, 63B-T2, are approximately the same in both induced and uninduced cells. Hence, even though these genes are separated by only one thousand base pairs, and, from in situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes, both lie within the heat shock puff, they display strikingly different regulatory properties, These results demonstrate that close linkage of a gene to a heat shock puff is not sufficient to render its expression heat inducible.
Aspects of motivation and resistance in sex therapy as encountered in single, couples and group treatment are discussed, with emphasis on couples therapy. To a significant extent success in sex therapy depends on patients' sound motivation and minimal resistance. Keeping in mind various forms of motivation and resistance therapists are better equipped to deal with the fears and conflicts of their patients and thus promote their sexual welfare.
Renal kallikrein may be the physiologic protease which activates renin. In vitro activation of plasma inactive renin by renal kallikrein, however, requires prior dialysis of plasma to pH 3.3, which is thought to destroy endogenous plasma kallikrein inhibitors. We present evidence that low pH directly alters renin to facilitate its activation by renal kallikrein. Untreated normal plasma was combined with pH 3.3 dialyzed and neutralized plasma and incubated with semipurified human renal kallikrein 2.3 X 10(-2) to 4.6 IU/ml, pH 7.5, 25 degrees C for 1h. All concentrations activated renin in acid-treated plasma; whereas, in untreated plasma 4.6 IU/ml renal kallikrein was ineffective. In combinations of untreated and acid-treated plasma, the percent renin activated by renal kallikrein was equal to the percent acid-dialyzed plasma present. When acid-treated plasma was combined with buffer, activation was complete and quantitatively the same as in the untreated and acid-treated plasma combinations. The data suggest inactive renin itself is altered structurally by pH 3.3; this change in the renin molecule is necessary for kallikrein activation. Renal kallikrein may not be the sole in vivo activator of renin.
Antibiotic usage in a large pediatric teaching hospital was evaluated during a three-month period. A total of 1,067 patients received antibiotics and 295 patient records were reviewed. One hundred sixty-nine courses of antibiotics were administered to surgical patients, 77% for surgical prophylaxis. One hundred forty-seven antibiotic courses administered to medical patients were therapeutic in 61.2% and in 35.3% were given because of suspicion of infection. Ampicillin was the most commonly used antibiotic; cephalosporins were used for surgical prophylaxis. Aminoglycosides were used commonly for suspected infection in medical patients. Antibiotic management was inappropriate in 66% of surgical patients and in 21% of medical patients. Not obtaining appropriate studies prior to and during therapy were common infractions on all services. Surgical prophylaxis was freqently inappropriate by reason of no indication, wrong drug or dose, or inappropriate timing.
The increasing need expressed by clinicians and researchers alike for valid and reliable psychological measures of sexual behavior and adjustment contrast with the limited available information on the assessment of human sexual functioning. The aim of this article is to present relevant data on the psychometric characteristics of scales designed to measure one or more aspects of human sexual activity and marital interaction. This list is by no means exhaustive but covers most assessments of either individuals or dyads, mainly in a heterosexual context. Under the title of the scales, which have been arranged by alphabetical order according to the first author's name, the information provided may permit a preliminary judgment concerning the potential applicability of the instrument to the reader's need.
The muscle activity of normal ambulatory individuals was recorded continuously for 8-hour (working day) periods. Parameters of activity patterns were defined and numerical outcomes for these parameters were compared across a diverse population of muscles. Several pattern parameters, such as the average percentage of time active, were highly correlated with the percentage of type I fibers of a muscle.
Long-term recordings of normal human eye blink behavior (up to 14 h continuously) showed a number of periodic trends in blink rate. Mean rates varied from 2 to 50 blinks/min and periods ranged from 10 min to 2.5 h. Three dominant groupings of mean rates were observed (1) under 6, (2) 8--15 and (3) 20--30 blinks/min; these groups appear to be related to more or less distinct behavioral states of the individual. Blink amplitudes also varied and amplitude and rate showed correlations of possible functional significance. Vision-related behaviors affect both the mean rate of blinking and blink amplitude, and may impose a characteristic strategy on the timing of the individual blinks as well. The latter is referred to as bimodal blinking; this strategy contrasts with the random occurrence of blinks seen normally.
The neuroendocrine effects of haloperidol, usually reported as side effects of this drug when given in antipsychotic doses, have not been systematically investigated. In the present study five normal adult men were administered saline and two doses of of haloperidol (0.25 mg, 0.5 mg) intramuscularly in a double-blind randomized block design. The anterior pituitary hormones GH, LH, FSH, and PRL were measured in blood samples taken every 20 min for several hours thereafter. The low doses of haloperidol used have been shown by others to alter the human EEG; in our subjects these doses produced no objective or subjective clinical effects. There were no drug related changes in GH, LH, or FSH. PRL, however, showed a prompt, statistically significant, dose-related increase in plasma levels, with a return to baseline with 5 h. Haloperidol has strong dopamine-blocking effects, and the hypothalamic inhibitory mechanism for PRL release is believed to be dopamine-mediated. The results of this study suggest that haloperidol may have utility in low doses primarily for its hypothalamic neuroendocrine effects, and that dose-related PRL release may be a useful paradigm for comparing dopamine-blocking antipsychotic agents in humans.
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The decision to undertake a nationwide program of vaccination against swine influenza requires assessment of the status of immunity of those in various age groups in our population against this agent. Pools of serum were collected from persons born in the years from 1889 to 1943; they were tested for hemaggultinin inhibiting (HI) antibody against the HSW 1N1 influenza virus strains isolated in 1931 and 1976. The titers secured serve as an indication of the average level of immunity of those of different ages. Persons less than 43 years of age are found to be without antibody protection. The need for vaccination of people in different age groups based on mortality statistics of previous epidemics is evaluated. It is realized that no epidemic may occur and that a reduced virulence of the viral agent and use of antibiotics may reduce the death rate if the infection recurs. The extraordinary high mortality in 1918 in people between 15 and 44 years of age deserves recognition together with the fact that those in the same age group are now without protection. The fact that women of childbearing age fall into this group deserves special consideration in view of increased mortality in puerperal women observed in the pandemics of 1918 and 1957. The degree of protection afforded the newborn by transplacental transmission of maternal antibodies is discussed. The need of increasing the level of immunity in those who have varying titers of HI antibodies is considered in relation to the prevalence of cardiopulmonary complications and other chronic diseases in older subjects.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
An antiserum directed against human dopamine-beta-hydroxylase purified from pheochromocytoma tissue was employed in an immunohistochemical study of the organization of the noradrenergic innervation of monkey neocortex. A detailed description is given of the laminar pattern of noradrenergic innervation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann areas 9 and 10) and the primary somatosensory cortex of the postcentral gyrus (Brodmann areas 3,1,2). The noradrenergic innervation of these two regions is similar in the following respects: (1) fibers are present in all six layers, (2) the innervation is dense and terminal-like in layers IV and V, and (3) layer VI is characterized by fibers oriented parallel to the pial surface which follow the contours of the subcortical white matter. However, these regions differ with respect to specific laminar patterns of fiber distribution and orientation and by virtue of the fact that the primary somatosensory cortex has a very dense noradrenergic innervation, while the density of innervation in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is low relative to the postcentral gyrus and most other neocortical areas. The laminar pattern of noradrenergic innervation in primary visual cortex differs fundamentally from both prefrontal and primary somatosensory cortices. In a separate series of experiments, dorsolateral frontal cortex lesions were used to investigate the intracortical trajectory of noradrenergic fibers. A discrete aspiration lesion confined to the grey matter of the prefrontal cortex led to a substantial loss of noradrenergic fibers in cortical regions caudal to the lesion. The decrease in density of noradrenergic innervation was particularly pronounced in the pre- and postcentral gyri. These results demonstrate that while the noradrenergic innervation of primate cortex exhibits a far greater degree of regional variation than is present in the rat cortex, the tangential intracortical trajectory that is characteristic of the lissencephalic rat brain is also a dominant feature of the noradrenergic innervation of the gyrencephalic primate brain.